It was only natural that Elliot would pick Avery. He did not want to give up the child, but he had no choice. Their child would have been four months old. If the incident had not happened, they would have been able to meet their child during the next maternity check-up."Okay, Mr. Foster, please sign this risk disclosure form." The doctor took a form and passed it to him. "Do you want us to administer anesthesia to the patient before the surgery? The anesthesia would affect the child, so if you want to keep the baby, we can forgo anesthetizing her." "Wouldn't that hurt a lot!" Elliot obviously wanted to keep the child, but surgery without anesthesia would be agony for Avery!"Yes, it will hurt, but it will pass soon," said the doctor."She's already so weak. I don't want her to suffer any further pain." Elliot felt that once again his heart was being ripped to pieces. He was in so much agony that even breathing hurt. "Please anesthetize her.""Alright." The doctor accepted the si

Avery was taken aback! If it were not for the injury on her arm, she would have jumped off the bed."What husband? I'm not married! Nobody has the right to decide whether my child gets to live or die!"The doctor immediately apologized when he saw that she was growing more and more agitated. "Miss Tate, I'm sorry. Mr. Foster did not say he was your husband, but he did say that he was the baby's father—""Even if he is the baby's father, he doesn't have the right to give consent!" Avery could no longer contain her grief, and she began to cry. Elliot was currently at home as he had been keeping watch over Avery the entire night. Mrs. Scarlet had relieved him this morning so he could get some rest.Left with no other choice, Mrs. Scarlet called Elliot. She could not allow Avery to remain in this state. After Mrs. Scarlet had made the call, Mike pushed open the door and entered the room. "Avery, you're finally up!" Mike walked over to her bed and sat down. He took out a piece of

Avery choked, "I want to leave this hospital."Elliot did not want to further agitate her, so, he turned around and went to fetch the doctor. "Miss Tate, if you insist on going home, I'll allow your discharge, but we will first need to run some further tests on you. If all is well, I'll immediately arrange for your discharge." Once they were done with their tests, the doctor approved her discharge. The moment she got home, she shut herself in her room. Before she had left the hospital, they had done an ultrasound, and the scan revealed the baby to be two sizes smaller than it should be. It showed that the child had stopped growing ever since her arrival in Bridgedale. It was a terrible sign. The doctor had advised Avery to abort the child, but Avery could not accept his prognosis. "Why don't we find her a therapist!" Mike was discussing the matter with Elliot in the living area. "The doctor said that her depression is not solely caused by the child. I think he is right. She ha

"When the doctor asked me to consider aborting the child, Elliot said nothing. His silence is his tacit agreement that the child should be aborted. Avery took a deep breath and continued bitterly, "He is the child's father, how could he treat his own child so heartlessly?"It took a great deal of thought before Mike finally said, "Perhaps, he is used to listening to doctors.""He never listens to doctors. When he was sick, he would smoke and drink whenever he pleased. A person like him will not listen to anyone unless he wants to." She blinked a couple of times and said in a broken voice, "He clearly doesn't want our unhealthy child!""Avery, don't think of him that badly. I can't speak on other matters, but I know that he truly loves you." Mike was trying to change the topic as he did not want to continue speaking about children. "I know." Avery sniffled. Her voice sounded nasal. "If he did not love me, he would not have come and rescued me."Mike nodded in agreement."Mike,

Coming out of the inpatient unit, Mike looked around, but he did not see Avery anywhere.In his despair, he called Elliot. "Elliot, come to the hospital quickly! I lost Avery!"Elliot immediately rushed out of the mansion. "What happened?""Wesley's mother had a private talk with her. I'm sure she must have said something to Avery!" Mike was in the huge hospital yard, and he was frantically looking around for Avery. "It's my fault! I was talking to Wesley in his ward and that was when she must have left!"Elliot furrowed his brows tightly. "She couldn't have gone far. Keep watch of the entrance!"Avery had exited the lift and had been aimlessly walking around the outpatient building. There were a lot of seats there, and she was tired. So, she found a seat and sat down. All around her were patients or their families. She saw a couple bringing in their sick child to see the doctor. "I already told you that I don't want this child, but you insisted! Look at us now! We have to com

Avery saw the shimmering unshed tears in Elliot's eyes. She wanted to say no; she wanted to deny his claims. Abruptly, he stood up and left her in the front seat of the car. He slammed the door behind him. The deafening bang echoed long after the door was shut.He did not make his way to the driver's seat, but he stood outside the car. He pulled his phone out and made a call. Avery silently looked at him. The car door stood between them, separating them in what seemed like an unbridgeable gap.He had told her that the child was more important to her than him. "How can he compare him and the child?" she thought. "The child is weak. Of course, I have to protect it!" He told her that she did not have any confidence in him, not realizing that it was herself that she did not have confidence in. Not long after, Mike ran over. Avery saw the two of them talking outside the car. She did not know what they said, but Mike had quickly accepted the keys from Elliot, and he got into the dr

Shea made her way to Avery's room the next morning to bid her goodbye. "Avery, I'm leaving. Get well soon. Once you're well, you must return to Aryadelle!"She was afraid of disturbing her, so she did not stay long. She quickly left Avery's room.Avery opened her eyes and looked at the empty room. She felt disappointment course through her.The Gulfstream G650 took off from Bridgedale Capital Airport at eight that morning. Its destination: Aryadelle Capital Airport.The jet slowly descended on Aryadelle Capital Airport after more than ten hours in the air.It was six in the morning at Aryadelle. Elliot had given Wesley and his family a ride back. "Mr. Foster, thank you for taking us home," said Sandra to Elliot.Elliot replied, "You're welcome.""We'll make a move!" Sandra said.Elliot swallowed. After a short moment of hesitation, he said, "Mrs. Brook, don't blame Avery for Wesley's injuries. She didn't even tell me that she was Professor Hough's last pupil. Wesley got kidna

Elliot did not want to go home, nor did he want to attend the team building session.Chad saw the agony Elliot was in, and he said, "Why don't you go on a vacation? Where do you want to go? I'll book a hotel for you."Elliot thought for a long while before finally saying, "I want to drink."Chad was speechless. "Is this why he attended that meeting?" thought Chad. An hour later and Elliot was drunk, just like he wished. Once he had sent Elliot home, Chad sighed in relief. Although drinking was not good for him, at least Elliot did not consume that much alcohol. If he had, Chad would not be able to rest easy. Exiting Elliot's mansion, Chad called Mike. "Doesn't Avery feel in the least bit guilty? Mr. Foster put a lot of effort and money into saving her, but what does she do? She hurts him." It was night in Bridgedale at that moment.Mike rubbed the middle of his brows and yawned. "What nonsense are you talking about? Hmm?""Didn't Avery break up with him? How cruel and hear

The reporter claimed that Avery had scammed Elliot out of his money. As Avery had started her company in Bridgedale, Bridgedale was her second home. The reporter held that it was inconceivable that she be forced to ask Elliot for help when she had been kidnapped in her second home. [Does she not have connections and money to resolve the situation? Why did Elliot have to come in his private jet to rescue her?] stated the article. In the end, Elliot had dumped one and a half billion dollars only to return home sad and alone.The writer concluded that Avery had used their relationship to scam him out of his money!The article ended sarcastically, stating that it was ironic for such a smart individual like Elliot to be brought to his knees by a woman. The article also warned people to stay away from women, especially strong and beautiful women like Avery as these women rely on other men to gain their wealth. This topic was picked up by other media outlets too who ran with the story

Mike was in Bridgedale when he saw the article. He had not been deliberately searching for news pertaining to Aryadelle when he had come across the article. One of the higher-ups of Tate Industries had sent him the article. The reason they had done so was because the members of the media were calling up the company and trying to get some clarification on the validity of the claims circulating online. How could the higher-ups know anything about their boss's private life? They only knew that Avery had gone to Bridgedale. They did not know the reason for her trip, and they also had not known that she had been kidnapped.When Mike saw the news, he was furious. He sat down and drank his cup of coffee, and by the end of his cup, he still had not decided whether he wanted to inform Avery about the matter.Avery had been resting at home for the past few days. Apart from mealtimes, she had spent the entire time cooped up in her room. When she came out to have her meals, she seemed be