Chapter 154
Ava didn't let out her breath until she got into the elevator.
She did feel like she was asking for too much - five percent of the Morgan Group's shares was no small amount. When she first proposed this condition, she was partly angry and partly thought William would never agree.
Even if he was willing to give it, he'd negotiate or something. She never expected he'd actually be willing to transfer five percent of the original shares to her as divorce compensation.
This also made her see clearly Sarah's position in his heart. For Sarah's sake, he was willing to give up a quarter of his fortune, so decisively, without even a word of negotiation.
Ava pulled her hand from his and looked at the person behind her in the elevator mirror, asking,
"Do you want to reconsider?"
William looked ahead, the two making eye contact through the mirror,
"Take it since I'm giving it to you. If this copy is torn, I'll have James send over a new one later for us to sign again."
After that, no one spoke.
Out of the elevator, they walked out of the inpatient building one after another.
Ava had also driven here. She headed straight for her car, with William following close behind.
"Want me to give you a ride?"
Ava hadn't slept all night. She was exhausted now, but her mind was crystal clear. She needed to stay alert and stop accepting any of his gestures of goodwill.
She knew she couldn't resist temptation.
Since she'd decided to end things, she had to do it completely, with no lingering attachment to him.
"No need, I'll call a designated driver."
Seeing her so distant, William didn't insist. He turned back to his own car. The two were in the same parking lot, each getting into their own vehicle.
William sat in his car smoking a cigarette, watching as her designated driver arrived and drove her out of the hospital before starting his car to go to the company.
Before leaving work that evening, William called Lily, saying he'd come home for dinner tonight.
A perfectly good villa, and he hadn't stayed there, sleeping in the break room for several days - he felt like he'd gone crazy.
The clothes he kept at the office had been taken to the dry cleaners by his assistant, and he had nothing left to change into. If he didn't go back, he'd start to stink. Now he understood Ava's attitude - even if he didn't come home for a month, she wouldn't give him a call.
William felt a bit sad thinking about this. After finishing up at the company, he gave James the evening off and drove home himself.
Walking in, he smelled food cooking. Lily was busy in the kitchen.
He scanned around but didn't see Ava. Usually at this time, she'd have her hair in a low ponytail, helping Lily in the dining room, occasionally inventing a new dish for him to try.
He went straight upstairs to change. Ava wasn't in the bedroom either.
Ava hadn't taken much when she left - the walk-in closet looked almost unchanged.
William came out in his pajamas and saw on the nightstand the ring he'd personally put on her finger not long ago.
Only then did his heart start to panic.
You have to understand, before Sarah returned to the country, she wore the wedding ring Howard bought them for three years without ever taking it off. Whenever that ring left her finger, it meant she had no more expectations of him.
Now, both wedding rings had ended up in his hands.
Only then did William realize - had she already left?
He rushed downstairs to the kitchen and found Lily, who was serving soup, asking,
"Hasn't Ava come back?"
Lily didn't react at first and directly relayed what Ava had said before leaving,
"Mrs. Morgan said she was going traveling for a while and would be back in a few days."
William rubbed his temples repeatedly. He knew that her woman had moved out of SilkGrove Estates while he wasn't around, without even notifying him.
In her heart, he was already her ex-husband.
"When did Ava leave?"
He asked again.
Lily placed the soup on the table and brought out a set of tableware to arrange neatly. Only then did she realize the young couple's relationship was in trouble again.
Ava went traveling, and he didn't even know - had they fought again?
She thought back and answered, "The morning after coming back from the yacht, Mrs. Morgan left with her suitcase. She said she was going traveling and would be back in a few days. I thought you knew."
William's face completely darkened. At this moment, he had no appetite for dinner - he was already full of anger.
At the hospital, they'd had plenty of chances to talk, and she hadn't mentioned it once.
She probably thought he didn't even need to know about this. She was already a free woman - they were just missing the final paperwork.
Ava went back and slept like the dead. The next day at noon, the caregiver from the hospital called,
"Mrs. Morgan, could you please come over? Howard couldn't sleep all night. Even the sedatives the doctor prescribed didn't work. I saw yesterday when you were here, he slept pretty well during the day. We really don't know what else to do - could you come and comfort him?"
Worried about Howard, Ava hung up and immediately changed to go out. Last time she'd worn too little and came back with a headache, so this time she learned her lesson and put on an extra knit cardigan.
Rushing to the hospital, Howard was leaning against the bed, not speaking, just staring blankly at the ceiling.
Seeing Howard's condition was much worse than when she was there, Ava's heart ached. When she entered the room, Howard finally came to his senses, his eyes landing on her as he reached out a hand toward her.
Ava sat by the bed and took Howard's hand, holding back the moisture in her eyes as she asked,
"Why isn't Grandpa sleeping? Do you want me to stay with you?"
Howard closed his eyes and was silent for a moment before speaking,
"Ava, don't leave."
"I won't leave. Sleep, Grandpa. I'll watch over you right here."
Howard was now throwing a tantrum like a child, not letting her go. So Ava stayed by his side, telling him funny stories she'd seen online. Within a few minutes, she heard even breathing - Howard had fallen asleep.
The two caregivers tiptoed out quietly. Howard was finally willing to sleep.
Outside the door, Dr. Allen also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't prescribed sleeping pills, worried about the side effects, only some mild sedatives. Who knew Howard's insomnia would be so severe - he'd barely slept all night.
Now he was sleeping soundly. His granddaughter-in-law really had a way with him. If he'd known, why bother with sedatives - he should have just kept Ava there to stay with him.
Howard slept for over six hours, even sleeping through lunch, which showed he was truly exhausted to the limit.
During this time, Ava stayed by the bedside except for bathroom breaks.
When Howard woke up and opened his eyes to see her there, his whole body relaxed again.
"Ava, guess who I saw while I was sleeping?"
Ava paused, "Who did you dream about, Grandpa?"
Seeing she was still there, Howard felt much more at ease. Only now did he have the desire to talk. After holding it in for two days, he finally wanted to speak,
"I saw Victoria, your grandmother. She came up to me and gave me a good scolding, saying I was an untrustworthy old man who'd hurt her granddaughter terribly."
Ava instantly couldn't hold it together, tears flooding out like a broken dam.