Chapter 72: Infatuated With Him

"Two hundred million?" Avery fumes, "How generous of Evan to give Leonie a ring worth two hundred million. Meanwhile, he's too stingy with me to even give me a credit card PIN."

Avery narrows her eyes beneath her sunglasses. She has no choice but to return home. She locks herself in her room and tries to devise another way to get the money. Instead, she finds herself browsing the internet.

She stares at the pictures of Leonie at the press conference, wearing the same ring that Evan holds in the picture at the auction. Disgustedly, she closes the browser and opens her email.

She types, "Miss Summers, I keep wondering if you've received my email yet. Please contact me as soon as you can. Best wishes, Avery Howel."

Avery hears one of the maids greet her husband from outside her door and she steels herself for a confrontation with Evan.

"Where is Mrs. Howel?" asks Robert's voice.

"She's been in her room all afternoon," the maid answers.

Avery hears footsteps fading down the hall. Evan doesn't come into the room.

One of the maids knocks on her door at dinner time to ask her to go downstairs for the meal. The maid's voice wakes Avery who had begun to doze after starting to browse the internet again. She notices that Evan's study door is still shut when she passes by.

She recalls Evan's abnormal coldness in her room last night and his cruel indifference this morning when she phoned him from the jewelry shop. Surely he knew just how deeply he was humiliating her. She picks up a fork from the table and imagines stabbing it into his chest, but she's alone at the long dining room table.

"Where is Evan?" Avery asks, looking at the door.

Though she knows he's home, there's no trace of him anywhere. She finds that quite odd.

"He says he's skipping dinner," a maid informs her.

Avery shrugs and begins to cut into her beef Wellington. She had meant to cook for herself, but she wasn't in the mood after the jewelry shop. Besides, she reasons with herself that ingesting more toxins won't hurt her when she's leaving so soon.

Gentle footsteps sound near the door.

"Where is Evan?" asks Leonie, "Is he unwell?"

Leonie has just come from Mrs. Howel's residence. She's wearing a pink dress. Tough pink is Leonie's favorite color, it doesn't escape Avery that Leonie's dress perfectly matches her ring. She looks as if she's going out for dinner.

"He doesn't want to eat," Avery says flatly.

"So it's just you and me, Avery?" Leonie says with a charming smile in Avery's direction, "I know that Mrs. Howel is meeting some friends to play bridge."

One of the servants pulls up a chair Leonie and brings her a plate. She sits down, and casually grabs her knife and fork. Something bright dazzles Avery, and she realizes it's Leonie ring, refracting pink light from the chandelier above.

"Your ring is very beautiful," Avery observes.

"Really? It's a gift," Leonie says meaningfully.

She put down her utensils and holds her hand up to better show off the ring. Avery looks at it wordlessly and begins to cut into her meat with more force. The medium-rare steak releases red juices and gravy onto the plate.

Leonie feels smug as she watches Avery furiously cut her steak, "I heard you went shopping this morning."

"Where did you hear that?" Avery asks, still cutting her meat.

"Someone posted it online. I didn't know that you were still short on cash," Leonie says lightly, "You know you can always call me for help, right?"

"Hindsight is always easier than foresight," Avery replies, "But since you so generously offered, how about I ask the driver to take us to the store and then you can pay for my items."

Leonie didn't expect Avery to take her up on the offer, and she chokes on her steak in surprise. She coughs and covers her mouth. Even as she's choking, she's careful to use the hand with the ring—flashing it in Avery's face again.

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"Didn't Evan give you a credit card last night?" Leonie asks.

Instead of replying, Avery cuts a small piece of meat and pops it into her mouth. She chews thoughtfully.

"I heard about your back injury the other day," Avery says.

Leonie's expression sours. She's still embarrassed and angry that Evan had her whipped, and Avery can tell that she's hit a nerve.

"Thanks for your concern," Leonie says, clenching her fork, "But it turned out to be a misunderstanding, and Evan gave me a gift as an apology. My back has mostly healed now."

Leonie glances meaningfully at her ring. Avery smiles coldly; she's about to say something but she hears a maid greeting Evan outside the dining-room door. Evan enters the room and Avery has to admit that he makes a sharp figure. The collar of his black shirt is slightly open and his sleeves are casually rolled up revealing his forearms.

Evan knows what he's doing. He's heard people say that women are unable to resist three things: soulful, penetrating eyes, a strong collarbone, and toned forearms. Evan knows he has all three qualities and he knows how to show them off. Every other woman is besotted with him, but as soon as she sees him Avery wants to chop him into pieces. 

"Evan, are you alright?" Leonie asks with concern, "They said you didn't have an appetite."

Evan ignores her and walks straight to his place at the table. Leonie halts in embarrassment and lowers her head.

Robert clears his throat, "Mrs. Howel has returned and she's looking for you, Miss Summers."

Leonie puts down the knife and fork in a hurry, "I better go meet her."

Evan ignores Leonie completely and she leaves the room feeling frustrated. Avery forks the final piece of steak into her mouth. She feels oppressed by the absolute silence in the dining room: it reminds her of the last three and a half years of her marriage when he ignored her entirely.

"Has my battle for a divorce succeeded?" she wonders hopefully, "Has he finally decided to let me go?"

The thought leaves her as soon as she remembers her humiliation in the jewelry store. She can feel her anger mounting, but she knows she can't openly challenge him. She grabs her napkin, wipes her mouth and throws the napkin on the table.

"Enjoy your dinner," she says coldly, refusing to look at him or even use his name.

"Mrs. Howel," Robert stops her.

She turns on him with anger in her eyes, "What?"

"You know that the Howel family values the economy. Wasting food is an insult to the family name, and disrespectful to those who have less."

Avery frowns and looks at the luxurious spread of food on the table.

"Is Robert really asking me not to waste food?" she thinks incredulously, "There's a surplus of food at every single meal here. I've never seen any family waste as much food as the Howel's."

Bodyguards understand Tinder's message and block the dining-room door, forcing Avery to return to the table. She sits back with a languorous smile. She's full and refuses to give in to Robert so she stares at Evan as he eats. Evan ignores her gaze and continues eating. His face is emotionless, but his gestures are elegant. Avery has to admit that he makes a pleasant image.

Eventually, Evan frowns faintly in Avery's direction. Receiving his boss's message, Robert turns to Avery, "Mrs. Howel, Mr. Howel doesn't like to be stared at while dining. Please finish your food before it gets cold."

Avery picks up her knife and fork, and the edge of the knife makes a slight sound as it taps against the porcelain plate.

"Mrs. Howel, please keep it down," Robert says, "Mr. Howel doesn't like noise when he's dining."

Avery wants to roll her eyes. She hasn't the faintest clue what game Evan is playing, but she's not interested in playing along. She tosses her knife and fork onto the table and asks for the maid to serve her soup, but Robert objects. Avery knows that Robert wouldn't harass her like this without Evan's approval. She looks at Evan but he's pointedly avoiding her gaze.

She serves herself a small helping of spaghetti, twirls it around her fork and takes a bite. A bit of red sauce sticks to her lips and she licks them slowly and unconsciously, savoring the taste of the sauce. Evan slams his fork and knife down onto the table.

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