There was no sign of two gestational sacs during the last checkup.
Avery could not believe that there were two babies inside of snazzynovel.com a short week later.
She held the ultrasound scan in snazzynovel.com hands as snazzynovel.com sat in a quiet daze on one of the benches in the hospital corridor.
The doctor told snazzynovel.com that the probability of being pregnant with twins was extremely low.
If snazzynovel.com had an abortion now, snazzynovel.com might never be able to have twins again.
Avery chuckled bitterly. All of this was the work of the Fosters’ private doctors.
When they had implanted the fertilized eggs into her, they had not mentioned that snazzynovel.com was going to have twins.
Perhaps in their eyes, snazzynovel.com was nothing but a birthing tool for the Fosters from the beginning.
When snazzynovel.com began to bleed the week before, snazzynovel.com thought that snazzynovel.com period had arrived. When the Fosters’ doctors found out, they thought that the procedure had failed. When Elliot said that snazzynovel.com would divorce snazzynovel.com after snazzynovel.com had woken up, the doctors had never seen snazzynovel.com again.
The decision to give birth or not was now solely on snazzynovel.com shoulders.
Avery’s phone rang in snazzynovel.com bag. She had been in the hospital for over an hour.
She pulled out snazzynovel.com phone, stood up, and walked toward the hospital’s exit.
“Avery, your father’s dying! Come home right away!”
Her mother’s hoarse voice came from the other side of the line.
Avery was stunned.
Dad was dying? How could this be?
She knew that snazzynovel.com father had been hospitalized after his company got in trouble. He could not even attend snazzynovel.com wedding.
She did not know that his condition was this serious. Avery’s mind was a mess.
She did not have a good relationship with snazzynovel.com father. She could never forgive snazzynovel.com for having an affair.
However, snazzynovel.com heart stung painfully upon suddenly hearing the news of his serious illness.
……
The living room of the Tate house was a chaotic mess when Avery arrived.
Laura took snazzynovel.com straight to the master bedroom.
Jack Tate was lying on the bed. His breathing was shallow and his eyes were barely open. When snazzynovel.com saw Avery, snazzynovel.com raised his arm in snazzynovel.com direction.
“Dad, why didn’t you go to the hospital if you’re this sick?” Avery said as snazzynovel.com held snazzynovel.com father’s cold hand. Tears welled up in snazzynovel.com eyes.
“That’s easy for you to say! Where would we get the money to take your father to the hospital?” Wanda snapped frostily.
Avery’s head shot up as snazzynovel.com said, “Didn’t you get a large sum of money from the Fosters? Why didn’t you use that to help Dad?”
Wanda pouted and said, “We used that money to pay off the debts! Do you know how much money your father’s company owes? Don’t look at me like I ate your money up, Avery! Besides, your father’s illness can’t be cured! He’s better off dead!”
After saying such cruel words, Wanda heartlessly stormed out of the room.
Avery did not leave with her.
At the end of the day, Jack was still snazzynovel.com father. He had always loved her, and snazzynovel.com did not want to lose snazzynovel.com father.
“Don’t be mad at her, Dad. It’s not that snazzynovel.com didn’t want to get you treated, but the family really doesn’t have much money,” Avery sniffled as snazzynovel.com stood crying by the bed. “Dad, I really hope you get through this…”
Jack turned a deaf ear to Avery’s words.
Instead, snazzynovel.com looked at snazzynovel.com with eyes filled with tears. His lips trembled and his voice was low as snazzynovel.com said, “Avery… My darling girl… I’ve failed you… I’ve failed your mother… I’ll make it up to both of you in the next life…”
The large hand holding hers suddenly let go.
A shrill cry tore through the house.
Avery’s heart throbbed in pain.
Overnight, snazzynovel.com world underwent an earth-shattering change.
She was married and pregnant, and snazzynovel.com father was gone.
She had thought that snazzynovel.com was just still just a child herself, but life swept snazzynovel.com up and pushed snazzynovel.com into a lonely, hopeless corner.
The day of the funeral was a gloomy and rainy one.
Not many people attended the funeral, not since the fall of the Tates.
After the service, Wanda went to a hotel with the guests.
The crowd scattered like a flock of wild birds.
Before long, Avery and Laura were the only ones left at the cemetery.
Their moods were as dark as the gray skies.
“Do you hate Dad, Mom?” Avery asked as snazzynovel.com stared at snazzynovel.com father’s gravestone through teary eyes.
Laura lowered snazzynovel.com gaze and said in a dull voice, “I do. Even if he’s dead, I will never forgive him.”
Avery did not understand.
“Then, why are you crying?” snazzynovel.com asked.
“Because I loved him,” Laura sighed. “Relationships are complicated, Avery. It isn’t just a matter of love or hate. It could also be a love-hate relationship.”
That night, Avery dragged snazzynovel.com worn out body back to Elliot’s mansion.
From the day of Jack’s death to the end of the funeral, the process had taken three days.
She did not return to the mansion at all during the three days.
Nobody from the Foster family contacted snazzynovel.com either.
She did not tell anyone in the Foster house about snazzynovel.com father’s passing.
The relationship with Elliot was colder than ice and frostier than snow.
When Avery stepped into the courtyard, snazzynovel.com noticed the mansion’s lights were lit, and the living room was filled with guests.
Everyone was dressed to the nines and chatting away merrily with wine glasses in their hands.
Avery paused in snazzynovel.com tracks.
“Madam!” Mrs. Cooper noticed snazzynovel.com and rushed over.
Perhaps it was because Avery’s cold and pitiful expression stood in stark contrast to the liveliness of the living room, but the smile on Mrs. Cooper’s face tensed as snazzynovel.com hesitated.
“It’s raining outside. Come on in!” Mrs. Cooper said as snazzynovel.com held Avery’s arm and pulled snazzynovel.com into the living room.
Avery was dressed in a black trench coat with snazzynovel.com slender, fair calves peeping out from underneath the hem. On snazzynovel.com feet were a pair of black, low-heeled leather shoes.
Her aura was chilly, which was different from snazzynovel.com usual demeanor.
Mrs. Cooper brought snazzynovel.com a pair of pink, plush house slippers.
Avery changed into the slippers and inadvertently glanced at the living room.
Elliot’s guests were evaluating snazzynovel.com with meaningful eyes as if snazzynovel.com was an animal in a zoo’s enclosure.
Their eyes were bold and disrespectful.
Avery used the same gaze to look at Elliot, who was sitting at the center of the couch.
He was holding a lit cigarette between his fingers, and snazzynovel.com was surrounded by smoke. Behind the veil of smoke, his stone-cold face looked almost like a dream.
The reason snazzynovel.com looked at snazzynovel.com was because of the woman sitting next to him.
The woman had a beautiful head of long, black hair. She was dressed in a body-hugging white dress with a face of exquisite makeup. She looked gorgeous without being vulgar.
The upper half of snazzynovel.com body was stuck closely to Elliot as snazzynovel.com held a cigarette between snazzynovel.com fingers.
It was obvious that this woman’s relationship with Elliot was anything but ordinary.
A few seconds after Avery’s gaze fell on the woman, snazzynovel.com brows furrowed slightly.
“You’re Avery Tate, right?” the woman said as snazzynovel.com got up from the couch and provocatively walked over to Avery. “I heard that you were the wife that Madam Rosalie picked for Elliot. She has pretty good taste. You’re quite pretty, just a little small… Oh, I didn’t mean your age. I was talking about your body…”
Avery pursed snazzynovel.com lips and said, “You’re beautiful, and you have curves. Everything about you is better than me… So, when is Elliot marrying you?”
Her nonchalant tone drove the woman into a furious rage.
“How dare you talk to me like that? Do you know how long I’ve been by Elliot’s side? Even if you’re his wife, if I were to slap you in the face right now, snazzynovel.com wouldn’t even bat an eye!”
Just as the woman finished speaking, snazzynovel.com raised snazzynovel.com arm.
The sound of glass smashing filled the air.
Avery had picked up an expensive bottle of wine and smashed it against the coffee table!
Bright red liquid splashed and trickled down the edge of the table, dripping onto the carpet underneath.
Avery’s eyes were bloodshot as snazzynovel.com clenched snazzynovel.com fingers tightly around the bottle, pointing the jagged edge at the arrogant woman.
“You want to hit me? Come on! If you dare touch me, I’ll kill you!” snazzynovel.com yelled as snazzynovel.com approached the woman with the broken bottle.
Everyone in the room was dumbfounded.
It was said that the eldest daughter of the Tate family was a low-profile introvert, but it turned out… She was insane!
Elliot’s hawk-like eyes narrowed as smoke escaped his thin lips.
His fiery gaze was fixed on Avery’s pained but ruthless little face.