Chapter 151: Cares about Her

Leonie Summers goes downstairs and stomps angrily into the room. She slams the door behind her, and a woman with messy hair jolted awake and stares at her.

"What's wrong?" Veronica Smith asks in a panic, "Why are you so angry?"

"Guess who I just saw upstairs," Leonie hisses.

She tosses her keys onto the coffee table and throws herself onto the sofa. She grabs a pillow and holds it against her chest, glaring moodily at Veronica.

"Who?" Veronica asks, barely suppressing a yawn.

"The bitch was there," Leonie answers, "Can you believe it?"

Veronica sighs. She's pretty sure that Leonie is referring to Avery—no one else can put her in such a bad mood. Over the past few days, Leonie has clashed with their upstairs neighbor multiple times. The noise from his renovations has been unbearable, but he's ignored all of their complaints and threats. Though Veronica is annoyed by the noise, she thinks Leonie's allegations have gone too far, and she's worried the man might try to take revenge against them.

"I thought Gabrielle was renting the house," Veronica muses, "So, when Gabrielle has a problem, the bitch comes and solves it for her?"

"It seems that way," Leonie replies sadly.

Veronica stretches lazily and gets out of evil. She slides slippers onto her bare feet and walks into the room. Leonie can hear the buzz of the electric toothbrush, and when Veronica reappears at the door, the foamy white toothpaste speckles her lips.

"Is she really pregnant?" Veronica asks.

"Probably," Leonie answers with a vicious glare.

Veronica knows she's on thin ice—Leonie is very touchy about Avery's pregnancy. She disappears back into the bathroom and spits out the toothpaste.

"It's a good chance for you, you know," Veronica says, poking her head out of the bathroom door, "You already live in Mr. Howel's house, so you have an advantage there."

As soon as Leonie glares at her, Veronica realizes her mistake.

"I'm so sorry, Leonie, I forgot," Veronica murmurs.

"You should leave after you finish brushing your teeth," Leonie snarls.

"Calm down and just listen to me," Veronica says authoritatively, "So what if you've left the house, you're still in an excellent position."

Leonie shoots Veronica a skeptical look. Veronica sighs and perches casually on the arm of the sofa.

"Mr. Howel is still young, and all young men have strong sex drives," Veronica explains patiently, "You know how everyone says that men are more likely to cheat when their wives are pregnant—well, there's a reason for that. A pregnant woman can't satisfy a man's desire, and men like Evan will look outside the marriage to get that satisfaction."

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Leonie asks.

"If Avery is pregnant, Mr. Howel can't satisfy his desires without potentially risking a miscarriage," Veronica says, "It doesn't matter that you've moved out of the house—you can still seduce him. It might be better if you have your own place; men like Evan value discretion."

Leonie bobs her head enthusiastically, and her eyes start to glint as she schemes.

"I don't want to take any chances," she says, "Now that I'm away from the house, I may not have many opportunities to seduce him. I want him to be ready when the chance comes if you know what I mean."

Veronica nods with understanding.

"How will you get the drugs into his food, though?" Veronica asks, "I've heard that everything he eats is tested for contaminants first. If they found any sort of drug in his food, you could lose your life."

"We can drugs that most tests can't detect," Leonie said with a smile, "Money can buy anything."

Avery stares at the plain hospital wall. An efficient nurse sanitizes her arm and pricks her with a needle; her blood seeps into a small test vial. Avery closes her eyes and tries to take deep breaths.

"I have no reason to be nervous," she thinks, "I've taken a pregnancy test, and it came back negative. I'm not pregnant—everything is fine."

The nurse takes the sample and leaves Avery top wait for the results. Though it only takes thirty minutes to test her blood, time seems to move more slowly than usual. Avery checks the clock on the wall so frequently it almost looks as if the hands aren't moving. Finally, the nurse returns, carrying a clipboard.

"I have exciting news for you," the nurse says, "The test results show that you're pregnant!"

The room seems to tilt sideways, and her head feels like it's going to explode. Avery closes her eyes and counts to ten. When she opens her eyes again, she sees the cheerful nurse.

"No-no," she stammers, shaking her head, "I can't be pregnant. It's impossible. There must be some sort of mistake. I took a pregnancy test at home, and it said I wasn't pregnant."

"Those home tests are okay, but they're not the most accurate. Sometimes you can get a false negative," the nurse explains patiently, "The test we run in the hospital is much more accurate, and we ran it twice just to be sure."

Avery stumbles to her feet and begins to walk. She's in such a daze; she doesn't realize she's leaving the hospital until she feels a cold breeze blow through her hair. She stares in confusion at her surroundings and walks to her car. Though she's in no condition to drive, she sits in the driver's seat and starts the engine.

"What's happening to me?" she wonders, "I'm terrified of birthing this child, but I'm equally afraid of losing it. If I'm honest with myself, a part of me is even a little bit excited. But why? I can't have a child with Evan—we're divorcing before it would even be born."

Her phone's ringtone pulls her from her reverie. She checks the caller ID and sees Evan's name. Immediately, she tries to reject the call, but her hands are shaking too bad, and she answers it instead.

"Where are you?" he demands.

Avery looks around and realizes she has no idea where she is. She knows she must be near the hospital, but she doesn't recognize the neighborhood. She quickly scans her surroundings, trying to find a landmark she acknowledges.

"Umm, I'm at the shopping mall," she says.

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"The driver says you insisted on driving yourself," Evan says with obvious suspicion, "Are you really shopping?"

"Of course," Avery lies quickly, "I wanted to buy some materials to make your gifts."

"I'm coming to look for you," Evan says, "You better be where you say you are."

"No! Don't do that!" Avery replies too quickly.

She doesn't feel prepared to face Evan. She needs time to process the news about the pregnancy and decide on a plan, and she's worried Evan will be able to tell that something was wrong with her. If he finds out that she's pregnant, she'll have to give birth to a child, but if she can keep it quiet, she can plan to have a secret abortion.

"Why not?" Evan asks.

"Because the gifts are for you," she says, "It'll spoil the surprise if you see what I'm buying."

She feels lightheaded and has trouble paying attention to the road—the cars seem to blur together. Suddenly, she realizes she's about to rear-end a car waiting at a red light. She slams the brakes, and the car screeches to a sudden halt.

"What's going on? What's that noise?" Evan asks anxiously, "Avery, answer me. What's going on?"

Avery takes a deep breath and turns left into the mall's parking lot.

"I'm fine," she says shakily, "Really, I am."

"Stay where you are," Evan says, "I'm coming to get you."

In a rush, Evan ends the call and grabs his suit jacket. He's worried that something is wrong with Avery—she sounded confused and shaken on the phone. Avery exits her car and wanders the mall in a daze. She has no idea how she's going to hide the truth from Evan, and she's so preoccupied she barely notices what she's buying.

By the time she exits the first store, Evan is waiting. He approached her quickly and took her in his arms. Then he leans down and inhales deeply. Avery stiffens with surprise.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"I want to see whether you were good or not this morning," he says with a smirk.

"Are you a dog?" she asks derisively, "Why do you smell me?"

Evan sniffs her hair and then her neck. He lowers his nose to the shoulders of her dress, and then he takes her hands in his and smells those too. Her scent is sweet, and it produces an instant response—he can feel his heartbeat quickens. Avery holds a stiff posture, terrified that he'll somehow detect the odor of disinfectant from the hospital.

"Are you afraid that I smell like another man?" Avery asks him irreverently.

Evan stares at her thoughtfully. His jealousy is fierce and instantaneous when she mentions other men.

"I know you wouldn't dare," he says with a frown.

His eyes are sharp, and he looks like he wants to read her mind. Afraid that he'll see through her, she turns her back to him and shakily walks toward a restaurant. As she walks, she tries to take deep breaths, but the smell of the food overwhelms her. Almost instantly, her face pales, and she fights the sudden urge to vomit.

Though her stomach was roiling, she knows she can't vomit in front of Evan. If he sees her get sick, he'll take her to a doctor immediately, and he'll quickly learn about the pregnancy. She needs more time to make a decision about the pregnancy—if Evan finds out now, she'll be stuck.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Evan asks her, worriedly, "Why is your face so pale?"

Avery tries to calm down and shakes her head.

"No, no, I'm fine," she assures him.

"Why did you leave the house so early this morning?" Evan asks her.

"I couldn't sleep, so I planned to have a nice breakfast and do some shopping," she replies.

"Okay, let's have breakfast together," Evan suggests.

"Actually, it's a little late for that now," Avery answers.

"What about lunch?"

"No thanks," Avery says, "I overate cake yesterday, and I think I should be more mindful about what I eat today. Why are you so concerned about my meals, anyway?"

Avery fights the urge to grimace. Evan has grabbed her arm, and they're standing outside the restaurant. Every breath she takes makes her want to vomit even more.

"I just care about you," Evan says sincerely, "Aren't you hungry?"

He gently touches her stomach, and Avery flinches. She knows the gesture is innocent, but she can't help worrying that he knows about the pregnancy somehow. 

"What's wrong?"

"Don't touch my stomach," she says, "If you must know, I feel unwell."

"Do you think the cake was bad for your stomach?" Evan asks, "I'll get a doctor to help you."

"No!" Avery answers quickly.

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