The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 152: Chapeer

Later at night, Avery finally had the strength to sit up and discuss the matter at hand. Angel was already asleep so he warmed some milk and brought it to her in the study. She was sitting on the bean bag, looking like she could nod off any second.

"Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow?" He offered, trying to make it easier for her.

"No need. Let’s discuss this now." She reached beside her and picked up the stack of paper she had.

"Mina found these records."

He placed the cup of milk on the console table at her side and picked them up. He had seen her printing something earlier but he didn’t know what it was.

He picked it up and the more he read, the deeper his brows furrowed. What the hell was Shirley smoking?

It turned out, it had all been a coincidence that played right into Shirley’s hands like a stack of winner cards she would be an idiot to ignore.

She had met a wealthy businessman eight months ago and apparently, he was an orphan and had lived in the foster care system most of his life. He had been lucky to get adopted into a supportive family but as a way of thanking fate and not forgetting his roots, he visited different foster care homes and sent donations to charity organizations.

He had even decided to adopt a few children as a way of helping them have a permanent roof over their heads. Heaven knew getting thrown around from home to home didn’t work well in the children;s interests. Sometimes, the instability messed up with their mental health and caused irreversible damage. So he went out of his way in search for children who were least likely to be adopted.

That was how Shirley met Gemma. Her wealthy boyfriend brought her around to meet the kids and Gemma was one of the ones he had chosen. While the girl was as young as most foster parents preferred, her mental state was a mess. Shirley was fascinated as soon as she laid her scheming eyes on her. Not only did Gemma bear a remarkable resemblance to Damon, but she was also way too obedient for her own good. It was easy to manipulate her into anything.

"I have known Shirley is evil for years but I didn’t think she was capable of this." Damon’s lip curled in disgust as he read through the information Mina had discovered.

Shirley had used the child’s vulnerability to make her say whatever she wanted her to say, to make her tale about the fake pregnancy real. Besides, Gemma was eleven months older than Shirley was making her out to be. She was twisting her birth information to match her tale.

"Does her new foster father know about this?" Damon asked.

"I don’t think so." Avery sighed in disbelief. "He is a good man according to Mina’s research. If he knew what Shirley has bene up to behind his back, he would have her arrested at the very least."

He frowned. It wasn’t enough. Een if she got a jail term, it would only be a slap on the wrist since no real damage was caused by her manipulation. She might even get away with it entirely.

"I want her in hell. She nearly ruined my family." He growled. She had faked the DNA test results. If Avery had believed it without doing a baclground check, what would happen to them?

Besides, what about Gemma? Would he have fought for her custody? He didn’t mind taking care of a child who wasn’t his own. In fact, gemma was a lovely child. He would have loved to have her as his daughter under different circumstances. But not this. The truth had a snealy way of showing up once one had their guard down and when that happened, she would be crushed to find out that she only became part of this family because of a lie made by a woman who didn’t even have any ties to her.

Seeing the wheels turn in his head, Avery let out a sigh. "If it’s up to me, I would prefer if we don’t even talk about her at all. Just let her disappear to nowhere. But again, she might show up in future with something more convincing."

"Speaking of convincing..." he swiped through the sheets of paper and looked at her with concern. "What about the illness she told you about?"

"You guessed it right. She is not suffering from any lung disease." Avery was disgusted just thinking about it. "When she found Gemma, she concocted this plan but she didn’t know how exactly to execute it. She followed us around looking for all the information she could get to use against us. Then she realized that Julie kept going to hospital on a regular basis and spied on her. That’s how she found her medical file. I have no idea how she did but every piece of information on the medical file she gave me is Julie’s. She only changed the name."

"We could have a case of fraud against her." He rubbed his chin. "But yet, she wouldn’t be punished much for that either. At least not enough for the gravity of what she intended to do if she didn’t fail."

She groaned. Why was it so hard to get justice in Olphire? It made sense why there were so many criminals on the loose, especially murderers. It was easier to get rid of one’s enemy. With the right lawyers, one could get a sentence laughable in comparison to what they deserved—if they got caught, that is.

"You’re thinking up something evil, aren’t you?" He chuckled. He knew that gaze.

"If I have to. I will do anything to keep my kids safe and that woman, well. You get the idea."

"SO will I." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

______ 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

After discussing for the better part of the night, they decided if Shirley could get away with her crime just because she had remarkable lawyers, they could use even better ones to make sure she got what she deserved and more.

So on Wednesday, Avery called her and asked to meet for lunch. As expected, the woman was thrilled to see her. It was probably because she thought she had the two of them where she wanted them.

Avery was already sitting in the private booth when Shirley arrived. She was wearing a black dress and had on mild makeup that, upon closer inspection, made her look paler with the illusion that it was covering up the paleness of her skin. She was trying to appear to be frail and her black dress proved that. It was obviously supposed to serve as a contrast to her skin.

When she caught Avery staring, she smiled wordlessly.

"How have you been?" Avery asked with the kindest smile she could muster.

"Breathing is such a chore. But forget about that. I don’t think you called me here to talk about such depressing topics."

"You’re right. I didn’t. You just look...pale." Avery pursed her lips, playing right into the trap Shirley thought she had set. As expected, the woman gave her best impression of downplaying it while still letting Avery know how scared she was to die and horrible it was to live knowing it was going to happen sooner than she would have hoped.

"I thought I would get to see Gemma. Where is she?" Avery asked, barely looking at the menu before her. She only realized how long it had been since she picked it up when the waitress walked over to take their order.

Shirley took a sip of her water. "I’ll have shrimp and a ceasar salad." She fired off, probably to buy her more time. She waited until Avery ordered sushi and the waitress disappeared, before she gave the response that must have taken her ages to think about.

"She is with her grandparents."

Avery tried not to seem too obviously shocked. "Her grandparents? I thought you didn’t have a family."

"I don’t. Her father does, though." She took another sip. When she set her water down, she looked more remorseful. "I hate to do this to Damon, I really do. But I know him. If I don’t twist his arm, he will cast Gemma aside."

Maybe that’s because she is not his daughter? She thought but didn’t say that. Instead she asked, "Are you saying she is with the D’Abovlles?"

"Yes. I met Constance long before that day at the banquet and she had asked to see Gemma. I took her over yesterday. They love her even more than I thought they would."

"Of course they would." Avery let out a tiny smile. What was this woman playing at?

Shirley grabbed the chance to rib her. "You are right. She is their first grandchild after all." She pretended to let her jaw drop at the realization of what her words implied. "I don’t mean...well, you did say they would never see your son. At least that’s what they told me."

This meeting was getting harder by the minute. At the same time, Avery was relieved that it would be over soon. So she asked for more information. "Does your boyfriend know you are letting Gemma reconnect with her family?"

"Boyfriend?"

"Mr. Grant. I assumed you two are in a relationship. Before you ask, I’m not stalking you. Not anymore, anyway."

Shirley frowned. "Are you admitting you did before?"

"It wasn’t easy to believe Gemma is Damon’s daughter at first. I had to make sure you are not lying.