After Jed's death, Avery had been in contact with his family through phone and text messages.Both of Jed's parents were highly educated and understanding by nature. Though Jed's death had affected them greatly, they had not blamed Avery for it at all, and this made Avery feel more guilty.Elliot and Avery arrived at the Hutchinsons' house and tears instantly gathered in her eyes when she saw the gray hairs around Mrs. Hutchinson's temples."Auntie, I have been meaning to pay you a visit but my husband had been severely injured, so I had to delay my visit."Mrs. Hutchinson poured them two glasses of water with a serious expression. "I told you not to come. It's too much trouble for you! It's not Jed's death that pains us most, but the fact that Jennifer had died in a foreign country trying to avenge him..."Mrs. Hutchinson could not help but sob, and Avery immediately took some tissues to help wipe away her tears."Auntie, you have to take care of yourself. If Jed and Jennifer co
"Jed must have crossed someone," Mr. Hutchinson said confidently. "The fact that you and your bodyguard are fine is enough proof that something is wrong. That's precisely the reason why we didn't blame you for his death."Avery was inspired by their theory and said, "Apart from me and my bodyguard, he had only been in contact with people in the hospital.""He met with Ruby as well," Elliot added."Are you saying that Ruby Gould has something to do with this?" Avery scowled."I'm not sure. I only know that Ruby had contacted him before.""What for?" Avery asked. "What happened between them?""She invited Jed to the house, and I found out about it. She called him over then to get him to take you away."Based on Elliot's explanation, Ruby did not seem to have any motive to kill Jed. Even if Ruby had told Jed to take Avery away and Jed had refused to do so, it wasn't enough of a motive for her to kill him."There is someone who might know why," Elliot suddenly said. "Avery, do you
There were far too many documents for her to finish reading in Hutchinson's house, so she packed them up and brought them home."Avery, Ben is asking us out for dinner," said Elliot coming back from his phone call. "I will reject him if you are too tired.""Is Lilith coming?" Avery was feeling slightly tired but she was willing to go out if she could see Lilith.Elliot immediately asked Ben through the phone, "Is Lilith coming?""She's not done with work yet! She usually comes home at around nine or ten at night. Are you two not coming out to eat if she isn't there?" Ben asked. "You can still come if Avery doesn't want to! We haven't seen each other for so long, do you not miss me?"Elliot felt goosebumps all over his body. "Just come over to where we stay and I'll consider treating you to dinner somewhere nearby.""Do you know it's an hour's drive from where I stay?!" Ben exclaimed. "I am injured!""Hasn't that small wound on your face recovered? I thought you said that it's no
"Yeah. We came here to take care of something.""Okay. I'll wait for your call once you are done.""Sure. Go get some rest. I don't think you will need to wait up for Ben. Your brother asked for my permission to drink so I'm guessing Ben is asking him out for a drink."Lilith could not help but chuckle. "My brother acts that lowly before you?""Not lowly. Respectful. I will get angry if he comes home stinking of booze without telling me ahead of time.""Avery, you are really successful in training my brother.""I would tell him, too, if I'm heading out this late."Avery had just come out of the shower and only sobered for a few minutes, before feeling sleepy again as she sat down on the bed. After hanging up, she laid down to sleep without even bothering to turn off the lights.In the restaurant, Elliot took Ben's face mask off. The bruises on Ben's face were still visible and he looked slightly defeated."Can you even drink like this?" Elliot asked."It doesn't hurt anymore
Elliot took his phone back. "I haven't told Avery this yet. I figure I can wait for a while.""Wait for what, exactly?" Ben was already slightly drunk, but he had completely sobered up."For the baby to grow and see if her looks would change," Elliot said. "Why would my child with Ruby look like Layla?""Yeah! I am confused about that as well! Anyone who has eyes would be able to tell how much Layla resembles Avery. Your daughter with Ruby Gould might look like you, or like Ruby, but she couldn't possibly look like Avery!" Ben could not help but slam his palm against the table."Don't tell Avery about this, or anyone else for that matter," Elliot reminded him. "I promised Avery that I would never go to Ylore or contact Ruby again. If I am to keep that promise, I shouldn't even mention Ruby or that child."The more he drank the more awake Elliot felt. Every time he thought of how much that child resembled Layla, his heart felt heavy."Relax, I will keep my mouth shut." Ben set the
Lilith received a call from Ben.She had finished showering and was laying in her bed, scrolling through videos. When Ben's name popped up on the screen, she immediately jumped up.She answered the call and heard Ben stuttering, "Lilith... I... I am drunk... Can... Can you... come pick me up?"He even burped after asking the question.Lilith felt like she could already smell the alcohol even through the call."It's so cold out there. I'm not picking you up!" She rejected his request without hesitation but felt slightly guilty after that and added, "You can just find a hotel nearby to stay the night! Why bother coming back here this late at night? There's no point."Ben's heart sank at her affectionless reply."Aren't you drinking with my brother? What about him? Is he drunk as well?" she asked when Ben did not reply.Ben sighed. "Your brother wants to take me back to his place, but his leg has just recovered. I am over a hundred pounds; how can I lean on him?""Then walk on yo
"What kind of nightmare?" Elliot kept his hand on the jacket."It's a weird dream so I don't dare to talk about it," she scowled."It's just a dream. It's not real." He hesitated and said, "Was it about what happened in Ylore?"She nodded, before shaking her head. "I dreamt about Jed. I used to be quite close with him. Though we hadn't contacted one another for a few years, I felt the same when I saw him again; but in my dream just now, he was the villain.""The villain? What did he do in your dream?""He tried to stop us from being together. In that dream, he was on Ruby's side." Her blood ran cold as she spoke, "That's not Jed. He would never side with Ruby! He is my friend, and if he—""Calm down, Avery. Dreams are not real. He was not a bad person; if he was, he wouldn't have been killed." Elliot helped her back to the bed. "What do you feel like eating? I'll go buy it for you.""I said I don't want you to.""I don't want you to starve." He looked at her sternly. "I have ju
When she saw his face, she frowned and raised her arm.Sensing that he was about to be punched, he swiftly dropped her back on the couch"What are you— were you trying to hit me?" Ben took two steps back and blurted out, "I saw that you fell asleep on the couch and wanted to carry you to your room. What did you think I was trying to do?"Lilith rubbed her eyes at his explanation and said, "I thought you wanted to molest me. I was terrified!""Wait... Am I that scary? It's not like I forced myself on you when we slept together for the first time, right? I never force women!" he said."It's not about if you are scary or not." Lilith sat up and drawled, "If it was a face as handsome as Eric Santos' in front of me just now, I wouldn't fight back."Ben stared at her in shock. "With a handsome guy like him, even just staring at his face would be a luxury, let alone being intimate with him. I would feel like I'm the one taking advantage of him," Lilith said with a pleasant expressi