chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the huge office, Jason was sitting on his desk, with a beautiful lady in his arms. His long arms were wrapped around her slim waist and she was wearing a dress that almost looked similar to what Ava was wearing.

On the leather sofa, Jason’s sister, Beth, and his mother, Cecile, were seated. There were also two other men in the room with black suits. Ava was not familiar with them, but they seemed to be working on something for Jason.

When the door opened from outside, everyone turned their heads to look. When the people in the room saw the person who had entered, they were momentarily shocked and their faces revealed different expressions.

But that happened only for a split second before they retained their composure. Jason, his mother, and his sister sneered when they saw the intruder. The only person who had an intriguing expression was the woman in Jason’s arms.

When she saw the dress Ava was wearing, her eyes flashed with a strange light and no one knew what she was thinking.

Ava stood frozen in place when she saw this, and her face turned pale. Out of all the scenarios that had played in her head, none of them resulted in what she was seeing in the office.

Ava did not know what to do. They had already seen her so she could not just shut the door and leave. But if she entered, all that awaited her were insults from Jason’s mother and sister.

As she was still hesitating on what to do, Beth stood up and walked towards her.

She raised her chin haughtily and looked at Ava as if she was looking at something that was already dead.

When Ava saw her approach, she instinctively took a step back. She had suffered so much at the hands of her sister-in-law that she was traumatized.

Beth clapped her hands as she approached Ava. In a voice that was filled with disgust, she said, “Look who we have here?”

She then looked at her brother and continued, “Brother, I think that the heavens are in agreement that you get rid of this annoying fly.”

Ava’s face paled when she heard Beth. Her gaze turned to look at her so-called husband but he was so busy hugging the woman in his arms that he did not even spare her a glance.

In fact, he seemed to be totally unaffected by her presence. Ava’s heart sank at the realization. She knew how much the man hated her, and she wouldn’t have come here. Now, she had no one to blame for whatever happens next.

Cecile looked at Ava and sneered, “What are you doing here? Who let you in?”

“I…”

“You what? Do you think that this is a place that any Tom, Dick, and Harry can enter as they wish? Don’t you know that your presence is disgusting enough?”

“I am sorry, I… I just wanted to bring Jason some breakfast.” Ava quickly explained herself before she was cut off again.

Both Beth and Cecile scoffed at the same time when they heard Ava.

Their voices rang almost at the same time as they asked, “What did you just say?”

Ava looked at their expression, swallowed the bitterness at her throat, and explained, “Today is our wedding anniversary and I made Jason breakfast.”

Before the mother-daughter pair could say anything, she continued, “Well, it seems like I came at the wrong time. I should take my leave now and let you guys continue to do whatever you were doing.”

When Ava said that, she turned around ready to leave. But before she stepped her foot outside the door, the woman who was in Jason’s arms, opened her mouth and questioned Jason in an aggrieved tone.

“How come I did not know that you were married? Have you been lying to me all this while?”

The question took the three members of the Grayson family by surprise. Ava’s stiffened but she did not turn around.

Just as she was about to disappear outside the door, Jason’s cold voice came through the office, “And where do you think you are going?”

He turned to the woman in his arms and explained in a gentle voice, “I am so sorry darling for dragging out this matter. I should have ended it a long time ago, but don’t worry. I am going to be a free man now.”

With that, he turned to look at the two men who were busy working on something on their laptops and commanded in an authoritative voice, “Lawyer Kai, Lawyer Marc, are you not yet done drafting the divorce papers?”

“We are on the last clause, boss. Ten minutes and we will be done.”

“Hurry up. The more I stay married to that fool, the more I feel dirty. I cannot wait another second.”

Ava, who had their back on them had a stunned expression on her face. Did she hear right? Was Jason actually planning on divorcing her? And she had even made his work easier by sending herself to the lion’s den?

Beth could already imagine Ava’s expression at the moment. Her lips curled into a taunting smile as she said, “Did you hear that? My brother’s long-time lover finally returned to the country and he is finally going to be free.”

“Only God knows how long we have been waiting for this moment. You should have learned your lesson a long time ago and left while you still could. Look at you now, poor thing.”

Ava’s mind had completely turned blank. The only thing that she could hear in her head was Jason’s words calling her a fool and dirty.

To him, she was just a dispensable piece of trash. As she watched all the efforts, she had put all these years to make sure that their marriage worked, a tear rolled down Ava’s cheek.

The two men who had been working on the extra desk stood up with the already printed papers and handed them to Jason. They spoke in an almost flattering tone, “Mr. Grayson, we are done. Now, we only need you and your wife to sign the papers and we will take care of the rest.”

When Jason heard that, his lips turned into a charming smile. He was finally going to get rid of this annoying wife and he could not be happier.

“Good.”

He looked at Ava’s back with a dangerous smile before he commanded, “You, come and sign these papers. I can’t believe that I have been married to someone like you for three years.”

Ava remained standing stiff as if she had not heard anything. The little hope she had in her heart before she left the house was gone, and the only thing she could feel was coldness and endless humiliation.

Seeing that Ava was not reacting, Beth held her and yanked her, forcing her to face them. Her face was stained with tears and her eyes were filled with a never seen before fear.

Her family had discarded her and if she signed those papers, she would become homeless.

Beth looked at her and said, “Did you not hear what my brother said? Get your ass over here and sign the divorce papers. Honestly, I don’t know how we have been able to stand the stench coming from you for the past years. You should consider yourself lucky for having even carried the Grayson family name.”

…

Ava did not know how she left the Grayson Group of companies. When she returned to her senses, she was standing outside the gates of one place she swore to never come back.

She looked at the familiar and not-so-familiar gates before taking a deep sigh.

Ever since her mother died, the only memories she had of this place were endless suffering and torture from her stepmother and sister. She was too weak to fight back and that allowed them to take everything from her.

Ava took a deep breath before she raised her hand to knock on the gates. A sharp pain shot from her hand, making her to suck in a cold breath.

It was only then did she remembered that Jason’s girlfriend had accidentally spilled hot soup on her.

While she was signing the divorce papers, the woman had said that she was curious to see the kind of breakfast she had prepared for Jason.

Ava’s mind had been all over the place that she had not sensed any ill intentions. She only came back to her senses from the searing pain, but at that moment she did not have time to care much.

Now, looking at her swelling hand that was filled with blisters, Ava felt fresh tears gather in her eyes.

She knocked on the West family gates and when the security guard saw her, he was so shocked that his mouth remained wide open.

“M… miss… is that you?”

Ava forced a smile on her face when she saw the security guard’s shocked expression. But at least, he still remembered her.

Ava entered the house that she had not set foot in for three years, and she did not know where to begin. She was about to heave a sigh of relief that someone was not home when she heard voices coming from the dining room.

They were the voices of her stepmother and step-sister, probably having breakfast.

Ava immediately stopped in her tracks when she heard her name being mentioned.

June, her step-sister, was explaining something to her mother, “I have just gotten off the phone with Beth and Ava has already signed the divorce papers. She is now a homeless divorcee with nowhere to go.”

“Oh, what a tragedy to befall such a poor soul!” June’s mother said in a heartbroken voice. But her tone changed into a cold and mocking one, “But she deserves it. Who told her to have such a stupid mother who could not even protect her?”

“Now that she is no longer a threat, we can enjoy everything that her mother left for her in peace. With that accident, I don’t think that she will ever regain her memories in this lifetime.”

“Mom, you don’t have to worry about anything. Beth said that Jason’s current girlfriend is not someone to be messed with. Who knows, maybe she might not even be able to sleep on the streets tonight. ‘Accidents’ easily happen in such kind of places.”

Ava was shocked when she heard them. What did they mean that she will never regain her memories in this lifetime? Had she ever had an accident that made her lose her memories?

And from their tone, it did not seem like it was an accident! What does that mean?