All Chapters of Till Bodies Do Us Part : Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

Ava's pov.“Sweetheart, you're white as a sheet.” Diane said, closing the distance between us before I could even think of an escape route. “Are you feeling alright?”“I'm perfect,” I said but my voice came out an octave too high for a man, so I cleared my throat and tried sounding masculine. “Just a bit of a headache, but it's not serious .”“Well, that won't do at all.” She looped her arm through mine before I could protest, steering me toward the hotel restaurant with the kind of grip that told me resistance was not an option. “The Whitmores flew in all the way from Boston, the least you can do is sit through one meal.”I had hit the volume down button by the side of my phone, when she caught up with me. But somehow, I could still hear Gerald's voice, faint and tiny from the phone.“Mom, I actually have somewhere urgent I need to be,” I gave one last futile try.“More urgent than family?” She raised a brow at me, the exact expression Ivan made whenever he thought someone was lying

Ivan's pov.“She did what?” my voice under Ava's control came through the phone the second I explained the situation after she called.It was so loud that I had to hold it away from my ear. God, I never imagined my voice could sound so annoying.“My mother called your mother,” I repeated what I had sent in the text. “For a very flimsy reason and I quote, ‘to discuss wedding gift logistics,’ but I know my mother, and she doesn't call people about gift logistics.”“What else did she say to her?” Ava made my voice sound impatient.“I don't know, I wasn't on the call,” I rubbed my temple. “But your mother texted you, or rather texted me, since I'm the one answering your messages now.”“Can you read out what the text says?”I pulled up the message againand read it out for her “We need to talk about your husband, something feels off.”The silence on the other end of the line stretched long enough that I thought the call had dropped.“Are you still on, Ava?”“I'm here,” she made my voice com

Ivan's pov.Uncle Victor never visited without an agenda and the sight of his car in the driveway set my nerves on edge before I had even stepped foot inside the house.“Talk to me.” Ava said as she led our way to the front door. “What's his deal?”“He's my father's younger brother, he's spent the last decade convinced he should have inherited the company instead of me,” I kept my voice low, wary of the staff that were near the entrance. “He's charming in the way snakes are charming, right up until they bite.”“That is not very comforting.”“Just try not to give in to whatever he says.”We stepped inside to find him seated in the living room, a glass of what was my most expensive scotch in hand, chatting with my mother like he owned the place.Victor rose the moment he saw us, arms spread wide in a gesture of warmth I knew better than to trust.“There they are.” He said, his voice was as smooth as always. “The newlyweds, I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.”“Uncle Victor.”