"Have some water, Elliot!" Zoe said as she propped him up on the pillow and placed the bottle of water against his lips. "You must be feeling lousy. Here, drink and you will feel better."Back in the hall, Avery felt a lot soberer. However, she now felt a lot worse than she had when she was drunk. She knew she could no longer allow herself to be entangled with Elliot. Nothing good would come out of it. "Zoe was such a snob!" Tammy walked over to Avery and comforted her, "Don't pay attention to what she said. She should take a good look at herself in the mirror." Avery took her purse and prepared to leave as she said, "I'm only mad at myself.""You didn't do anything wrong," Tammy said."I'm being ridiculous," Avery muttered to herself. "I keep imagining that we still have a chance together… Tammy, please give it to me if I see him in the future!" Tammy nodded, as she wanted the best for her friend. "I'll get you home!" Tammy held her up and said, "Don't worry about the rest of

Avery felt a sharp pain in her nose as Elliot crushed her to his chest. She looked around the room with her watery eyes. Her nose was still smarting. 'Where was Zoe? Why was Elliot alone in the room? Wasn't she supposed to be taking care of her drunk boyfriend?' wondered Avery. She pushed him, but Elliot embraced her tighter than before."Don't leave me, Avery…" He carried her, "I miss you so much… I've missed you every day…" Elliot murmured those words to her as he carried her over to the bed. Avery's heart ached as she watched him. He was completely drunk! They said drunk words were sober thoughts.Did it mean he had a place for her in his heart?He pressed her into the bed as he stared lovingly into her eyes. "Let go of me, Elliot Foster!" whispered Avery as she cupped his face with her hands. "Shea is crying because she needs you. Mrs. Cooper called me, and she wants you—" He silenced her with a kiss. Did he just ignore the part where she mentioned Shea? Did he not car

Zoe did not want to hear them anymore.The sounds of Avery and Elliot in the throes of passion mocked her. They seemed to say, 'So what if you're Elliot's girlfriend? He'll always love Avery no matter what!'She sat on the sofa. She felt a part of her had died today. Her body ran cold and she turned stiff.At 2 a.m. in the morning, the door to the bedroom finally swung open. Avery dragged herself out of the room. She froze when she saw Zoe. "Miss Tate, how did my boyfriend fare?" Zoe's voice trembled as she glared at Avery. "Miss Tate, I can't believe that you were able to make your move on him in the twenty minutes that I was gone. You knew that he was drunk, and yet, you seduced him! Oh, you're cheap!"Avery tried to explain herself, but nothing made sense.She could not believe that the situation would turn out like that. It was ironic."I'm so sorry," Avery said. "What's the use of saying sorry?" Zoe felt a stream of tears run down the corner of her eyes. "At least, I only

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sanford," Elliot said as he subdued his nerves. He had returned to his usual cold demeanor and added, "Last night was my mistake. I need some space." He left the room as he said that. Zoe was frozen. She had thought that her tears might make him sympathize with her and that Elliot would take her into his arms and comfort her. Why on earth was he still acting so cold? Why did he take off? He had not behaved that way with Avery. Zoe wiped her tears off her face. Though she was heartbroken, at least there was a silver lining. She looked at her phone and called Cole. "I've succeeded," said Zoe. "Congratulations, Dr. Sanford! Let me know if I can be of any help in the future. I'll be here for you," said Cole with a laugh.An intense sourness tinged her heart when she heard Cole say that. If only Elliot was as obedient as Cole. "Tell me, do I look like a man? Your uncle has never once batted an eye in my presence," said Zoe. "He had no reaction even when he saw

Mike coughed and said, "There's no need to get the cops involved! Avery, where are you right now? You sound exhausted."Avery stood up with the support of the pillar next to her and lied, "I'm at home.""Oh, were you still sleeping? Get back to bed! I'm fine, I just feel wronged. Chad is being unreasonable. He blames me for everything!" Mike felt better after his rant. Avery got a cab and headed home.She popped a fever pill and fell asleep in her bed. Laura did not manage to ask what happened to her.Back at the mansion, Elliot had been in the shower for longer than an hour. Usually, he would be done in about half that time. The reason why he had not yet come out of the bathroom was because he was still thinking about last night, and he could not accept that it was Zoe he had slept with. He could deal with Zoe anytime, but how could he ever face Avery? He was more certain than before that he was still very much in love with Avery.He could no longer lie to himself. It was cle

"Sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached, please try again later."Avery had switched off her phone. Elliot scowled. Despite being physically close to her, he felt as though they were miles apart. In the mansion, when Layla told Hayden that Elliot was outside, Hayden immediately went to his room to retrieve his drone."Hayden! What are you doing?" Layla's eyes widened as she watched him in confusion."I'm chasing him away!""Oh! Hayden, do you need my help?" Layla desperately wanted to help. Hayden brought over a soft pipe and passed it to her. …Elliot stood majestically outside the door of the mansion. He was unwavering in his determination to see Avery today. Twenty minutes later, a drone slowly flew down from the second-floor balcony. When the bodyguard saw the drone, he frowned, "What in the world?!"The bodyguard would not have picked up on it if it had been a normal drone, but this one was flying straight at them, and it had a pipe attached to it.

She simply could not find a way to change her views on Elliot.…"Mr. Foster, let's go back!" the bodyguard said. "Your clothes are wet. If we don't go home and get you changed, you will catch a cold."It was early autumn, and even with the sun above their heads, the temperature had dropped significantly. "I'm not cold," Elliot said in a steady and calm voice. Seeing how stubborn he was, the bodyguard realized that Elliot was not going to change his mind and resorted to waiting alongside him. Shortly after, a red Porsche Cayenne slowly drove toward them and stopped beside Elliot. The car window rolled down, and Mike poked his head out. "Hey, why are you here?" Mike was shocked to see Elliot drenched from head to toe. "Did it rain?"The bodyguard glared at him impatiently, "It's that brat Hayden's doing!""Oh… As expected of Big H! He always has the guts to do what I wouldn't dare to!"The bodyguard could only stare daggers at him. Mike cleared his throat and got out of

"Mike, hurry up and catch up to them!" shrieked Laura. "Ohh!" Mike snapped out of his daze and drove after them. Laura sighed in relief. "Grandma, is Mom going to be okay? I'm so worried about her!" Layla asked as her eyes grew red with tears. She grabbed onto Laura's blouse. Laura lifted her up. "Your mom is just down with a fever. It's nothing to worry about. Once she is in the hospital, the doctor will help her, and as soon as her fever comes down, she will be okay.""Oh… but why did Elliot come here?" Layla could not help but have a bad feeling about it. Laura frowned. "I'm not sure either, but I don't think he will do anything while your mom is sick." Elliot had wrapped Avery in her blanket before he carried her out of the house. Despite Laura's prejudice toward him, she could not say that he had done anything wrong. One could always tell from the smallest details as to whether a man truly cared for a woman. No matter how many women Elliot had out there, he still had

"Dr. Sanford, the boss asked me to pass this to you." The bodyguard handed a check to Zoe. Zoe accepted the cheque and glanced at the number written on it, before snorting. "How generous of him! We slept together for one night and he is giving me five million." She set the cheque on the table with a bitter smile. "Apart from this cheque, did he tell you anything else?" The bodyguard shook his head. Zoe's heart ached as she thought to herself, "Who exactly does Elliot think I am?! A prostitute? He just pays me off after sleeping with me! I suppose the only difference is that I'm getting paid way more than a prostitute would!" Zoe gritted her teeth and threw a medical book on the ground. "Does he know what it means to respect someone?""Dr. Sanford, he already gives you enough respect. Otherwise, you wouldn't even get a penny out of this," the bodyguard said expressionlessly. "That's just because I am still useful to him!" she shouted, red-eyed. "If it wasn't for that, he

Avery's eyes darted away for a brief moment, but then, she started chuckling, "Is this the first time you two slept together? It has been a long time since you went public with your relationship. How chaste."Elliot's expression darkened. "Speaking as if you have plenty of experience. Have you slept with any other men besides me?"She beamed at him, "Of course!" Hayden was a "man" too, after all. The composure on Elliot's face faded. "Avery Tate! I will be damned if I come looking for you again!" he said through gritted teeth before storming out of the room. Avery watched as he disappeared, and the smile on her face collapsed. It was good that he would not come looking for her again. That way, they could both live their separate lives, but why did she not feel happy about it at all? She held onto the blanket and took a deep breath. It still smelt like him. The door swung open, and Mike strode in. "Avery, did Elliot do anything to you? Damn that guy! I was supposed to