“He seems energetic, so he‘s definitely healthy,” Tammy said as she strolled towards the crib and played with Robert. “Averie, are you going back to Aryadelle after new years?”
“Yeah. You?” Averie asked.
“I have classes starting in Spring next year, so I don‘t plan on going back just yet.” Sorrow filled Tammy’s eyes.
The trauma from the latest incident had affected her, after all; Tammy‘s eyes used to be filled with spirit, but now, her eyes were no longer as bright.
“Tammy, you and Jun…”
“Things between us are over. I told you, his family was pressuring me to give birth.”
“Okay. I will support you no matter what your choice is.” Averie‘s lips curled into a smile. “You and your mom should come over to my place for new years! The more the merrier.”
“Sure!” Tammy agreed right away. “Averie, back when you broke up with Elyette, did he pester you?”
Averie remained thoughtful for a few moments. “Back when we broke up, he was a successful business man and I was just a college student; if we are talking about pestering, I think I was the one who pestered him. Besides, he is too proud to do that.”
“But you didn‘t exactly pester him as well, right?”
Averie sat down next to the crib. “It really hurt at first when we broke up and sometimes I would really want to message him, but I know that doing so won‘t change anything; so, I packed my schedules with activities to keep myself busy.”
“Hm. Jun has been messaging me lately and it‘s quite bothersome.” Tammy had decided to forget him and start a new life, but Jun would send long messages every single day to recap on their past.
“You can block him if you don‘t want to receive messages from him.”
“Should I really go that far?”
Averie wasn‘t sure how to answer. If one refused to do what had to be done and remained involved, it would only be more painful.
“Whatever. I‘ll block him! It‘s impossible for us to get back together again anyway.” Tammy took out her phone and blocked Jun on every platform. “If he still manages to find a way to bother me, then I‘m going to get a new boyfriend to make him give up.”
Meanwhile, in Aryadelle. Elyette remained depressed for two days, before deciding to hold a funeral for Shea.
He had never publicized their relationship when Shea was still alive. It was a decision he made to keep her from the interference of the outside world; not even Averie understood him and thought that he hid Shea away from others’ knowledge because he was ashamed of her intellectual disability.
He had never once been ashamed of Shea; she would have died long ago if he felt ashamed of her.
With Shea gone, he no longer had to worry about someone bothering or hurting her. Upon deciding that he would hold Shea‘s funeral, he started making arrangements on his own.
When news got out, Hayden told Mike that he wanted to attend Shea‘s funeral.
Mike immediately called Chad to ask if they could go.
“Mr. Foster is the one who drew up the guest list, you and Hayden are not on the list,” Chad said in a troubled tone.
Mike lifted an eyebrow. “Is Averie on it? If her name is on it, then Hayden and I will attend the funeral as her representatives.”
“No,” Chad said directly, “he only invited some of the managers in the company and some clients that Sterling Group has worked with for years… He didn‘t invite Averie or any friends, for that matter…”
“Oh… But Hayden says that he wants to see Shea off. Go ask Elyette if Hayden can come, if he says no, he will never hear Hayden refer to him as his father again,” Mike threatened, “even if Shea died because of Robert, Hayden has nothing to do with it.”
“I get it. Don‘t get so riled up. I‘ll go ask right away.”
Chad hung up and took a sip of cold water to calm himself. He spent some time preparing himself, before gathering the courage to call Elyette. When the call was answered, he expressed Hayden‘s will to attend Shea‘s funeral and started building Hayden‘s case.
“Mr. Foster, Shea was very close with Hayden when she was alive…”
“Sure,” before Chad could finish, Elyette agreed.
Chad felt slightly dazed, as he had not expected Elyette to agree without reservation.
After the call, he conveyed Elyette’s response to Mike.
“My boss isn‘t that narrow-minded. Once Shea’s funeral is over, he should be able to slowly recover.”
“I don‘t care about him,” Mike said, “now that all three kids belong to Averie, things are great.
“You have no empathy. Shea is Mr. Foster‘s biological sister. They were fraternal twins.”
Mike froze.
“Shea‘s real name is Shea Foster. It‘s written on her tombstone,” Chad continued, “if she was still alive, we would probably never learn her real name.”
“Why would he keep it hidden if they were brother and sister? I hate sneaking around most!” Mike mocked and decided to tell Averie about it to see if she would like to attend the funeral.
Averie remained quiet for a few moments when she heard the news. For the past few days, she had been hoping for a miracle; as long as Shea‘s body was not found, she could still be alive.
However, if Elyette had decided to hold a funeral, it meant that he had obtained intel that confirmed Shea‘s death.
“I need to take care of Robert, so I‘ll pass. You should take Hayden and go. If Layla wants to go, take her with you as well,” Averie said.
“Alright,” Mike said.
“Has Shea‘s body been transported back?”
A bold thought appeared in Averie‘s mind: she wanted to run a DNA test on Shea and Adrian. She wanted to know if the two were related… how else could she explain all the coincidences?
“I didn‘t hear anything about the body. What‘s wrong? You can‘t possibly be thinking of reviving her from the dead, right?” Mike‘s mind ran wild.
Averie‘s head started to hurt. “I was just asking, Mike. If I can revive the dead, then no one will truly die on this earth. Don‘t you think that‘s really scary?”
“Oh. I didn‘t hear that Wesley will be coming back, so there probably won‘t be a body. Elyette must have gotten news that Shea was dead, though; he wouldn‘t have arranged a funeral otherwise.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you really not coming back? Robert is still little. You can hand him over to the nanny and come back for a short trip.”
Mike wanted her to attend the funeral. No matter the nature of their relationships with Elyette, they had always been close to Shea.
“I‘ve failed Shea,” Averie spoke her mind in a hoarse voice. “If only I realized what she was thinking earlier on, I would not never have let her do what she‘s done. I feel like I‘m going crazy. I met a patient that has the exact condition as Shea. Not only do I think that he looks like her, I‘ve even gone so far as to imagining that there‘s a connection between him and Shea simply because they share the same blood type…”
Mike was silenced at her confession. He had not known that she was treating another patient in Bridgedale.
“I‘ve just realized it, but maybe it is their unique blood type that makes them more prone to this illness!” Averie said as sharp pai pierced through her heart.
The world was never short of coincidence, but the chances of ordinary people being exposed to those coincidences were slim.
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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