The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 71

She studied his expression. "Pregnant?"

His eyes widened as he cleared his throat. "I saw the name of the hospital and thought...never mind. What did you need to tell me?"

She wasn’t certain yet whether he was genuinely puzzled or faking it to hide his guilt so she explained, "this is actually from five years ago, when I was pregnant with Angel."

She expected to see panic on his face but all she saw was curiosity. "For some reason, you think it’s emotional to carry the file from your pregnancy around? I mean, you have the boy with you." He shrugged, then thought of what would happen is she kept carrying the file everywhere.

"Do you realize that if you drop it somewhere, someone could find out your location? That’s bait for stalkers." He reprimanded her.

Her lips twitched. "This might come as a surprise to you but I no longer care about this file. It has served its purpose so I’m giving it to you."

"To me?" He frowned. He inspected the top of the file in confusion. "I’ve heard of couples giving their sonograms to their parents as a way of reveal they are pregnant, but giving the prenatal file to the uncle years after the baby is born?" He was puzzled. Was this some trend he was not aware of? Still, it wasn’t every day Avery called him out and gave him anything. He didn’t want to disappoint her, so he accepted the file. Something about her gaze didn’t feel right and he only noticed it once he had opened the file.

"You had an abortion?" Did she know how dangerous it was? He ran a hand down his face. It happened more times than he could imagine, he knew. He also knew everything was a risk, but he couldn’t bear the thought of his sister going through something so risky.

He cut himself off when he caught sight of the date. "That’s not right. This is six months before you had Angel. If you had an abortion, how was Angel born?"

"You really don’t know, brother?" She asked.

He thought about it and shook his head. "I’d say Angel is maybe an adopted child you took right after birth but why would you need to do that? Besides, I witnessed Angel’s birth. What’s going on?"

She was finally convinced he didn’t know what was going on. She circled the table and hugged him, her suspicions calming. Gabriel didn’t ever think it sane tod eny his actions. He would rather parade his evil deeds around like a supervillain of sorts.

"Vivi?" He was confused.

"You didn’t send it."

"Send what?"

"The file." She fought back tears. "Someone sent it to Damon to make him think I had one it out of selfishness.

"And you thought it was me."

She hugged his arm. "What would I have thiught? You hated Damon to the core, then I realized this is what broke us apart back then."

He scoffed. "If your relationship was weak enough to be broken apart by a sheet of paper, why do you even bother?" He glanced at the file no one could think ws fake. "Though to be honest, this is an exellent idea. I wish I had thought about it...it;’s just too cruel though."

She slapped her forehead. The villain was back.

"Do you think of anyone who knows my nickname for Damon, who knew I was pregnant?" She asked, trying to figure out who the real culprit was.

Her face paled out of the blue and he was concerned. He held a glass of water near her lips. "Are you okay?"

"I just realized the person who sent this folder might be the one who tried to kill my son." She gasped. "However, this is a complex person. They have to have known Damon and I were in a relationship, hated this reationship, and they should be able to gain so much from Damon and I being separated that a little child was a threat to them."

She didn’t think such a person even existed but she knew she had to search.

"Gabe, the nickname." She reminded him.

"I don’t know where I heard it." He confessed. "I’ll be more careful to hear it next time."

She huffed. How helpful.

"Hold on. His parents would know his nicknames." She realized.

"That’s true. And his family hates you. Angel’s arrival might have triggered you two into considering marriage. They had a motive and they knew Damon’s schedule." He added, then immefiately contradicted himself. "However, they only know nicknames that have been used on him for years. But a cute silly nickname given by his girlfriend, I think the girl’s family have a better shot at knowing it."

Her eyes widened. "That’s right!" She never talked about her relationship with Damon but if they searched hard enough, they would get something out of their snooping. That must be how they knew.

"I’ll kill them!" He snarled, banging his fist on the table and attracting the attention of several patrons.

She gritted her teeth. "You will not."

"They hurt you." He insisted. Most importantly, they were the reason why their relationship was ruined in the first place. All these years, they had misunderstood each other and it was all because of them?!

"What we have, brother, is a speculation. We need to be sure they did it before we confront them. Won’t it be fun to punish them knowing they did what we are accusing them of?"

It was a little more tempting when she mentioned punishing them.

"But how long is it going to take?" Heaven knew he wanted to simply barge into their parents’ house, drag the couple he hated the most out and force them to confess. He knew, however, that Avery would never appreciate that.

"I have a plan." She whispered it in his ear, gaining disapproval. "No."

"It will work, trust me." She coaxed.

"No."

....

She thought that would be the most extreme negative reaction she would receive about the matter but when she heard what Damon had to say, she was stumped.

"Why the hell would you go to the family that willingly hurt you?" He tried to talk her out.

"I’m going to investigate. It kinda requires me to be there." She argued and no matter what he was going to say, he would not make her relent.

"I’m coming with you." He offered.

"No can do. If we both go, it’s going to be obvious what we want as soon we set foot into the house." She rose in her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I’ll be careful, okay?"

He couldn’t fight against her attack of cuteness. He held her waist and kissed her. "Even if you don’t want me to come with you, allow me to watch over you from a distance." He requested.

She was helpless. The guys were thinking too much. She wasn’t even going to spend enough time in her parents’ house for them to have a chance at attacking her.

...

Gking back to her parents’ house felt like walking into hell in every sense. She hated the place with every inch of her being and she wished she didn’t have to do this.

Everyone was puzzled to see her, including the maids, and she acted as though they didn’t exist. By the time she got to the living room, Bryce and Amelia were both waiting.

"News does travel fast, doesn’t it?" She smiled.

"Avery." Amelia was the first to walk over to her to welcome her. "I’m so glad to see you."

"You are?" She restrained herself from saying what she really thought. Why would Amelia be glad to see her? They must be wondering which hell she was planning to raise now that she was here.

"Of course, honey. We missed you." She reached to cup her face, and Avery ignored her hand. She walked over to Bryce instead. "Father."

He hugged her. It had taken all her strength to call him something he had never made any effort to become.

"You are back. Where’s your son?"

"It doesn’t matter." She stopped them from using Angel as a way to strike conversation.

"I came because I heard of the dire straights you guys are in." She sat on the couch facing Bryce.

"We have been in these dire straights for ages." Amelia subtly reminded her of her reaction when they asked her for help before.

Bryce wasn’t pleased either, but he needed as much help as he could get. Even so, he couldn’t help studying his daughter suspiciously. Not even two months ago, they had begged for her help only for her to turn them down. She had even spoken of cutting blood ties. Why was she here when no one had called her?

"I’m sorry for how I acted before, father." She spoke, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from saying anything that might ruin it. "I was overwhelmed and I took it out on you."

"Hey, we all have our bad days." He patted her shoulder.

She nodded. "I realized how horrible it is to stay away from one’s child. I got to experience it recently." She bluffed. "So, to make up for the choices I made and for the kind of daughter I was, I would like to help you get back on your feet."

"She definitely wants something from us." Amelia exposed her suspicion. How could a heartless woman suddenly care about other people?

"Amelia," Bryce reprimanded his wife.

"It’s okay, father. I can help in other ways apart from helping your company." She let out a small smile, adding in her mind, ’like help you trim your too long and boring lives.’