جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 90

AVAI was still going through the last set of notes when there was a knock on my door.I looked up. “Come in.”The door opened and Steve walked in with a smile on his face.“Good morning, ma’am.”I sighed and shook my head. “Please don’t call me that. Just call me Ava. I’m not that old.”He laughed. “Alright… Ava.”"Better."He stepped forward and handed me a stack of files. “The ones I took yesterday.”I took them from him, flipping through quickly. They were neatly done with clean corrections.He really did his part.“Thank you,” I said, genuinely. “This helped a lot.”“It’s nothing,” he replied easily. “So… were you able to finish the rest?”I hesitated for a split second, then nodded. “Yes.”His brows lifted. “Impressive.”I smiled faintly. “You helped too, remember?”He shook his head. “I didn’t even do up to a quarter of what you did.”I didn’t argue because technically, he was right.“Thank you,” I said again.He nodded, then glanced at the files in my hands.“You should probab

AVABy the time I stepped out of the building, the evening air hit me softly.It was already past six.I rolled my shoulders as I walked towards the gate, letting out a long breath.“Today was a lot."I had managed to pull myself together after the meeting and started drafting a plan for the project, even went down to the finance and personnel department to get my details processed.At least I wasn’t completely lost.I slowed near the roadside and reached into my bag for my phone. I unlocked it, opening the app to order a ride.I should probably have called Lucien but after the meeting, I honestly did not feel very confident.I exhaled. We'll meet at home anyway.Before I could confirm my ride, a car pulled up in front of me.My fingers stilled.I didn’t even need to check to know it was Lucien.The tinted back window rolled down slowly and I saw him still looking sharp at this hour.“Get in.”I stared at him for a second, then released a sigh.I opened the door and got in.The door s

AVAI was in the sitting room, pacing.I checked the time again, it was 1:12 a.m.My chest tightened because Lucien still wasn’t back.I had called him more times than I wanted to admit, but he didn’t pick up my calls. I tried calling Jason and Fred too but their phones were off. I even hovered over Paul’s name before dropping my phone with a quiet sigh.He had a wife and a life. I couldn’t drag him into this at this hour.How was I supposed to sit here and be calm when I didn’t know where he was or how he was?Butler Ken had come earlier, standing a few feet away from me in concern.“Madam, you should go to bed.”“I can’t,” I told him immediately.When he saw that he couldn't convince me to rest, he joined me. But when it got past midnight, I turned to him.“You need to go rest.”He hesitated.“I’m serious,” I whispered, tired myself. “You’ve done enough.”Reluctantly, he left and now, I was alone with my worry increasing with every passing minute.Some minutes past 2 a.m, the door o

AVA I shook my head, exhausted. “It’s just… everything,” I whispered. “We keep arguing. Every single time and it’s like no matter what I say, it’s wrong.” “He wanted us to get married immediately. Not the wedding, the certificate, like right now.” Stella blinked. “What?” I let out a hollow laugh. “And when I said no, it became another problem. I just… I don’t know how to deal with him.” My voice dropped. “I’m scared that no matter what I do… I’ll keep getting it wrong.” I wiped at my face again, but the tears kept coming. “And then last night…” I trailed off, shaking my head as I didn't even know where to begin. Stella tightened her arm around me. “What happened?” I let out a shaky breath. “He came home really late....like… past 2 a.m. He smelled like alcohol, Stella and his hands...” I swallowed, my chest tightening again at the memory. “His hands were bleeding.” Stella’s brows pulled together. “What?” “I don’t even know what he did,” I continued. “He wouldn’t tell me any

AVA The moment we got outside, I stopped completely. Right there, parked in front of the building was a car and not just any car, but a car with a big bow sitting perfectly on top of it like something straight out of a movie. My breath caught. “What is that?” Stella froze too. “Oh my days." I knew that car. It was a lilac Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. My lips parted. “No way…” I turned to Michael, still trying to process what I was seeing. “This isn’t-" “It’s yours, ma’am,” he said calmly. My eyes widened. “Mine?” He nodded, then extended an envelope to me. “The boss asked that you read this.” My fingers felt unsteady as I took it and opened it. There was a note in Lucien's handwriting. "For acing the race." My heart fluttered. He remembered. "You like to win. I like to reward what’s mine when she does. Enjoy the ride." I let out a breathless laugh. That was so...him, yet sweet. I shook my head as I lowered the note. Stella grabbed my arm. "Ava??”