Cold sweat dripped down Avery’s back.
Instinctively, she slammed her laptop shut.
She would not have done that if she were working on her thesis.
In her earlier frenzy of wild thoughts, she started a new file and wrote down a plan.
It was a plan to get a divorce within the next three months.
Avery hoped to get a divorce from Elliot before she was seven months pregnant.
That was the only way she could successfully go through her last trimester and peacefully give birth to
the twins.
If her plan failed and the divorce did not go through, then the only thing she could do was disappear.
That would be the worst-case scenario.
Avonsville was her home, and she wanted to continue to live and work there. She also hoped that her
children could be born and grow up where she did.
Avery’s overly cautious reaction revolted Elliot.
Did she think that he would be interested in her thesis?
Or perhaps she was not working on her thesis at all, and she was doing something else?
Avery saw Elliot’s sullen expression and immediately shot up and walked over to the door.
“Did you not like the book I gave you?” she said gently as she squeezed past him out of the room. “You
shouldn’t look down on it. It’s a really good book that highlights all kinds of ways to stay healthy. The
author is my mentor’s teacher. He’s a really well-known professor, you know?”
She talked as she walked into the living room and picked up the book from the coffee table.
In the seriousness of her introduction, Elliot forgot to cut her off.
“You can take a look whenever you’re bored. You can start at any chapter and it would still make
sense,” Avery added.
“Is it really that great? You’re making me want to get one for myself, too,” Mrs. Cooper chimed in.
“I’ll go get one for you tomorrow, then,” Avery said with a smile.
“Oh, that’s alright. I’ll just go get it myself,” Mrs. Cooper responded.
“Don’t mention it. It was not expensive at all. There was a sale at the bookstore so I got it for a dollar
fifty.”
The smile on Mrs. Cooper’s face froze at Avery’s mention of the price of the book.
Mrs. Cooper did not mind that the book was cheap, but she felt embarrassed for Avery.
She angered Elliot, but ended up buying a gift for him that was barely over a dollar?
As if it was not already bad enough that she bought him a gift that was on sale, she was openly
parading the fact that it was easy on the wallet!
Avery sensed that the atmosphere had turned awkward.
She took a deep breath, then picked up the gift box on the table and said, “This gift box wasn’t cheap,
you
know? It was even more expensive than the book!”
Even if the gift box cost more than the book, it was doubtful that it could be that much more expensive.
“Thank you, Madam! I’m going to get dinner ready for Master Elliot now,” said Mrs. Cooper as she
rushed t o the kitchen.
Avery turned around to glance at Elliot’s face.
He did not look as stern as he did earlier.
He was either no longer angry, or he was not in the mood to be enraged with her.
It was unbelievable that she would buy him a gift that cost just over a dollar.
His head ached so badly that he could no longer feel any other type of pain.
His calm expression lifted the alarm in Avery’s heart.
Out of concern, she asked, “Why were you meeting with Professor Hough earlier today? Are you sick?”
Before he could shoot his mouth off, Avery picked up a banana and passed it to him.
“Here, have a banana. I’m going back to my room.”
When she shoved the banana in his hand, her fingers accidentally touched him. The skin-to-skin
contact sent electric waves shooting between them.
She pulled her hand back as her cheeks flushed a crimson red.
Before she could escape, Elliot put the banana down, grabbed onto her arm, and yanked her back.
“You haven’t explained what happened earlier,” he said in a low voice.
Whether Avery had given Elliot a book worth a dollar or a hundred thousand dollars, she still owed him
a reasonable explanation for ruining his afternoon.
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