Chapter 56: Very Funny

"Just say it already," Avery snaps.

Leonie's face suddenly darkens but then returns to normal.

"Mrs. Howel said that Mr. Francis Howel has been in a bad mood recently. He wants a great-grandson urgently," Leonie says, "You know, Mrs. Howel has never really liked you much, but she didn't do anything to stop the marriage because she knows how important an heir is to her husband. So can you have a baby with Evan as soon as possible?"

Avery shakes her head as if to clear her ears.

"Did I hear her wrong?" she wonders, "Is Leonie demanding I have a baby with Evan? Why would Leonie suddenly demand I have a baby with Evan when she's been trying to get him for herself for years? There must be some trick!"

Avery smiles sarcastically.

"If Leonie is so worried about the Howel heir she can have a baby with Evan," Avery thinks bitterly, "Why must it be me? What does Leonie know that I don't?"

Avery suddenly stops smiling, "No way!"

"Bitch!" Leonie says, her mood changing in the blink of an eye, "You don't want the hotel to get back to normal?"

"I'd rather lose the hotel than have a baby with Evan," Avery responds.

Avery tries to leave but Leonie raises her voice.

"What's the problem?" Leonie asks, "You used to want to have a baby with Evan."

Avery turns to look at Leonie and says calmly, "Just as you said, used to. Past tense."

Avery walks out of the room and exits the ward. Claire tries to keep up with her on.

"How did it go?" Claire asks, pushing through the journalists to get back to the car.

"It's over," Avery says.

"It can't be!" Claire insists, "What else should we do?"

Avery presses her fingers to her temples and rubs them, "We'll just have to find some other way."

"Why don't we open the hot springs for free and invite people to see for themselves how pure they are?" Claire suggests.

"That will only backfire," Avery sighs, "They'll say the high number of people in the hot springs have made them dirty. Besides I'm not concerned about what the general public thinks. It's our exclusive customer base that matters most."

Claire nods in agreement. Although Avery is new to the hotel business, her logic and reasoning are as strong as if she'd studied the business for years.

"Where are we going now?" Claire asks.

"Back to the hotel to enjoy the hot springs," Avery answers.

Claire immediately understands. Avery plans to bathe in the hot springs to prove to everyone that they're clean. She's going to use herself as an example, and the press will flock for the opportunity to photograph Mrs. Howel in a bathing suit.

Avery wants to take a nap in the backseat and closes her eyes to rest. The silence is interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She cracks open one eye and glances at the screen: it's Evan. Without a second of hesitation, she rejects the call.

The phone rings again. And then again. Annoyed and perplexed by the situation at the hotel, she has no patience to talk to her husband. She rejects the call and mutes the ringer.

Evan clutches his mobile phone with rage.

"What a bitch!" he fumes.

Robert just reported the hotel incident to him. He wanted to reassure Avery and tell her not to panic. He was going to promise to come back to the hotel and help her personally. He can't believe she's ungrateful enough to reject his calls.

After lunch, Evan took his private jet to a diamond auction in a nearby city. His private jeweler informed him that the ring inlaid with the Graff pink diamond was on the auction block. The diamond is one of the largest and most expensive in the world.

The price didn't matter to Evan; when he glanced at the picture his jeweler sent he thought it would look amazing on Avery's finger. It seemed to be made for a woman like her. Additionally, he liked the name of the ring: Peerless Love. Eventually he bought the ring for $200 million.

"Mrs. Howel will be overjoyed when she knows what you did for her," Robert said flatteringly.

After over three years of marriage, Mr. Howel would finally give his wife a diamond ring.

"It's something of a reward for our time together," Evan had answered distractedly.

He couldn't get the image of the ring on Avery's elegant finger out of his mind. Suddenly, he was brought back to the auction by several older women gossiping nearby.

"The handsome man bought Peerless Love," said one, "I wonder what lucky woman possesses both the man and the ring?"

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"I don't know," said another, "But it's more expensive than Love for Life."

"Oh, of course," said the first, "You can't even compare Love for Life with Peerless Love. Yes, it contains a rare diamond, but it's nowhere near as large as the Graff diamond."

"Does the Meyer family still own Love for Life?" interjected a third woman.

"You mean the famous medical family?" the first asked.

"Yes," answered the third, "You know, the young Mr. Meyer is also very handsome. I've heard that Love for Life is a Meyer family heirloom, and the elder Doctor Meyer will only allow it to be given to his future daughter-in-law. I wonder when we'll see it on some young lady's finger."

"My aunt once saw it at Mrs. Meyer' birthday party," bragged the second, "Mrs. Meyer gave the young Mr. Meyer the ring, and told him he must give it to his future bride. I'll show you the sketch of the ring my aunt made. It may not be as rare as Peerless Love, but I promise you will marvel at it.

She took out her phone and displayed a photo of the sketch.

"Oh wow!" the ladies marveled, "It seems just as beautiful as Peerless Love!"

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Evan glanced at the phone as he passed. Immediately, he froze.

"Go get the picture," he commanded Robert.

Robert bustled over to the women and returned with the picture on his phone.

"She said her aunt sketched from memory," Robert said worriedly, "So it might not be completely accurate."

Robert showed him the enlarged photo, "I know it looks a little bit similar to the ring Mrs. Howel wears, but if you look closer you'll see that it's not alike."

Evan didn't say anything but his eyes darkened. Resolutely he turned away from the picture and walked out of the room to call his wife.

Back at the hotel, Avery sits at the edge of the hot spring. Steam rises from the bath and the cherry blossom petals fall into the water every time the wind blows. The white steam and pink petals make the patio look like a misty wonderland.

The faint fragrance from the flowers and the heat from the steam have already started to soothe her headache. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply. Suddenly her phone buzzes in her hand. She expects to see Evan's name, but she raises her eyebrows in surprise when she sees it's Charles. She answers the phone immediately.

"Avery, is the hotel alright?" Charles asks.

"What's wrong with your voice?" Avery asks with concern, "It's hoarse."

"It's just a slight cough," Charles lies.

The chili in the spaghetti sauce has caused a severe reaction in his throat that makes it incredibly painful to speak. Even medicine hasn't helped much.

"Anyway, I heard Leonie had an allergic reaction to the hotel's hot springs" Charles says, "Is she all right?"

"Oh she's fine," Avery answers, "But I can't say the same for the hotel. This has already hurt our reputation, and I imagine it won't help us win back all of the business we've already lost."

Avery pauses and then asks with a sigh, "Will this affect the sale?"

It only makes sense that a PR crisis would affect the price of the hotel, assuming the other party still wants to buy it. She sighs, imagining her plans vanishing like the steam from the springs.

"It won't make any difference," Charles reassures her, "The other party is very eager."

Avery is perplexed. A savvy business will always try to maximize its profits. She doesn't understand why the buyer isn't taking advantage of the situation to give her a lower price for the hotel.

"I've already arranged your nanny's transfer with the other hospital," Charles says, interrupting her reverie, "I'll see to all the formalities and have her moved the day before you disappear."

"Thanks," Avery says with relief, "Have you taken any medicine? It can't be good for business to be a sick doctor."

"Doctors are human beings too," Charles smiles, "These things happen."

He feels so relieved knowing that Avery will soon leave Evan. He rests his arms on his desk and something clatters to the floor.

"What's wrong?" Avery asks, hearing the sound of the crash through the phone.

"Nothing. I just accidentally knocked a photo to the ground," Charles truthfully says, "Actually, Evan sent it to me."

Although Avery knew that Evan sent the photo to Charles, she flushed with embarrassment remembering the intimate kiss in the photo.

"Don't mind him," she tells Charles, "He's nothing but a boring ass."

Charles smiles, "On the contrary, I think he's very funny."

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