Chapter 167: Her Gift to Him

Suddenly, Evan turns away from her and picks up the knife. Wordlessly, he chops the ingredient. When they finish cooking, they sit down to eat breakfast. It takes almost two hours for them to eat, and the entire meal is silent. Avery gets up to finish preparing for her departure.

"Wait for a moment," Evan suddenly says.

Avery turns around. She doesn't know what he wants. There is nothing left unsaid between them. Evan whispers something to Robert, and the butler walks to Avery's suitcase.

"Mrs. Howel, we have to check your suitcase as a precaution," Robert explains.

Avery frowns with dissatisfaction.

"We're just making sure that you don't take anything that doesn't belong to you," Robert continues.

"I didn't take anything apart from my clothes," Avery answers, offended.

"It's just standard procedure," Robert says.

Avery can't refuse. The maids opened her suitcase and began to rummage through it. There's nothing out of the ordinary—just clothes and some books.

"Is it okay?" Avery asks nervously.

She has precisely fifteen minutes before she's supposed to meet Andrew's men. She begins to wonder if it's less of a routine search and more of a desperate tactic to stall for time.

The maids finish examining each item and begin again. Avery doesn't ask any questions. Instead, she runs upstairs and carries a gift box down with her.

"I kept my promise," she says, passing the present to Evan.

Evan looks at it with complicated emotions. He's about to open it, but Avery stops him.

"No," she said gently, "You have to wait until I'm gone."

Evan smiles harshly and throws the box across the room. The violence of the impact knocks a wire in the recorder loose. The box begins to make a loud static sound. Agitated, Evan gets up and kicks the box.

"Throw it away!" he orders.

Avery bites her lip. She stayed up for two nights to finish the gift on time. It contains all 72 photos he asked her to take a letter and her goodbye recording. The gift is a true labor of love, but Evan throws it away as if it's offensive garbage. Avery feels her eyes sting with tears, but she pretends to be unaffected.

"It's yours," she says with a shrug, "You can do whatever you want with it. Can I leave now?"

"Sir, we found a button," a maid announces.

Avery feels her heart skip a beat with anxiety. She cut it off from one of Evan's shirts. There's a saying that the second button on a shirt is closest to the heart. She secretly removed the second button from one of his shirts to keep with her always. The button is distinct because it bears a small impression of the Howel family crest. The maids immediately recognize it as Evan's.

"I don't know why it is in my suitcase," Avery says innocently, hoping to avoid delays, "It must've gotten caught on some of my clothing or something."

Evan puts the button in his trouser pocket without a word. Then he whispers something to Robert. Avery forces a bitter smile.

"He's taken the button back, and he refuses to speak to me directly," she thinks sadly.

"Mr. Howel says he hasn't given you anything in your years of marriage," Robert announces, "He says you can pick one item to take with you now."

It's true that Evan has never given her a real present. He even took the pink diamond ring back after finding out Leonie had a similar one.

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"How about the button?" Avery asks.

She doesn't want much—the button is enough. If Evan refuses, there's only one other thing she wants.

"Mr. Howel says you can have anything but the button," Robert announces.

Avery doesn't understand his refusal—it's only a button—but she nods her acceptance.

"How about the world's smallest pistol?" she asks, "The real one."

Evan is slightly surprised by Avery's choice, but he nodded his agreement. Robert rushes away and returns with the box containing the pistol. He passes the gun to Avery.

"Mrs. Howel, it's very powerful," Robert warns, "Be careful and don't hurt yourself."

"Can I have the couple's phone too?" she asks.

Evan is about to leave the room, but he stops when he hears her second request. He looks at her with a complicated expression.

"It's fine if I can't," Avery says quickly.

"Take it away," Evan says angrily, "Take it and go to Andrew's."

Avery takes the phone. Once again, she wants to explain herself to Evan, but the words freeze in her throat.

"Mrs. Howel, I'll ask the drivers to take you to the rendezvous point with Mr. Clifford," Robert says.

Avery takes a last look at Evan. For the first time, she sees his loneliness—he's not making any effort to hide it.

"Goodbye, Evan," Avery whispers to his back.

He doesn't turn around, but he clenches his fists. He wants nothing more than to look at her, but he's scared he won't be able to control himself if he sees her again. He's scared he'll take her in his arms and refuse to let her go. Sadly, she leaves the room.

Robert returns after sending Avery off, "Sir, Mrs. Howel is in the car."

"Where's the gift?" Evan demands.

"It's been disposed of as you asked," Robert explains with great confusion.

"Get it back!" Evan orders.

There's no time to delay. If the gift gets mixed in with the rest of the trash, it may be ruined. The servants quickly dig through the garbage and pull the box out. Evan opens the box carefully.

Although the contents of the box have been damaged, Evan can see it's a model of a cottage with a garden. The cottage is small but cozy and contains a miniature sofa, bed, TV, tables, bookshelves. The books on the shelves can be removed, but Evan doesn't notice. He has no idea that the books on the shelves contain Avery's greatest secrets.

"Sir, it seems that there is supposed to be a recording, but the recorder is broken," Robert says.

"Get it fixed," Evan orders.

He's desperate to know what the recording says. As soon as he listens to it, he plans to keep it in his personal safe. 

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