Ava took a step towards the door, but Bella held her back, shaking her head at Ava."No," Bella said.There was a bit of silence in the room before they heard Noah speak again."She does not know, nor does she know about the contract," Noah said."Wow, I can't seem to believe that she does not. Well, it's a good thing that she accepted your proposal; all we need to do now is speed up the wedding process." Beth said."Of course, that should be real easy." Noah said."After all the groundwork you have put in, it should be easy. I actually thought Philip was going to spoil things for us; it turned out he was only after his own pocket," Beth said."Yeah, there was no need to worry. As long as it did not affect what I had planned with Ava." Noah replied."It all feels like yesterday, though," Beth muttered."Yeah, it's a good thing my proposal to partner with Elegance and Style all those years ago was not successful. Now I get to own a part of it all, which is much better. My dream to vent
Ava stared at the paper Nathan Crawford, her husband, kept in front of her like it was a piece of art she needed to understand."Ava, sign the damn document; I don’t have time for this,” Nathan shouted, his brows drawn together as he tapped his feet on the floor impatiently.“I… I don’t understand Nathan; did I do something wrong? Does grandfather know about this?” Ava stammered as she looked up at the man she had loved for most of her life.Nathan brushed a hand through his hair in frustration as he sighed deeply, trying to contain his irritation with her.“We both know this is not going to work, and three years is long enough for us to cut it loose, don’t you think?” Nathan said calmly, trying to get through to her.“It’s just been three years, Nathan. I know we can make this work after that night…” Ava was saying, but Nathan interrupted her.“Don’t!” he said, his voice hard as he glared at her before adding, “That was a mistake, one night of drunken mistake on my part, okay.”“It me
“How could you be so dense? You probably brought this on yourself. All you had to do was remain silent, be a faithful wife, and be obedient. Would it have killed you to not have signed those damn papers?” Charles Parish shouted at Ava, his eyes almost bulging out of his skull.His face was squeezed in anger, his brows drawn together as he stared at his firstborn daughter, wondering how he had gone wrong with her.“Is that all you have to say to me?” Ava replied, her eyes filled with tears.She had walked through the rain, hoping she would at least find some solace with the man she called father.“What were you expecting, a hug? After the shame you have brought on this family? How could you get yourself divorced from him?” Amelia Parish, Ava’s stepmother, said, trying to look dissatisfied with the outcome of her stepdaughter’s marriage.“Oh, I don’t expect that from you, seeing as you pretty much did exactly what she did to me with my father,” Ava said, her voice dropping a notch as she
Ava Smith stared out the window of the airplane at the clouds and sighed deeply. She never thought anything would bring her back to New York.It was the city where she had almost lost her life, been betrayed and stabbed in the back by the person she had loved the most. It was also where she had gotten the greatest gift of her life.“You really should get that look off your face; someone might think you are headed to a burial,” Isabella Brown murmured beside her.“I just might be Bella; it’s been six years, but it doesn’t reduce the pain I suffered,” Ava replied, trying to keep her voice low.“Who suffered?” Jenna asked, looking from her mother to Bella.“What do I always say?” Ava said, raising her brow at Jenna.“Never interrupt Mummy when she is talking to Aunt Bella,” Jordan said, mimicking his mother.“Jordan Smith!” Ava said, rolling her eyes at him.“That was a good one,” Bella said, winking at him.Jordan grinned as he looked at his mother, and Ava shook her head, staring at the
“Ava!” Bella shouted, adding, “Snap out of it and get to your son.”Ava shook her head, her thumping heart overshadowing every other sound in the airplane. Then her eye, which had suddenly become blurry, cleared up as she saw those who were gathered around her child.“Such a poor boy,” one of the passengers on the other line murmured as they watched what was going on.Ava unbuckled her belt with clumsy hands as she fell to the ground beside Jordan.“Jordan, can you hear me, baby?” Ava said as she lifted him to her lap.“What is wrong with Jordan?” Jenna asked, her little voice trembling and filled with fear.“Jordan is going to be fine, sweetheart,” Bella said, pulling Jenna away before asking one of the air hostesses, “Do we have a doctor on board?”“Someone is making that announcement now,” the air hostess replied.Just then, someone walked up to them and said, “Everybody move back; let me take a look at the boy; I’m a doctor.”The doctor looked at Ava and said, “Hello, I’m a doctor;
It was then that Bella realized someone was actually calling her name. As she looked in the direction Jordan was pointing, she saw her name on a placard.“Oh god, I almost forgot,” Bella said, murmuring.As she watched her cousin approach, she heard Ava’s voice say, “Jenna?”Ava rushed over to Jenna as soon as her eyes landed on the cut on her elbow.“A scary-looking lady was shouting at Aunt Bella,” Jordan told his mother instantly.“What happened?” Ava asked Bella.“I’ll explain it on the way; for now, let’s get out of here,” Bella replied.At that moment, Brad Willow got to them, a broad smile on his face."Hello, Cousin,” Brad said, taking Bella into his arm as he hugged her.“Someone’s excited to see me,” Bella muttered with a grin.“At least one of us missed the other,” Brad replied before pulling away and turning towards Ava and the twins.As soon as he saw the cut on Jenna’s hand, he said, “Hello Ava, I’ve heard a lot about you and the twins, and I do think we need to attend to
Ava felt like time had stopped. Like all that was left were just the two faces she had hoped never to cross paths with forever.Ava could see the shock on both their faces. Nathan’s brows were drawn as he stared at her, and beside him, Nora’s face had instantly paled.How amusing, Ava thought.“Oh my god! Are you alright?” Daphne Summers muttered.And just like that, the frozen moment ended.“Ava?” Nathan called, his voice as melodious as it had always been, almost like music from his perfectly formed lips. He used those same lips to destroy her world.Elliot signaled one of the ushers to attend to the mess as he asked, “Is something wrong?”"No, I'm fine; thank you, Elliot," Nora replied quickly.“Hello Nathan,” Ava said sweetly, her tone almost too pleasant that Bella had to turn to look at her face.“Oh, no, not the smile,” Bella murmured.At the entrance to the hall, Charles Parish and his family had just arrived.“I can’t believe we were invited to this; surely it’s going to turn
Ava watched as the man approached her, escorted by an usher, who most likely was coming to show him his seat.“Now, I know we all must have a lot of questions for us tonight,” Elliot Sage said from the stage.Ava realized she was still standing and quickly had her seat without taking her eyes off the doctor.“Here’s your seat, Mr.” the usher said.“First of all, I’d like to say it’s an honor to be here. The Sage…” Daphne Summers was saying, her voice overshadowing the usher.Ava turned to the man and said, “Hello, we meet again.”He looked at her through deep blue eyes with a look of puzzle on his face.“You probably don’t remember, we...” Ava was saying when an usher walked over to her.“Ms. Rachel, you are needed backstage,” the usher said.“Oh, uhm,” Ava muttered, looking from the usher to the man who had helped Jordan.“I’ll be right back,” Ava told the stranger.When they got backstage, the usher directed her to a big and angry-looking guy.“This is Ms. Isabella's PA,” the usher s
Ava took a step towards the door, but Bella held her back, shaking her head at Ava."No," Bella said.There was a bit of silence in the room before they heard Noah speak again."She does not know, nor does she know about the contract," Noah said."Wow, I can't seem to believe that she does not. Well, it's a good thing that she accepted your proposal; all we need to do now is speed up the wedding process." Beth said."Of course, that should be real easy." Noah said."After all the groundwork you have put in, it should be easy. I actually thought Philip was going to spoil things for us; it turned out he was only after his own pocket," Beth said."Yeah, there was no need to worry. As long as it did not affect what I had planned with Ava." Noah replied."It all feels like yesterday, though," Beth muttered."Yeah, it's a good thing my proposal to partner with Elegance and Style all those years ago was not successful. Now I get to own a part of it all, which is much better. My dream to vent
Nathan was frozen, unable to move an inch as he stared at Noah on his knees before locking his gaze with Ava."Say yes," people chorused around them.Ava took a deep breath and then looked at Noah and said, "Yes."A round of applause and gleeful cheer rose from the group around them as Noah slipped the ring on Ava's finger."Thank you," Noah said as he stood up and hugged her."Congratulations," everyone said as they walked past them."Let's find our table," Ava said.They both walked into the main hall, leaving a frozen Nathan still standing there.As soon as Bella saw Ava, she jumped up and walked over to her and hugged her tightly."Didn't seem like you both were that serious yet," Bella whispered, a forced smile plastered on her face."Neither did I," Ava whispered back with a forced smile."I need to check something at the back; my store is showcasing some of our latest collection." Noah explained."Okay," Ava said.Noah kissed the back of her hand and excused himself. Ava watche
The room went silent as they all looked up to see who the man was pointing at."Oh my god!" Ava exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared at her.She could not believe her eyes. How could she do something so wicked, so heartless?"Mom?" Tyler called, looking confused, "Did you do it?"Clara had her head to the ground, unable to lift it up to face Timothy."Oh, God," Peter said, falling back against the couch as he held his chest.Nathan's hand clenched into a fist at his side as he looked at Clara through death-stricken eyes."Take him outside; there are a lot more persons that would need to follow him to the police station." Timothy instructed the security guys.Clara went to her knees and begged, "I didn't know what I was doing; I'm sorry.""So you killed my mother? Why? What did she do to you? And then you threatened me to leave town. What did I ever do to you?" Ava asked, choking back tears."No, your mother's accident was a natural cause; I had nothing to do with
Nathan's words fell like a bomb as jaws dropped in shock. Everyone in the room looked from him to Nora, waiting for her to refute his statement."Did he speak with you?" Nora slipped, the words coming out of her lips before she could think."Oh my god," Wyatt exclaimed.Everyone started to speak at the same time, the whole room going into an uproar as they all tried to speak over each other.Ava sat there, her face neutral as she took in what was happening."Quiet!" Tyler shouted, bringing the room to a sudden silence.Nora's eyes darted from Nathan's to Timothy's, who sat awestruck, staring at her."Where is Thomas?" Ava asked."None of your f*cking business!" Nora shouted at her.Nathan turned, noticing Ava for the first time since he walked into the house."Ava?" Nathan called softly."Surely you do not want him to hear all this, right?" Ava snapped, getting visibly angry at Nora's lack of consideration."I will go make sure he isn't anywhere near and get one of the housekeepers to
"Thank you for having me, doctor. So you're saying he can get the transfusion tomorrow?" Nathan asked."Yes, he can. We have taken quite a bit from you, and it's a good thing that it matches, and we can give it to him. However, this might be a temporary fix, but let's get over this hurdle first, and then we can talk about the next step." The doctor explained"Okay, thank you so much. Do I get the results?" Nathan asked."Of course, I believe you would want to have a read-through yourself." The doctor replied and added, "You can pick it up at the lab on your way.""Thank you, doctor. I'll be on my way. Tomorrow, I'll be here with Thomas," Nathan said."We will be expecting you." The doctor replied, standing up to shake his hands before Nathan left.Nathan walked over to the lab and requested his results from the nurse at the station."Good day, Mr. Crawford, give me a minute, please." The nurse said and walked towards a table.She picked up an envelope and discovered there was another
"They have taken the sample; we would get the results tomorrow," Nathan explained."That was fast," Clara muttered."I will stay with him; you guys can go home; it's been a long day already," Nathan said."Okay, call us if you need anything, okay?" Peter said."I will," Nathan responded."I am staying with my son too," Nora insisted.There was no reasoning with her, so Nathan allowed her.The night was long, but by the time it was morning, Thomas was feeling much better."The results are not out yet, but he can be discharged. We should be able to book an appointment for when he would come in for the transfusion in the next two days," the doctor said."Okay, that's good. Thank you, doctor." Nathan responded.By the time they got home, it was almost midday. Everyone was waiting for them in the living room."Hey there, champ, How are you feeling?" Tyler asked."I'm fine, Uncle Tyler," Thomas responded.Timothy walked down the stairs at the moment, smiled at Thomas, and said, "You feel be
By the time they got to the garage, the sun was setting, and Nathan was already exhausted."Now it's good we all came here as Nora suggested. We haven't been seen in public together for a while." Peter said, a satisfied smile on his face."I agree," Wyatt seconded.Thomas held his mother's hand, who had refused to give him a smile or say as much as a word to him since losing the competition."Why do you look so sad, champ? You'll win the next one, okay? Tyler said, ruffling his hair.Nora pulled Thomas away from him and placed him behind her.Nathan picked him up and smiled at him, saying, "Do you want ice cream? Don't worry about the competition, okay? You'll get another chance."Thomas nodded, finally smiling at his father as he replied, "Okay."Nathan touched his forehead and looked over at Nora to ask, "Is Thomas on any medication? Why is he running a temperature?""Nothing is wrong with him. He is probably just pretending since he does not want to get scolded for losing the compe
"How did you find out?" Timothy asked."That has nothing to do with the answer you are supposed to give me," Ava responded as she folded the tissue and walked over to a wastebasket in the corner of the room.Timothy stood up and walked over to the window, a grim expression on his face.Ava stood silently behind him, waiting for him to speak, and at last he did."Your mother saved me from a car accident," Timothy stated.Ava was not so sure what he was talking about. She was vaguely aware of the accident but not her mother's involvement in it."Olivia was at the location of the accident that day. Ruth, Nathan's mother, and I were on our way to the factory that fateful day when it happened." Timothy narrated."The same accident Nathan's mother died in?" Ava asked."Yes, your mother pulled me out of the car, but it was too late for Ruth; she died as the car blew up." Timothy said, his voice cracking up, so he paused for a second."Is this why you built a whole textile factory with my mom
Nathan turned back to face Nora and asked, "What are you talking about?""I... I mean, did he…" Nora replied, trailing off as she took in the confused look on his face."Did who?" Nathan asked again, before adding, "I really don't get a word of what you are saying.""Oh, I mean, did you have a discussion with Tyler because you sound like him blaming me for whatnot?" Nora quickly said to cover up her slip."What in God's name did Tyler do this time around?" Tyler asked, coming up behind Nathan."What don't you do?" Nora asked, not really in the mood to get on his bad side since she still needed his help."This is not the time for this. Where is Grandpa?" Nathan asked the both of them."Where else? He has gone home, something you would know if he had told you, but oops," Tyler muttered, covering his mouth as he added, "You both aren't exactly on good terms right now, right?"Nathan's face hardened, but he forced himself to relax, keeping in mind they were at a public event."Tyler, you'