Chapter 109: Young and Naive

"Why don't you thank me?" Evan asks Gabrielle, "Don't you think I'm a good brother-in-law?"

Evan glances back and forth between Gabrielle and the photo of Andrew. Although Gabrielle is quite young, she's very beautiful. If Josiah gives her a more sophisticated look, he suspects that everyone will find her to be an elegant young woman.

"Gabrielle is still young and I don't want her to have a boyfriend yet," Avery objects.

"She's not that young," Evan says, "You know when you married me, you were just nineteen."

"That's exactly the problem," Avery thinks with a sigh, "I was so young and naïve when I married Evan and it turned out terribly for me. I don't want the same thing to happen to Gabrielle. Andrew seems like he's just as dangerous as Evan."

Robert returns to the room and announces that Josiah has promised to quit working on the fashion show and fly to the Peters' villa immediately. Avery looks at Gabrielle and sees that her sister is near tears. She wants to help her, but Evan interrupts her train of thought.

"How old were you when you met Mr. Clifford?" Evan asks unhappily.

he grabs her shoulder in a vise-like grip with both of his hands and forces her to turn around to face him.

"Please let me go. That hurts," Avery complains.

"Did you meet him when you were in high school?" Evan asks.

"No, I didn't. Or at least, I don't think so."

"Then why do you have that photo of him?"

"I don't know," Avery says sadly.

She doesn't know how else to answer Evan. She has no memory of ever meeting Andrew before, and she has no idea how his photo got mixed in with the pictures of her high school classmates. Evan wants to continue interrogating her, but Robert's phone rings. Robert listens to a voice on the other end before hanging up and casting an anxious look at Evan.

"What's wrong?" Evan asks.

Robert crosses the room and whispers something to Evan. The news makes Evan's face twisted with anger. He releases Avery and strides toward the door. Just before he exits the room he turns and casts a severe look at Avery.

"I have to take care of something," he says, "While I'm gone, you can't leave this villa, understand?"

"Where are you going?" Avery asks.

"There's an emergency that I have to deal with," Evan says vaguely, "I should be back before dinner. Why—are you sad to see me go? Or maybe you want to come with me?"

"I was just asking," Avery says turning away, "I don't want to go with you,"

"I'll be back soon," Evan promises.

Avery can't tell if he means the words as a promise or a threat. She crosses the room and looks out the window, watching Evan and Robert talk as they cross the lawn to the waiting helicopter. She can tell that the problem must be severe if Evan insists on handling it in person.

"If there's something wrong, it's none of my business," she thinks, "Why do I suddenly care about his problems? He's nothing to me. I need to be more careful. I can't let myself become attached again."

She sighs sadly. Evan doesn't turn back once as he boards the helicopter. In the last few days, she's become accustomed to his presence and she feels a sudden, painful twinge as she watches him go.

"Mr. Howel, I apologize," Robert said, "It was my mistake."

Evan gives a snort of contempt. Robert's apology means nothing to him.

"I've asked people to search, and I'm confident we'll find him soon," Robert promises.

You are reading story Billionaire Defiant Wife at novel35.com

"It's because his heart is on the right side of his body," Evan suddenly says.

"How does Evan know that?" Robert wonders, feeling his mind race, "If he's right and Dr. Meyers does indeed have a rare condition that results in his internal organs being on the opposite sides of his body, then Evan didn't shoot him in the heart. Even though Dr. Meyers had feelings for Avery and made her secret medicines, Evan wasn't trying to kill him. And if Evan wasn't trying to kill him, it's entirely possible that Dr. Meyer is still alive."

"Mr. Howel, are you telling me that there's a possibility that Charles is still alive?" Robert asks.

Evan glares at Charles and nods. Even though he wasn't trying to kill Charles, he wanted to seriously wound the man. The bullet to his chest caused serious damage, and Evan knows that the man was already close to death when he ordered the bodyguards to move him.

"It's my mistake," Robert apologizes again, "If I'd been more attentive, we never would have lost the body or uh, he never would have gotten away from us."

"I don't want to hear it anymore," Evan hisses, "Send speedboats to search the ocean and monitor all of the local hospitals. This happened at sea, and there's no way he could've gotten far in his condition."

Avery stands in front of the window long after the helicopter takes off and vanishes into the sky. Eventually, she sees her father surrounded by maids and servants on the lawn. Her father gestures and talks to them excitedly.

"What's happening down there?" Avery asks one of the maids.

"Mr. Howel said that the villa is too small, so he bought some of the surrounding lands to expand the property," a maid answers.

Avery purses her lips.

"The house is indeed quite small by the Howel's standards, and it'll be rather crowded if Anthony continues to insist on hosting a huge party," Avery thinks, "Buying land and having new houses built is as easy for Evan as playing with Legos. It's no wonder, my father, fawns all over him—Evan's money is a powerful thing."

Avery is about to turn away from the window when she sees movement from the corner of her eye. In the pavilion below, Katherine and Vanessa are walking arm in arm. Katherine has been pregnant for four months, and she is wearing loose-fitting maternity clothes. She also naturally has a rounder figure so it's difficult to tell that she's pregnant. Vanessa helps her mother onto a wooden bench.

"Mom, why has Mr. Howel left?" Vanessa asks, "Does he want to leave Avery?"

Katherine Peter touches her belly gently and says, "Haven't you heard your father say that he will come back? Your father is quite worried: clearly, Mr. Howel is ashamed to be seen in such a small house, and to be honest, the villa is much too small for such a party. If Mr. Clifford comes too, we won't be able to fit all the people in the house. Everyone wants to be seen with Mr. Howel and one of the founding father's descendants. "

"Is he really descended from one of the founding fathers?" Vanessa asks, "Which one?"

A sudden wind blew dust onto the women, and Katherine pauses and covers her nose with a silk scarf.

"He's descended from George Washington," she says, "It's such a pity! Mr. Howel wants Gabrielle to be the star of the party, and if he has his way everyone will pay attention to her. Clearly, Avery has done something to make him smitten with her, and if Mr. Clifford falls love with Gabrielle, it will be terrible for you girls. Imagine—the two most influential men in the city married off to the bastard daughters of your father's mistress!"

"No man like Andrew Clifford would fall in love with Gabrielle," Vanessa disagrees, "She's not beautiful."

"Although she's not beautiful, Mr. Howel will bring Josiah here and he'll make her beautiful," Katherine says, "We both know that man can work miracles."

"What should we do?" Vanessa asks anxiously, "Maybe I should go discuss this with Janetta."

Avery asks the maids to leave and starts to unpack her suitcase. She looks around the room as she works and notices the care her family has taken in redecorating the room: most of the furnishing is new and the decorations are arranged meticulously. She opens the closet and starts to put her clothes and pajamas away, and she notices that several of Evan's custom-made suits are already hanging.

She sighs. She had forgotten how good her father is at handling details and pleasing more important men. Her father offered to have the maids unpack her things, but Avery refused. She hangs her clothing piece by piece. When she's sure that all the maids have left the room she pulls a document from the bottom of her suitcase. 

Avery examines the divorce agreement and pages through it. She was in a hurry when she signed it, and she didn't have time to pay attention to all of the details. For the first time, she sees that the divorce agreement offers her a large financial settlement after the divorce. She sighs—she doesn't want anything from the Howel, and if she gets the opportunity she will refuse their money. 

She turns the page again and reads another clause: "As soon as the divorce takes effect, the undersigned will cut all contact with the Howel."

Avery nods. She knows that the Howel is very severe and often cuts people out of their lives entirely. This suits her just fine, though—the sooner she can get away from them, the better.

You can find story with these keywords: Billionaire Defiant Wife, Read Billionaire Defiant Wife, Billionaire Defiant Wife novel, Billionaire Defiant Wife book, Billionaire Defiant Wife story, Billionaire Defiant Wife full, Billionaire Defiant Wife Latest Chapter