Chapter 206: Sort of Articles

Confused, Avery grabs her phone and searches the hotel's name. She quickly finds all sorts of articles announcing a huge fashion show in the hotel's grand ballroom. According to the headlines, this is set to be one of the biggest shows in the jewelry industry, and celebrities like Jenny Watson and Ketty are expected to be there.

She clicks an article and reads that the show is meant to be avant-garde and provocative, featuring all of Sophie Johnson's latest work. She looks up at Bryan and sees that he's dressed as a vampire count. He wears a crisp but old-fashioned black suit and a long black cloak. His eyes are ringed in smoky makeup, and he's wearing a large ring and a beautiful brooch.

Avery tries to push her way through the crowd, but she bumps into someone. The other person's phone tumbles to the floor, and Avery bends to pick it up. The phone's screen flashes and Avery is surprised to see an incoming call from Leonie before she can look up red-soled heel steps on her hand.

"Oh my god," a nasal voice says, "I'm so sorry. I didn't even see your hand there."

Avery looks up and sees a familiar face: Veronica.

"Avery?" Veronica asks with mock surprise. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"

"My life is none of your business," Avery says, standing up.

Veronica takes her phone and answers the call on the speaker. "Oh my god, Leonie, you'll never guess who I just ran into," she says.

"Who?" Leonie asks.

"The last Mrs. Howel," Veronica says with a nasty smile.

"Excuse me," Avery says. "I have nothing to say to either of you. As far as I'm concerned, you're strangers to me."

Veronica grabs Avery's arm, and her long acrylic nails dig painfully into Avery's skin. "What do you mean, we're strangers?" Veronica asks. "We know everything about you. We know what time you leave and arrive home, we know where you go and who you go with, we know the terms of your divorce agreement, the details of your affair with Andrew—everything."

"Thank you for your concern," Avery says with a cold smile. "I'm glad to know that my life is so fascinating. But perhaps I should call the police and ask for some restraining orders."

"They won't believe you without proof," Veronica says.

Avery takes her hand out of her pocket and shows Veronica that she's recording the conversation on her phone. She says, "I think this will be enough proof for them, don't you?"

Veronica's face darkens, and she grabs for Avery's phone, but Avery dodges her and slides the phone back into her pocket.

"What's going on?" Leonie asks. "Veronica, tell me what's going on? What has that bitch done now?"

"Better luck next time," Avery says with a small wave.

Veronica glares furiously at Avery, but she doesn't say anything for fear of being recorded. She takes her phone off speaker mode, raises it to her ear, and walks away. Avery pushes through the crowd, trying to get to Bryan. Though she's still several yards away, she can hear him arguing with an assistant.

"Bryan, if you do this again, I'll tell Ms. Johnson that you're in breach of contract," the assistant says.

Bryan scowls and waves his hands angrily, knocking a jewelry box to the floor. A jeweled necklace falls out and a passer-by steps on it. The chain snaps with an audible crunch and diamonds, sapphires and rubies pop out and scatter across the floor. The assistant screams as she dives to the ground, trying to grab the pieces of the necklace.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Bryan?" the assistant screams. "This necklace was supposed to be the centerpiece of the whole show. Ugh, what will we do? Ms. Johnson is going to kill us both!"

Bryan glances at the assistant and shrugs. "Not my problem," he says. "You can tell her she should be ashamed to try to make a man wear such a sissy necklace."

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The assistant ignores him and grabs her phone, "Ms. Johnson, I need you backstage immediately. We have an emergency."

Bryan reaches out and grabs the phone. "Can't you fix it yourself? Why call the old woman back here?"

"You better respect Ms. Johnson," the assistant says. "She's an absolute legend in this industry, and she can destroy your career if she wants. Don't make her regret inviting you to the show."

Avery sighs and taps Bryan on the shoulder. He's always been arrogant and self-centered, but she didn't realize he had such a bad temper.

"You shouldn't be back here," he snaps.

"Well, hello to you too," Avery says.

Bryan runs his fingers through his hair and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Avery," he says. "I've just got a problem here. The designer asked me to wear this sissy necklace, and I refused. She doesn't understand that I'm a real man—asking me to wear this stupid thing is an insult to my masculinity. It'll destroy my image."

Avery sighs and puts her hands on her hips. She knows how to manage Bryan. "Who said that men couldn't wear necklaces?" Avery asks. "If you were a real man, you wouldn't feel threatened by a few jewels."

Before Bryan can respond, a middle-aged woman rushes over. Avery immediately recognizes her as Sophie Johnson.

"What's the matter?" Sophie asks. "What's the emergency?"

The assistant nervously opens her hand, showing the broken necklace.

"Who the hell broke my necklace?" Sophie screams.

The assistant meekly points at Bryan, and Sophie grabs him by the front of his cape. "How dare you?" she shouts. "I invited you to my show—which is a huge honor, by the way—and you broke my prized necklace?

Sophie grabs the necklace and pulls a small jeweler's magnifying glass from her pocket. She frowns as she examines the damage. "I just won't be able to repair it in time," she says. "And it won't ever be the same."

Bryan looks at her defiantly. "I don't give a shit if you repair it or not," he says. "I won't wear it. It's a fucking embarrassment."

Sophie's head snaps up, and her eyes flash. "How dare you insult me like this?" she asks. "You're just a pathetic nobody, and I'll make sure you stay that way."

Avery wants to shake Bryan until he sees sense, but she turns to Sophie instead. "Hello, Ms. Johnson," she says brightly, "It's such an honor to meet you."

"Who are you?" Sophie asks. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"I'm Bryan's sister," Avery says. "He's been under a lot of pressure lately, and he's not quite himself. Please give him a chance to apologize."

"It's not my fault," Bryan mutters.

Avery elbows him hard in the ribs. If he weren't Nanny's son, she wouldn't have the patience for such a stuck-up, spoiled brat. But she knows it's not entirely Bryan's fault that he's like this. Nanny was so busy raising other people's children, and she didn't always give Bryan the attention he needed. He ran wild and did whatever he liked as a child. 

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