Roland arrived at his home in the afternoon because he made a stop at the beach to clear his head.
He drove the pickup into his garage and packed it. Then he got out of the vehicle and headed into the mansion.
“Gosh!… I am sorry for my reaction, young master.” Floral said the moment she met Roland in the hallway.
“It's okay.” Roland replied without care.
“Young master, dinner has been served at the dining table.”
“Where's the girl?”
“Oh. She’s in the last bedroom that's at the end of the hall. She has been up there for the entire day.”
Floral last sentence did not seem right to Roland, but he didn't react immediately.
“Did something happen?” Roland calmly asked.
“To be truthful, something did happen. I hesitated to tell you because I thought sir Jax had informed you, and I didn't want to seem nosy.” Floral said.
“What is it?”
“Madam Belle came to your house and put a knife to your guest's neck since she mistook her to
Roland caught Ava doubtfully staring at him. She then rolled her eyes when he half-smile at her.“What?” Roland asked.“I know that expression quite well. You had that same expression the morning of our engagement celebration.” Ava angrily said as the light in her eyes faded, leaving only sadness.Roland's forehead furrowed, his brows drew together, and the color drained out of his face. He walked out of the bathroom and Ava followed him. When he looked at her, Ava's confusion was visible for him to see.“Don't forget your place!” Roland shouted.“What?” Ava asked out of confusion.“You are nothing but a garbage that I picked up from on the street, so don't cross these boundaries that I have set for you! Is that clear?”Ava plastered a smile on her face for a second, thinking Roland was kidding, then it faded in an instant as her eyes got wet when she saw how serious hi
After Doctor Charles left, the dining table was awkwardly silent.Roland and Ava were too occupied with their own thoughts to focus on each other.“May I be excused? I am full.” Ava said a while later.Roland lifted his head and gazed at her calm appearance. He then let out a soft sigh before focusing his attention back on his dinner.“You are free to go.” Roland mumbled.Tears shimmered in Ava's eyes as she stood there staring at the man that her heart longs for, but now, he was too distant for her to hold onto him. She sniffed back her cry, then turned around and walked away.Ava was so into her thoughts as she walked towards her room that she did not hear the footsteps behind her.“Is that what you are going to be sleeping in tonight?”Ava turned around to see Roland staring at her. She tried to smile at him. But her lips rebelled against her and a frown was the only expression she could come up with at that moment.“It's not
Ava rolled over in bed as the loud knock on her room door woke her from her sleep."Bang! Bang!"Ava angrily sat up in bed and turned her head to stare at the door."What do you want?" Ava screamed.Floral's face expressed intense anger when she heard the roughness in Ava's tone. But she didn't allow her rage to consume her."My young master requested your presence in the dining room." Floral calmly called out."What for?" Ava yelled.She got out of bed and approached the mirror then intensely stared at her reflection."How rude! What does she think she is? The madam of this house. Ha!" Floral mumbled.She clutched her fist and forced herself to keep calm."You are summoned to have dinner with him." Floral said.Selena placed her finger under her eye and stretched it open. Then she did the same to the other one.'She sounds so old school. And why are my eyes so puffy and these dark circles look terrible around t
Ava's heartbeat had increased and her heart was violently pounding in her chest. Her hands began to shiver, and her feet felt heavy beneath her.Ava thought she was going to collapse from panic, but then she felt her fingers begin gently squeezed by Roland's hand, and that somehow made her feel safe.“Act normal. We can not give them any wrong signal or else other people might get hurt in a crossfire. Do you understand?” Roland whispered as he kept holding onto Ava's hand while they continued walking.“Yes. Wait, them? How many are there?” Ava mumbled.“We have one man on our left, the other on our right, and two at our back.” Roland replied.The thought of four men with guns walking so close by them made Ava's fear resurface again, causing her breathing to become deep and heavy.“Hey, hey. Calm down. I am not going to allow you to die. Trust me?” Roland whispered.“I trust you.” Ava muttered.She took a deep breath and exhaled. She th
Ava squeezed her eyes shut when she heard the loud gunshot sound. Her hands hugged tightly around Roland’s body.“Are you okay?” Ava mumbled.“One man down.” Roland replied.Ava opened her eyes and saw the gun in Roland's hand. Then she looked at where the gun was pointed and saw a man lying in his blood.“Are you stupid! What were you thinking, walking out of the store alone! Do you know how close to death you were just now!” Roland lashed out.“I… I am sorry.” Ava replied.Roland felt Ava’s hands tremble, and his anger immediately subsided a bit.“Don't move. We still have three men uncounted for.” Roland calmly said.People were running by them and screamed. But he remained focused as he surveyed the crowd for his targets.“Got you. Roland mumbled.He directed his gun to the west side of the mall and before the hit man could get the chance to pull his trigger, a bullet had already pierced through his heart.“Two do
The moment Belle walked into the hallway, Ava's expression immediately changed and her mood became full of anger.Roland did not look excited either and his expression remained aloof as he stared at Belle.“Hello, Roland guest. I apologized for my attitude yesterday. If I knew who you were yesterday, things wouldn't have become bloody.” Belle said.Ava clutched her fist to calm down her rage, but she found it difficult to restrain her anger.‘What a two-face.’ Ava thought as she stared at the calm smile on Belle’s face.In that instant, Floral returned with some of the bags, and Ava saw it as a perfect moment to escape.“Well, I need to get going. This coat feels uncomfortable on me, and I want to change into something comfy.” Ava said.Belle felt furious. But she masked her anger with a smile and kept her expression calm.“You can't leave now. I have something to tell you and Roland. You can do your changing another time!” Belle comma
Even after Ava heard the front door shut, she couldn't help feeling worried and that stirred up a bunch of mixed emotions inside of her.Roland noticed how disturbed Ava looked, and he became interested in her thoughts.“What's on your mind?” Roland asked.“I am not going to your little fiance's party. That freak tried to kill me not too long ago!” Ava shouted.In a fate of rage, she stood up from the couch and ran out of the room.“Ava! Get back here!” Roland screamed.He waited for a minute, but when he heard Ava’s footsteps rushing up the stairs, Roland stood up from his seat and chased after her.Ava was at her room door when she felt a hand gripped onto her wrist.“Get your hand off me!!” Ava shouted.At that moment, she finally allowed her tears to wash upon her cheek.Roland did not give ears to Ava’s words. Instead, he yanked her along with him, then dragged her into his room and slammed the door shut.“Stop y
Ava's eyes opened the next morning. But she wished that she had not woken up because everything from yesterday came rushing back to her memories like a bad dream that she was reliving.She dragged herself out of bed and sluggishly walked into her bathroom.“Good morning to another day of trying to escape death.” Ava mumbled to herself.She took out her toothbrush and put toothpaste on it. The moment Ava put the brush into her mouth, she heard a knock on the door.‘Here we go again.’ Ava thought.Floral waited for another five minutes, then these minutes increased to fifteen and another five added on them before Ava could open the door.“My young master request…” Floral tried to say, but she was unable to finish when Ava cut her off.“Breakfast right?” Ava mumbled.“Yes.”“Great.”Ava downheartedly walked past Floral and headed downstairs.“What's her deal this morning?” Floral mumbled before following Ava.Rolan
The jet landed on an open field, and its door opened. Then Roland looked at Ava and said, "Let's go." Although she had all these questions running about in her head, she stood from the seat and mumbled, "Okay," Then she obediently followed Roland out of the jet, and once her feet touched the grass, Ava looked at the black SUV in front of them and then stared at Roland before asking, "What now?" Swaying his attention to her, he said with a deadpan expression, "Get in the car." Inhaling deeply, Ava gathered all her strength, held in her words, and walked over to the SUV. After she had gotten into the car, Roland looked at Jax when he stopped beside him and asked, "Is everything set?" "Yes, he's awaiting us at the hotel," Jax replied. Staring at the tainted window glass, Ava pouted, wondering why Roland had not entered the car yet, and suddenly, the thought of him abandoning her crossed her mind. Without hesitating,
Keeping a straight face, Ava fixed her eyes on the door as it opened, then her sight rested on Roland, and the corners of her lips slightly raised. "I'm sorry for slapping you," Ava mumbled beneath her breath as she watched him shut the door. "It's fine. I shouldn't have forced you to do something that you didn't want to do." Roland said, walking over to her. Then when he was just a foot away from Ava, he squatted, took her hands in his, and looked into her eyes. "How about we take a trip out of this place and go somewhere else for the time being until this issue with Belle can die down," Roland said as he focused solely on her gaze. "Are you serious?" Ava asked, striving to contain her excitement. "Yes, just you and I… Well and Jax." "Yes!" Widening her smile, Ava's eyes lit up as she loudly said again, "Yes, I want to!" "Great, grab a suitcase and get a few things that you need. We will go shopping when
Everything was blurry for a second as Ava slowly opened her eyes. Then she shut them close and waited for a while before raising her eyelids. “What happened?” Ava mumbled, staring at Roland's worried expression. For a moment, he said nothing as he stared at her. Then he let out a sigh of relief and said, “You fainted.” A frown settled on Ava's face as she slowly sat up, glaring at Roland. Then without holding back, she raised her hand and slammed her palm against his cheek. “What did you make me do!” Ava screamed, staring wide-eyed at her shaking hand. When she gazed back at Roland, his face bore no expression, and she slowly began to panic, wondering what he was going to do to her. “If it makes you feel any better, you didn't kill him.” Roland coldly said, rising from the bed. “Huh?” Ava mumbled without meeting his eyes. “I shifted the gun in another direction before it fired. But you wouldn't know that becau
“Miss, my young master said that you should come down for breakfast.” Ava heard Foral’s voice echoed from the other side of the door.She then put the pillow over her ears and ignored the knocks.After a few minutes, it became quiet, and she slowly took the pillow off her head.“How can I go back to pretending that we don't know each other when I have seen his nakedness again?” Ava mumbled, sniffing Roland's shirt.Then she curled into a ball and thought, ‘ I might be crazy to continue loving him after everything that has happened.’The silence in her bedroom lasted for a brief while. Then Ava heard footsteps approaching her door.“Break it down!” Roland's voice echoed into the room.“Break what down? The door! Has he gone nuts!" Ava mumbled, getting out of bed.Then she stopped in her tracks when she heard the sound of a power saw tearing through her door.&ldq
The moment Jax drove the vehicle into the yard, Roland got out, leaving Ava downheartedly staring after him.She watched from the car window as he entered the villa and slammed the door shut.“Is he mad?” Ava mumbled, slowly rubbing her arm.“I have seen and felt the wrath of my boss's anger, and it's nothing like now. I think you hurt his feelings.” Jax said, staring at Ava from the V mirror.“I didn't mean to.”“It's not me who needs to hear that.”“Right.”For a moment Ava didn't move, then a sigh escaped her lips as she pushed the car door open and got out.Roland had just got done changing into comfy sweatpants and a t-shirt when Ava entered his room.“What do you want?” Roland asked, giving her an icy stare.“Ummm… Thank you for tonight.” Ava said, staring at his bandaged hand.“Is that all? You can
As Jax drove them home, Roland and Ava sat in the backseat of the car without uttering a word to each other. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Ava stared away from the windshield and pouted as she gazed at Roland.Then she frustratingly sighed, and asked, "Are you not going to scoldme?" "Why should I?" Roland mumbled, keeping his eyes center on the v mirror to make sure that no suspicious car was followingthem.
After allowing Roland and Ava to walk a few distances ahead, Bella pulled her hand out of her dress pocket and threw the knife at Ava.However, Roland hastily caught it before the blade could penetrate Ava's neck and hit her spinal cord.Then his eyebrows lowered and his lips tightened as he stared at the murderous look in Belle’s eye and it woke his anger.The entire hall was in chaos while everyone watched in horror as blood dripped from Roland's palm and fell to the ground.Within less than a second, the room suddenly became noisy with desperate screams and cries of the guests when Roland's men stormed the hall with weapons and placed everyone under gunpoint, except for Ava and him.The atmosphere quickly became hostile, and no one dared to move or utter a word as they all waited for Roland's next move.Then a smirk settled on Belle’s lips while she stared at Jax’s gun, pointing directly at her, then her gaze swayed towards Roland's mad eyes, a
Ava stared at Roland with shock in her expression as he gently squeezed her hand. Then she faintly smiled, knowing that was all the assurance she needed.“Roland, this girl disrespected my daughter on her special day. How dare you stand up for her?!” Bartow shouted in rage.“I apologize that my guest offended Lady Belle. It is my fault for not teaching her properly. I will handle her when we get home so a situation like this can not happen again.” Roland calmly said w
Roland stared at Ava, and he could see pure fear in her eyes.The moment the waiter walked past Roland, he set his glass onto the tray before rushing over to Ava.“We got to go.” Roland hastily said.“What?” Ava asked out of shock.Roland could tell that Ava wasn't in her right state of mind, so he held her hands and led her to the door.However, a few steps away from the entrance. Roland stopped walking, and so did Jax and Ava“Sir, things just got a bit complicated,” Jax mumbled.“I can see that,” Roland replied.“What is happening?” Ava asked.Then a grey-headed and built elderly man walked up to them with a murderous gaze in his eyes.“Good evening, big boss!” Jax said.He then bowed for a second before lifting his head. But he was careful not to make eye contact with Luther.“Young lady, how close are you with my son, and what's your relationship?” Luther coldly asked.“Son?” Ava mumbled.She ga