She had been in a hurry when she headed out in the morning. Without paying much attention to the weather, she grabbed a jacket and left her house; apart from that, she had not intended on staying outside for long."Let's grab a cup of coffee!" He suggested."I don't want to." She had too much to eat at lunch. "Let's just walk!""Sure."WIth his jacket on her shoulders, she could sense his scent penetrating into her as he occupied her thoughts.If the man next to her wasn't Elliot, she would definitely not remain out in the cold wind."You have misunderstood me the last time we spoke on the phone," he said, breaking the silence. "I didn't mention Shea to evade the topic. I was sad that you said that."Avery's heart settled down at his low, husky voice, though she might have argued with him had he mentioned this on the phone."Why did you mention Shea then? Elliot, we aren't kids anymore and I don't enjoy guessing around." She raised her leg and kicked at a small rock on the road
Startled, she immediately retracted her hand. "Don't touch me, Elliot!"She stared at him in fear as though she was facing a monster.He said he was ill and she thought that she could accept whatever illness he had; but now that he said he had murdered someone, and that it was his father no less, she couldn't find a way to accept it.He felt a lump in his throat at her reaction. There was so much more that he wished to tell her, but he knew that she might not want to listen.The waiter brought over the coffee and set the cups down in front of them.Avery took the cup and took a big sip; Elliot, on the other hand, looked at her calmly and waited for her to calm down."Elliot Foster, if you are capable of murdering your own father, what else are you not capable of in this world?" She had slightly calmed down, but still felt unsettled. She had thought that she knew the man before her, but he could always surprise or scare her."Are you going to judge me without even asking me why I
If only his father was an ordinary father like any other, he would not have become Elliot Foster, known for being ferocious and cruel.Avery stared at him dazedly, unable to say a word.She had never imagined that behind his seemingly successful life, hid such a miserable past. She had thought that she had it hard enough after her father's affair, her parents' divorce and being bullied by her step-mother, she hadn't expected that Elliot had it worse than her.Her misery was on the outside and everyone knew about it; whereas his could only be hidden away within his heart."Don't look at me like that, Avery." He scowled. "I don't need your pity."She shook her head. "I'm not pitying you. I am just thinking if we would have saved all the trouble if only you had told me this earlier.""My personality made it impossible for me to tell you any earlier than this," he said as he strolled forward. "My love for you accumulated day after day until it reached a certain level, before I could
'What is going on with you two right now?' Tammy typed. 'We weren't fighting, but we aren't in the mood to date each other either.' Avery replied. 'My mom said if couples fight too often, even the strongest love would fade.'Avery stared at the message and was not sure how she should reply. Throughout the years, conflicts between Elliot and her had never ceased. She could still remember how deeply in love she was with him in the past. However, she simply couldn't fall back in love again, like a moth to a fire. Elliot must feel the same, otherwise he wouldn't have left her alone on the road after saying that he cared about her most. ....Elliot received a message from Ben. 'Tammy said you two went home separately. It's not even dark yet. Is she still having a hard time forgiving you?''She wants to go home. I am staying out here.' Elliot replied. He could sense that Avery was struggling to forgive him for all the things he had done, so he walked away, allowing both of t
"Are you sure that's what she said?" Elliot asked. The bodyguard's mind went blank and suddenly forgot the exact words Avery used. "Um... In any case, I scolded her and she didn't get angry," he finally said with certainty. "You scolded her?" Elliot scowled as he breathed heavily. "Who gave you the right to scold her?! What did you say?"Feeling slightly scared and guilty, the bodyguard said with no regret, "I said she was ungrateful, which she is! You treat her so well and not only is she not grateful, she argues and fights with you every single day! I think she is even more of a drama queen than Tammy Lynch! I wouldn't put up with her if I was you! I would just dump her and take her children from her, so that she regrets it so much that she cries herself to sleep every night!"Elliot gritted his teeth. He would have punched his bodyguard had he been standing right next to him. The bodyguard noticed the heavy breathing on the other end of the line and was instantly alerted.
"Uncle Eric, I wanted to call Aunt Tammy." Layla passed Avery's phone to Eric. "Call her for me."Eric smiled. "I have Aunt Tammy's contact, put your mother's phone back.""What if she doesn't answer your call? She is the closest to Mommy. If we call her using Mommy's phone, she will surely answer." Layla insisted. She even unlocked Avery's phone herself.Eric gave in to her. He accepted Avery's phone from Layla. Before he opened her contacts, he noticed a red dot on her message icon. He wanted to open it to have a look, but reason told him that it was wrong to look at other people's private messages without their permission.He found Tammy's number in her contacts and dialed. He put the call in loudspeaker mode.Soon, Tammy picked up."Aunt Tammy! It's me!" Layla's tone was crisp and sweet. "Mommy is asleep. I just wanted to know if you're doing fine?"When Tammy heard Layla's concerns, her eyes reddened immediately. "Layla, I didn't love you for nothing.""Hmm! I wanted to go
Avery's heart sank.They were incompatible with each other.Did Ben say that or Elliot?Elliot decided not to get entangled with her. In that case, it must be him that felt that they were incompatible with each other which was why he told Ben that!"Avery, why are you in a daze? Did I say something wrong again?" Mike was a little nervous. "Chad was there too. He could be the witness that Ben really said that.""I do believe you." Avery picked up her utensils. She quickly collected her thoughts. "Since he finds us incompatible, then I'll respect his opinion!""Oh, why do I sense a hint of disappointment in your tone? Don't you hate him? Since he has decided not to get hung up over you, shouldn't you be happy?" Mike never knew when to hold his tongue.It was not like he had never been in love. Of course, he knew why Avery was disappointed.Avery hated Elliot because Elliot did not relieve her of her anger. If Elliot were to continue coaxing her, once her anger subsided, she could
Hayden said, "I'm equally close to all of my classmates."Avery thought for a while before saying, "Then, let's invite them all! After all, your class isn't that big."Layla exclaimed, "Oh yeah! It's more fun with more people!"Hayden saw how happy Layla was. He could not bear to burst her bubble.After Eric left, Avery and Mike set the first draft of the guest list."Avery. Chad would surely want to come. You have to invite Jun too. If we invite Ben and only not invite Elliot, will he feel that we are deliberately picking on him?" Mike offered his opinion, "Why don't we not invite Ben too?"Avery's temples hurt.It was initially a happy occasion, but because of her relationship with Elliot, it became so painful."I'll let you handle this!" Avery said and left to see the children.Mike sent a message to Chad, explaining the situation to him and asking for his opinion.[Chad: Mr. Foster said that he doesn't want to get entangled with her only because he did not want to annoy h