Chapter 71: Decline Her Call

The women whisper in hushed tones to prevent Avery from hearing them.

"It's Avery Howel," whispers one, "Look at the green diamond ring she has on her finger, that stone must be 3 million dollars a carat."

"Really?" says another skeptically, "Are you sure it isn't fake?"

"I doubt it," replies a third, "Do you think Evan Howel would let his wife wear something fake? That ring must be worth at least 20 million dollars."

"It is quite special," agrees the first, "I think I've seen it somewhere before though."

"My cousin once saw something like that and she mentioned it to me," says another woman, "It was called something like Love for Life and she told me it's Meyer's family heirloom."

"Why would Avery wear a Meyer' family heirloom?"

"I said it looks like that, not that it is."

"I guess it's possible," says one woman, "But never mind that look at the ring on Leonie's finger."

The women incline their heads to look at a photo on the screen of a phone.

"Just look at that ring," the phone owner gushes, "I heard from a reliable source that Evan just bought that ring at an auction. It's worth over 200 million. He must have given it to Leonie as a gift."

"Wow, really?" whispers one, "That's so generous of him."

Avery is distracted by the shop clerks, and she doesn't hear a word of their conversation. She barely even notices the other women in the shop. Instead, she's focused on getting the most valuable jewelry—items that will be easiest to sell for cash later.

"You want all of these?" the shop clerk asks, unable to believe her good luck.

Avery is buying well over half of the pieces in the store, and the clerk is already eagerly anticipating her commission. Avery is the most generous client they've seen since opening the store. Avery waves her hand, flashing the black credit card held between her index and middle fingers.

"Yes, wrap them up."

"Okay," the clerk nods, "Please wait a moment."

Avery sits on the sofa and begins to browse some magazines. She wants to spare the wrapping paper, But she's worried Evan would get suspicious if She bought a bunch of jewelry without the proper wrapping.

A woman raises her voice on the other end of the shop, "I wanted this ring and I was here first. You can't just sell it to someone else under my nose. I swear, I've never been treated like this in my life."

Avery raises her head from the magazine and sees a group of women staring at her from across the store.

"She's a big client, but so what?" complains another woman, "We're customers too. You can't just sell her every single piece because she has some crazy whim. We're loyal customers and we were here first—those pieces rightfully belong to us."

Avery asks one of the shop clerks who has been serving her to explain what's going on.

"Nothing much," the clerk whispers, "One of those women fancies a necklace you just bought, but she couldn't make up her mind to buy it so we wrapped it up for you. Now she's upset and claims it was hers. "

"She can have it if she wants," Avery says carelessly.

"Okay," the clerk nods, "I'll let her know."

The clerk runs daintily across the store and informs the woman. Instead of accepting the gift the woman becomes even more outraged.

"What? I won't take handouts from her," she screams, "I just want you to know that I'm a VIP customer and I bring many of my friends here as well. Instead of respecting that you hurried to please her. Well, I want you to know, you won't have clients like her every day. This shop relies on customers like me and my friends, but after today we certainly won't be returning!"

"Miss, I'm sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding," the clerk says.

"What? A misunderstanding?" the woman shouts, "I and my friends all witnessed what you did. How dare you pretend I misunderstood? Get your manager out here. I want to file a complaint against you."

Avery continues to read the magazine, raising it to block her face from view. She wants nothing to do with the angry hoard of women. However, the tone of their voice has drawn the attention of other customers and more people stop their shopping and turn to watch events unfold.

A clerk approached Avery, "Miss, we'll need your PIN."

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Avery curses silently—she forgot to ask Evan for the credit card PIN.

"Excuse me. I have to make a phone call," Avery says.

Avery walks to a quiet corner in the shop and dials Evan's number. The conversation in the shop stops, and people strain their necks to try to hear Avery. She doesn't want to make a phone call—it feels like begging and her dignity won't allow that. But she reminds herself that she desperately needs the cash. Additionally, the clerks have already bagged the jewelry and it would be humiliating to leave without it.

The one rings once and then she hears the sound of an angry breath on the other end.

"Hello, Evan? It's me."

"I know," he says flatly, "What's wrong?"

"I need the PIN for the credit card you gave me yesterday."

She can hear him breathing on the other end, but he doesn't say a word.

"Hello, are you still there?" she asks, uncertainly.

"I'm busy," Evan says coldly.

Avery blushes with shame and anger upon hearing his cold rejection.

"It's just four numbers. I won't keep you," she says, hating the way her tone sounds like she's begging.

He hangs up on her. Avery holds her phone dazed by a type of frustration she hadn't felt before.

"I should've known he wouldn't be so generous," she thinks, "I was a fool to trust that the card would work after his abnormal behavior last night."

The shop clerk stared eagerly at her throughout the call. She can guess why Avery's look has changed and she's upset that she won't get the commission after all. Avery swallows her pride and walks to the reception counter.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, "My husband would prefer I don't buy these right now."

The woman making the complaint smiles maliciously.

"All the attitude of a wealthy woman, but she can't even afford a single piece of jewelry on her own," the woman says, "I warned you not to treat us unfairly, but you favored her over us. Well, I tell you I refuse to buy that necklace now. The nerve of some people to come in here and demand service when they can't even pay."

The woman turns to Avery, "Are you running a scam?"

The shopping assistant was all smiling with Avery before, but now she scowls darkly. Avery glances at the loud woman and puts on her shades. She doesn't want to deal with them, but the woman takes Avery's silence as evidence of shame and guilt.

"That's why they say to marry for love and not money," the woman says, "Your husband may have money, but if he doesn't love you he won't spend it on you."

Another woman quickly agrees with her friend, "You're right. He can give another woman a ring worth 200 million but he's too stringy to buy his actual wife jewelry. I couldn't stand it if I were you."

"What are you talking about?" the shop clerk asks, intrigued by the gossip," A 200 million dollar ring? Who did he give it to?"

"It's a ring with a gorgeous pink diamond," one woman explains, "He gave it to Leonie Summers—she posted a picture of it on her private Facebook account. God, I think it's every woman's dream to own a ring like that."

"Let me see, it's here somewhere," says the woman with the phone as she flips through Leonie's Facebook pictures.

She holds her phone out to reveal a picture of Leonie at a press conference. A huge pink diamond glitters on her finger. Avery recognizes the ring instantly.

"How do you know it's from Mr. Howel?" the shop clerk asks.

The woman pulls up a picture from a celebrity gossip site. It shows Evan at an auction. Though only Evan's back is visible, Avery recognizes his figure. If that weren't enough, she can see Robert standing beside him. The woman holds the phone up high in Avery's direction to make sure she sees the photo.

Though Avery doesn't realize it, the woman with the phone isn't just upset because Avery took her necklace. She's Michelle Cindy's cousin, and she's furious about what happened to Michelle. Michelle is still in the hospital with seven broken ribs after being brutally beaten by Evan's bodyguards.

Avery takes a quick look at the picture. She can see that Evan holds a ring box with a unique pink diamond ring. There's no doubt that it's the same one that Leonie has.

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