Chapter 87: Stranger

Avery sits on the windowsill in the room. It's still raining outside, and the violent wind rattles the windowpane in its frame. She thinks about Charles and wonders why he hasn't returned her call. He's supposed to be with Nanny, and she's scared something has gone wrong. 

Avery wants to contact Nanny's new nurse to see if she knew anything about Charles, but Avery doesn't even know who the new nurse is. Charles hired a new nurse secretly to help protect Nanny from Evan, but it all happened so fast, Avery never had time to get the nurse's contact information. She hopes that Charles will somehow learn that Evan caught her. Although her mobile phone seems unable to send texts to him, she's fairly confident she can still receive them.

"If he finds out where I am, I'm confident he'll contact me," she thinks, "He's a resourceful, clever man."

A knock at the door interrupted her reverie.

"Mrs. Howel, Mr. Howel wants you to go to the restaurant," Robert says.

She looks down at her wristwatch—it's already time for lunch. Time has flown ever since she tried to make her escape. Worrying about Charles and Nanny has spoiled her appetite, but she hops down from the windowsill. She opens the door to see Robert waiting for her outside the room.

"He probably has instructions from Evan to make sure I go with him," she thinks.

"Mrs. Howel, what's the matter?" Robert asks, upon seeing the worry lines creasing her forehead.

Avery holds the metal door handle tightly.

"I want to borrow your phone to make a call," she says.

Robert is hesitant. He's not supposed to let others use his phone without Evan's explicit approval. The Howel's are quite strict about the ways their staff can communicate. The bodyguards are not allowed to carry normal mobile phones—their phones work on a closed-circuit system that only allows them to contact one another. Robert is an exception: he's allowed to have contact with the outside world.

Robert frowns as he weighs his options. Finally, he takes his phone out of his pocket and hands it to Avery. Avery hesitates. She didn't expect him to lend her his phone—Evan would be furious if he allowed her to talk to Charles—and his surprising generosity instantly confirms her suspicions.

"He probably wouldn't give me the phone if he thought there was a chance that I could get in contact with Charles," Avery thinks, "He must already know that I won't be able to reach him."

Avery's stomach sinks. As a doctor, Charles' phone is always on in case of an emergency. What's more, Avery knows he'd never turn his phone off when he had a secret appointment with her. Though she's hopeless, Avery unlocks the phone and dials Charles' number.

Robert watches her with darkened eyes.

"Are you going to call Dr. Meyer?" he asks.

Avery is already anticipating the question.

"Do you know where he is?" she asks.

Avery is confident that Evan knows all about her plans to move Nanny.

"It's impossible that he caught me without knowing about Charles and Nanny too," Avery thinks, "And Evan's perverted possessiveness and jealousy could be bad news for Charles."

Avery's heart misses a beat and her blood runs cold as she imagines what Evan could have done to Charles. She raises her eyes to look at Robert and leans on the doorframe to steady herself—she doesn't want Robert to see her shaking. Her entire body feels like jelly and she's scared she might collapse. She doesn't fear anything Evan could do to her, but she is terrified for the people she cares about.

Robert looks down and carefully arranges his words, "Mr. Howel was furious with Dr. Meyer, and he informed the Meyer family about Charles' duplicity and betrayal immediately."

Robert deliberately leaves the lie half-told. He knows that Avery is clever enough to imagine how Dean Meyers might react, and he doesn't want to risk overcomplicating the story by adding too many details.

Avery feels some of her strength return. She knows that Dean Meyer values obedience and discipline and can imagine how angry he might be if he knew that Charles had violated the agreement between the Meyer and the Howel. Though Charles is an adult, she can imagine Dean Meyer blocking his son's phone line out of spite. As long as Charles is okay, Avery can breathe. She straightens up and levels a cold look at Robert's face.

"What about a nanny?" she asks.

"Your nanny has been returned to the hospital and she's in stable condition," Robert says.

Avery nods and returns the mobile phone to Robert before following him to the revolving restaurant.

…

The revolving restaurant is located on the top floor of the hotel. The floor of the restaurant moves along a track, slowly rotating the restaurant 360 degrees. Customers can enjoy Michelin-starred food and panoramic views at the same time.

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The restaurant is decorated in a passionate and romantic French style. The menu is inspired by traditional French cuisine and the restaurant is renowned for its extensive collection of French wines and brandies. It's also famous for its waitresses: sexy French beauties who wear red velvet bikinis trimmed with fluffy white lace.

At a table near the window, a beautiful French waitress sticks her butt out, perks up her breasts, and waits for the handsome man to order. She strokes her long blonde hair in coquetry and deliberately bends over to give the man a view of her cleavage. Evan ignores her. He looks at the menu, hands it back coldly after ordering and looks only at Robert. Robert approaches the table quickly and offers the waitress a tip, holding the money between his index and middle fingers. The waitress's eyes flash when she sees the money. Though she has worked in the restaurant for many years, this is the first time someone has tipped her such a large sum of money.

She happily takes the tip from Robert's fingers and kisses him, leaving a big red lip print on his cheek. Robert is stunned. Dazed, he takes out his handkerchief and wipes away the lip print with a funny expression. Avery laughs secretly at Robert's funny performance, wondering if this is the first time he's been kissed.

Evan sits opposite Avery, playing with a silver lighter. Avery can see the split, red skin on his knuckles. She stares at the injured area with concern, but Evan gives her a glance as cold and incisive as an arctic sun.

He looks at her as if she is a stranger, and he doesn't say anything. To avoid his gaze, Avery looks at the table next to them. Several gossiping women stare at Evan and Avery as if they're stars in some absurd drama. Avery immediately recognizes Lisa among them. Evan follows Avery's gaze and looks at them casually.

The women blush instantly and turn around like frightened birds when Evan looks at them. Though Lisa specifically chose the table next to Evan, she feigns modesty and shyness and looks away.

"Oh, God, he's looking at me," one woman whispers in a soft and seductive voice.

"No, he's looking at me," says another.

"Mr. Howel, shall we clear the site?" Robert asks, upon seeing his boss' frown.

Robert knows that Evan doesn't like crowded places, and he especially hates places with many women. Typically Robert has sites cleared in advance, but it's been such a hectic day he didn't have time to deal with the restaurant. Evan lifts his hand to stop Robert.

"Send a bottle of the most expensive cognac to them," he orders.

Robert is stunned—he thinks he heard wrong. Not only does Evan not mind the giggling, obnoxious women, but he also seems to be encouraging their behavior with a bottle of cognac. Subconsciously Robert glances at Avery, but her face remains calm, betraying no emotion.

"Her husband is buying other women a drink under her nose," Robert thinks, "Doesn't she mind at all?

Although Robert is confused, he walks toward Lisa's table, "This is for you. Ladies, please enjoy it."

"Louis XIII Le Mathusalem?" exclaims one woman, reading the label, "Oh my God, this is extremely rare!"

"Is it expensive?" asks another.

"It's a limited edition—worth more than one hundred thousand dollars per bottle," replies the first.

The women stare at the crystal bottle as it sparkles under the light.

"Since he sent us the cognac, he must want to invite one of us to make a toast," says another.

"It must be me," says one, "He looked at me."

"He looked at me and I'll prove it to you," snapped another.

The woman elegantly grabs two goblets, squares her delicate shoulders and quickly walks to the table.

"Mr. Howel, I'm Veronica Smith from the Smith Group. Thanks for the drink."

She offers Evan one of the goblets. Evan holds the goblet in his long fingers and swirls it casually. Instead of looking at the woman who's toasting him, he stares directly at Avery. Avery pauses, holding her knife and fork just above her plate. She doesn't know what Evan is trying to do, but she refuses to play his game.

"Even if we didn't sign the divorce agreement, I have no interest in disrupting his affairs," Avery thinks, "Besides, this Veronica woman is no different from Diana."

Veronica raises her hand nervously in the air, and her confidence seems to evaporate. The goblet shakes slightly and the cognac trembles in the crystal. Finally, Evan turns to Veronica. He gently clinks his goblet against hers and gives her a warm and charming smile.

"It's my pleasure," he says in a low, seductive voice.

Veronica smiles ecstatically, drinks her cognac, and returns in triumph to her table.

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