Mike immediately went out of the room with Hayden and Layla.
Averie felt as though she had been completely drained. She lied down on her bed and rested a hand onto her stomach as the memory of tears welling up in Elyette’s eyes appeared in her mind. Though she didn’t want to admit it, she would always get soft-hearted whenever he was sad. No matter the grudge between them, her defenses would always crumble whenever he showed his weakness.
A man as tough as him would never shed a tear unless he was really hurt.
She held her breath.
All it took was for her to accept Eric’s card for Elyette to have such an explosive reaction; what would happen if she was to marry another man. Elyette had been flirting with Chelsea, so why couldn’t she be with another man?
Two hours later, a post appeared on social media with the title: ‘President of Sterling Group, Elyette Foster, was seen slapping a young woman outside a hotel!’
Along with the post was a screenshot of surveillance footage, which showed that Elyette had indeed struck a woman.
No matter the status, whenever a man struck a woman and was exposed to the public, there was bound to be heated discussion over the matter.
“That guy looks decent, who knows he would do such a thing!
“He looks vicious and obviously capable of violence! I would love to see which woman would be fearless enough to marry him!
‘So what if he is capable of violence? There are plenty of women out there who are willing to marry him even if he’s a murderer! He’s just that rich!’
‘Ew! I would be so depressed if I was the woman who got slapped!’
‘Who’s that woman? Does anyone know her? She looks quite pretty from the side profile!
After a shower, Averie took a folic acid pill and lied down on the bed, but because she had taken a nap in the afternoon, she did not feel tired at all. She unlocked her phone and saw a message from the University chat group.
She went to the chatroom and found out that a heated discussion had started.
Someone sent a message that said, ‘that woman looks so much like Tammy from the side!’
“That woman might look a lot like Tammy, but it’s definitely not her! No one dares to bully Tammy!’ Another replied.
‘If I remember correctly, Tammy’s husband is friends with Elyette Foster, so why would Elyette hit Tammy?’
“Tammy! Come look at this! Some woman who looks like you got hit by Elyette Foster! @ Tammy Lynch’
Averie read through the messages in confusion. She scrolled up until she saw the screenshot and she immediately recognized Elyette from it. She zoomed in on the photo to look at the woman who had been hit.
Had she not seen Tammy earlier that day, she would have thought that it was just a woman that resembled Tammy like all her former classmates did; but she had seen Tammy and the woman on the screenshot was dressed in the exact same clothes as Tammy and Averie came to the conclusion that Tammy was the one on the photo.
A lump formed in Averie’s throat as her fingers tightened around her phone.
Tammy was a princess who was born into a wealthy family and had never gone through any hardship because she was the only daughter of her family. Though she was insolent at times, she would never pick on someone unless she was provoked first.
‘Why did Elyette hit her?!’ She thought as she hastily got out of bed to grab a jacket, before heading downstairs.
Half an hour later, she arrived at the new house where Tammy and Jun lived by car.
Jun was surprised to see her.
“Why didn’t you tell me that someone bullied Tammy?” Averie complained.
“She feels embarrassed by it and won’t let me tell anyone,” Jun responded with resignation,” how did you find out”
“It’s on the news,” she said, before taking long strides towards the bedroom.
Tammy was munching on snacks on the bed at the time, and when she saw Averie, she thought that she was hallucinating for a moment.
“Tammy, how can you not tell me when something like that happens?” Averie walked towards the bed and inspected Tammy’s wound carefully. “It’s so swollen… That bast*rd!’
Tammy had regained her composure by then, and she also didn’t want Averie to worry because she was pregnant. “It doesn’t hurt as much anymore after putting on some ointment. The doctor said that I would recover within a week.”
“Why did he hit you?” Averie grabbed onto her hand and asked, “Tammy, tell me!”
Tammy scowled. She was reluctant to think back to what happened, but knew that she couldn’t avoid the question at the same time.
“I saw how much you’ve suffered over what’s going on with the baby, so I wanted to tell him about it in secret so that he can keep you company. I went looking for him at the hotel, but then Chelsea got in my way and stopped me from going in. She did it on purpose! I still feel so angry when I think about that woman!”
Averie tapped her on the shoulder and guessed that Elyette had resorted to violence for Chelsea’s sake.
“I slapped Chelsea across the face,” Tammy continued, “I know that I was being impulsive, but I would hit her again even if I can go back in time! She is not the Mrs. President of Sterling Group just yet! How dare she pick on me?”
Averie’s heart felt heavy at her words. Tammy was at fault for starting the fight, but that was between her and Chelsea. Was it necessary for Elyette to get involved?
“That bast*rd Elyette Foster. I will never forgive him! Of course, he probably doesn’t care about that!” Tammy said and glanced at Averie. “Averie, this is between me and Elyette Foster, and you have nothing to do with this, so don’t get affected by this. I was hit because I ran my mouth, and he didn’t hit me solely for Chelsea’s sake.”
“It doesn’t matter what you said to him, Tammy. He never should have hit you.” Averie was reminded of a similar incident and said, “he came close to strangling Hayden to death before and Hayden still hates him for that up until this day. I suspect that he already knows that Hayden is his son, but he doesn’t have the courage to admit it due to the mistakes he made. He knows that Hayden would refuse to acknowledge him as his father.”
Tammy was stunned. “I guess I should be glad that all he did was slap me across the face then?
“He is just too hot-tempered.” Averie took out the ointment she brought and handed it to Tammy. “Don’t go looking for him again, Tammy.”
“Of course. I won’t forgive him unless he apologizes. I won’t forgive him even if he apologizes! ” Tammy declared angrily,” but if you want to get back together with him for the baby’s sake, I won’t be mad.”
“Tammy, you are my best friend. Hitting you is the same thing as hitting me,” Averie said.
“Wah! I knew you would side with me! But you are pregnant now, Averie, I don’t want you to worry over these kinds of things.” Tammy took her hands and said, “the doctor told you to rest and you still came all the way here to see me. I am so moved, but don’t pick a fight with Elyette over this. I’m worried that you might not feel well if you get too emotional.”
“I know what to do.”
The next morning, Averie appeared before the Sterling Group building dressed in a light blue maternity dress. Because she didn’t make any appointment, she remained on the first floor to wait for the receptionist to call up.
About five minutes later, the door of the elevator nearby opened and Chad stepped out of it.
He walked towards Averie with a gentle smile and asked, “what brought you here, Averie?”
“Just felt like coming over,” she said.
Chad knew exactly why Averie had come to visit, but pretended to not know a thing. “Mr. Foster is slightly busy and he is not in his office at the moment. You can wait for him in his office for the time being, is that okay?”
“Yeah.”
The two stepped into the elevator.
The elevator door closed and Chad took a glance at Averie’s stomach. “Your belly has grown bigger. Do you get tired more easily compared to before?”
“Not really.”
“Oh. Is everything okay with the monthly check-up?”
“No.”
Chad didn’t mean to upset her. He wouldn’t have asked such a stupid question if only he knew that the results were concerning. He changed the subject awkwardly and asked, “…what’s that you are holding?”
There was a folder in Averie’s hand, which contained a contract.
“I will talk to your boss when I see him,” she responded coldly while oozing an extremely intimidating aura.
Chad shivered. Last night, news of Elyette slapping Tammy across the face had somehow found its way to the internet. Though they managed to remove it afterward, Averie must have already found out. Averie rarely came to Sterling Group and the incident had to be the reason for her sudden visit.
Alarmed, Chad thought to himself, ‘Mr. Foster is in trouble! Averie is pregnant with his baby now so he wouldn’t dare to enrage her in any way, which means that he is going to lose this battle no matter what!’
Chad sent Averie to Elyette’s office and poured her a glass of warm water, before asking enthusiastically, “do you want something to eat?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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