Zoe's body trembled uncontrollably."You! You—"Her head was buzzing as she turned blue in the face."I was also at Elizabeth Hospital that day, and accidentally caught a glimpse of the person who operated on Shea," Avery said sternly as she watched the fear and anxiety on Zoe's face. "If you want to threaten me, then you must first properly consider if you can handle being discarded!"At that moment, the drinks and desserts arrived.Avery casually began to enjoy her afternoon tea."I underestimated you, Avery Tate!"Zoe went from having the winning ticket in her grasp to being completely helpless in a matter of minutes."We're even! Let's just pretend like nothing happened! I won't tell Elliot about your secret, so I hope you can keep your lips sealed, too!""Weren't you pretty cocky just now?" Avery mocked. "All you had was a tiny bit of leverage, and you decided to act so conceitedly. How could you be in research with that attitude? Even after ten years, you won't be able t

Since Avery booked the largest ballroom at the hotel, Elliot went ahead and booked the smaller ballroom right next to it.He wanted to see for himself exactly how grand Avery's birthday party would be.…That weekend, everyone who received an invitation to the party gathered in the largest ballroom— Astor Hall— at the Oasis Hotel."Why isn't Avery here yet?" Tammy asked Mike the moment she stepped into the banquet hall. "She hasn't even replied to my text from last night."Mike shrugged, then explained, "She's been busy lately. I don't know what she's busy with, but I already sent her the address, and she promised to be here.""Okay… Isn't she busy with stuff at the company?" Tammy asked."She isn't! I really don't know what she's been so busy with. Everyone has the right to their own personal space. We might be close like sisters… I mean, brother and sister… I won't force her to tell me anything she doesn't want me to know about.""I see… Since she's been busy, who's the one w

Wesley noticed the fight as he left the hall.When he rushed over, he realized that things were not as simple as they seemed.Mike was getting beaten up by two men, and one of those men was Avery's ex-husband, Elliot Foster.Wesley quickly yanked Mike to his side, then asked Elliot, "Why are you hitting Mike?"Elliot had arrived three minutes ago.When he saw Mike pinning Chad down and beating him up, his blood pressure shot up like a launching rocket, and he kicked Mike without another word. Once he had leveled the playing field, the fight became a two-against-one brawl. "He was hitting my assistant, Mr. Brook," Elliot explained as he dusted himself down. "Chad's weak and can't handle a fight."Wesley noticed Chad's broken glasses, then shot a glare at Mike."Avery's phone's turned off. We don't know if something's happened to her," he said. "I'm going to look for her now. You can either go back to the hall and entertain the guests, or you can come with me to search for her

Avery's car doors were locked!There was only a piece of glass between them, and Elliot had no way of getting to her.The bodyguard rushed over with an emergency hammer, smashed the windshield open, and jumped into the car.Once he was in, the bodyguard unlocked the doors.Elliot opened the door to the driver's seat and took Avery in his arms.She had no visible injuries, but her breathing was shallow!She looked as if she was in a coma.Otherwise, she would have been startled awake when the bodyguard broke the windshield.At the hospital, after giving Avery a thorough examination, the doctor said, "She fainted from lack of oxygen. You sent her here just in time, so she's not in any danger. All she needs is some rest. She'll be fine when she wakes up.""How did she end up with a lack of oxygen? Did her test results show that something was wrong?" Elliot asked."Her blood tests showed that all of her vitals are fine… Apart from some low blood sugar, there weren't any issues,"

"We're friends," Wesley answered."Professor Hough had plenty of female students. You're not this close to Zoe Sanford, are you?" Elliot said mockingly. "Do you have feelings for Avery?"Wesley felt a strong sense of hostility from him."Isn't Avery allowed to start a brand new relationship?" Wesley asked with a gentle smile. "Mr. Foster, has Avery ever said anything about your relationship with Miss Sanford?"Elliot's eyes filled with a frosty chill as he said, "That's one thing I find strange. When I asked you to help me find the student that the professor mentioned before he died, you gave me a list of names. Why didn't you just tell me that it was Zoe? She said she knew you. You probably know her, too, right?"Wesley was surprised to find that Elliot was not as clueless as he had thought."Of course, I know her. However, it's been many years since she graduated, so I can't comment on her skills now. Which is why I gave you the list for you to find out for yourself."Elliot w

After struggling for a while, Avery gave up and kept her eyes shut.She could make out Elliot's voice, but who was the woman talking to him?It was an unfamiliar voice… It kept referring to him as "Big Brother".Was Elliot flirting with that woman?Ha!She was fast asleep, and he was flirting with another woman by her bed.How shameless!If she could get up right now, she would definitely kick the two of them out of her room!Half asleep, Avery was so angry that her heart ached.Soon, she drifted off into sleep again. Elliot took Shea's hand and took her back to rest.Once Shea was asleep, Elliot returned to his room.Avery turned in bed, still deep in slumber.Elliot walked into the bathroom and took a shower...When Zoe heard that Elliot had brought Avery home, so that Avery might rest, she saw red. Who exactly was his girlfriend now?She knew that the only reason Elliot agreed to date her was so that she would treat Shea's illness.Even so, he should keep up app

Hayden looked stern as he said, "Grandma won't let us go look for Mommy if we told her about it."Layla puffed her cheeks and looked a little torn as she said, "Okay… Let's just go find Mommy, then! What if Dirtbag Dad's picking on her?"Hayden pursed his lips, then came to a decision after a quick deliberation."I'll go alone. You wait at home. Come up with an excuse if Grandma comes back," he said, then left the house.As Layla watched the room door close behind Hayden, she blinked a couple of times. Two streams of tears rolled down her cheeks.How could she allow Hayden to go after Dirtbag Dad by himself?What if he got caught?She could not lose her big brother!At that thought, Layla ran over to Mike's room in tears.She opened the door, rushed to the disheveled bed, and yanked on Mike's arm, wailing, "Wake up, Uncle Mike! Hayden's gone! He left the house alone… He didn't take me with him…"Over at Elliot's mansion, a servant walked out of the kitchen and wondered, "Why'

Elliot felt a strong sense of deja vu every time he caught a glimpse of Hayden's face.It was as if he had traveled back in time and was looking at his younger self!Hayden shot a glare at Elliot, then averted his gaze."Did you really cause the power outage, Hayden?" Mrs. Cooper asked in a panic. "How did you do it? Is this your laptop? Do you know how to use it at your age?"Hayden pursed his lips, then quietly placed his laptop back into his backpack.He took his bag, walked over to the stairs, and sat down at the bottom step, waiting for Avery to come. Mrs. Cooper glanced at Elliot to see his livid expression and the raging fury in his eyes.If Hayden were not a child, he would not be sitting there as safely and soundly as he was now. About half an hour later, a bodyguard walked in and reported, "Sir, there's a suspicious foreigner who keeps looking in our direction. Should I bring him in for questioning?"Mike's face popped into Elliot's mind.He walked to the front ya

Layla had planned to go to the first floor to search for her mother, but suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the kitchen. She was so terrified that did not dare breathe. She ran straight up the stairs.Forced to run up to the second floor, Layla leaned against the wall and caught her breath.At that moment, the footsteps grew closer!Someone was coming up the stairs!Layla panicked and quickly found a place to hide.Soon after, Mrs. Cooper appeared on the second floor and made her way to the master bedroom to see Avery.She was worried about the match between Elliot and Mike.Even though Elliot had recovered from the car crash years ago, the doctor had instructed him to avoid strenuous activities.Mrs. Cooper did not want to see Mike punch him, so she came to see Avery. She opened the door, then walked over to the bed.Mrs. Cooper glanced at Avery's sleeping face, and no matter how bad she felt about waking her, she had no choice but to do so because Ave

Could there be another child in the house?!Elliot took in a sharp breath!He walked out of the room and saw Layla trembling at the top of the stairs with tears in her eyes.It was Avery's daughter!How ridiculous!When did she get in here?How had he been unaware of her?Could the mansion's most advanced security system be useless against them?Elliot suddenly remembered how they had only managed to get the mansion's network back up and running two hours ago.Layla was carrying a backpack in the shape of a bunny.She held a bunny doll in one hand while her other hand gripped the banister. She sobbed as she carefully made her way down the stairs. She did not notice Elliot following her.The servants gathered at the bottom of the stairs and stared at the little girl, who had appeared out of thin air, in shock."Mommy… My Mommy's gone… I'm crying so loud… but she's not coming for me… Ahhh!"Layla's cries were continuous. They almost resembled the rhythmic sound of a train