Chapter 51
William suddenly looked up, startling Ava.
"You went to the jewelry exhibition yesterday?"
Ava nodded woodenly. Lucas said there were some nice pieces, so she went to check them out out of curiosity.
William rubbed his temples. Lucas again.
"Can't you make some normal friends?"
At his words, Ava's anxious heart suddenly relaxed. He didn't mention anything else—it was the same old speech about not liking her association with Lucas.
This meant he hadn't thought in that direction. Her hidden identity was still safe.
Ava raised her fox-like eyes slightly. "We're both perfectly normal. Mr. Morgan, you should worry about yourself."
Without caring whether he was pleased or not, she walked straight out the door.
James glanced at Ava and awkwardly touched his nose, thinking to himself that William was really being a beast.
Ava ran into Sarah, touching up her makeup in the restroom.
When no one else was around, Sarah still maintained her haughty attitude.
"You've already signed the divorce papers, but still won't leave. How much more are you trying to squeeze out of him?"
Sarah's sudden directness actually made Ava interested in having a chat with her.
"However much I get, it's not your money. Why are you so anxious? You're the one who needs to be careful. Every penny you're spending on him right now is our marital property. As the legal wife, I have the right to claim it back—even half the cost of your hotel rooms and every meal you've eaten together."
Sarah let out a scoffing laugh. "Drop the act. Let's cut to the chase. How much money will it take for you to leave him?"
"You should ask him what it'll take for him to let me go."
Sarah's eyes instantly dimmed. She saw the fresh love bites on Ava's neck, extending all the way down beneath her collar. She clearly remembered they weren't there this morning—obviously left just at noon.
That glaring red mark made her feel suffocated.
"What did you two do? This is a company, not a place for you to seduce men."
Ava walked past her to wash her hands, only then noticing the state of her neck that she couldn't bear to look at. The scene from earlier kept replaying in her mind.
That bastard deliberately wanted to embarrass her.
Seeing Sarah's angry reaction, she couldn't help but feel pleased.
"We're a legal married couple. Whatever we do is perfectly reasonable. I don't think you want to hear about those things between adults, do you?"
Sarah glared with eyes full of rage.
Ava knew Sarah's personality—she could keep her composure better than Emily, that unreasonable, spoiled princess who would fly off the handle at a single word.
She couldn't resist embellishing and describing what had just happened in the office, making it sound vivid and lifelike, turning a single kiss into an intensely passionate affair.
Sarah, having been with men before, naturally believed it.
"Ava, you just wait!"
At the time, Ava didn't take those words to heart.
As usual, Ava left work right on time.
She drove her own car out of the underground parking garage. After driving for a while, she noticed a black Volkswagen following her. When she sped up, the car accelerated. When she turned, it turned too.
Ava's driving skills were average, and now she had to split her attention. She concentrated on driving, a thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead.
While waiting at a red light, she opened her map to find the nearest police station and navigated there. It was the safest place she could think of.
The light turned green, and the car started moving again.
She glanced in the rearview mirror—that car was following steadily behind her, with something covering the license plate.
Ava tried to stay calm. As long as she could safely reach the police station, whoever was in that car couldn't do anything to her.
When people get nervous, the foot on the gas pedal naturally presses harder.
The car behind also accelerated. Seeming to sense her intention, it sped up almost recklessly and charged straight at her.
By the time Ava reacted, her car had been hit and pushed forward more than 30 feet, and the airbag had deployed.
Whether from shock or not, she heard someone knocking on the window in a daze. She unlocked the car door and passed out the next second.
This traffic accident was classified as an ordinary rear-end collision—the car behind had brake failure, which caused it to hit her. This was the answer the police gave Ava when she woke up.
Her instinct told her this incident was connected to Sarah.
A doctor came in to take her temperature.
Ava looked at the IV bag hanging by the bed, the medicine dripping into her body drop by drop. She used all her strength to sit up.
"Doctor, please take this out quickly."
Seeing her anxiety, the doctor quickly reassured her, "Don't get excited. This medication is safe for pregnant women. You've had a shock, and for the baby's sake, you need to stay in the hospital for observation for twenty-four hours."
Ava gently placed a hand on her belly. "My baby is okay, right?"
"Don't worry, nothing serious. As long as you follow medical advice."
Ava obediently lay back down.
"You knew I was pregnant?"
The doctor readjusted the needle—there was some blood backing up because of her earlier agitation.
"The person who handled your admission told us."
"Who handled my admission?"
The doctor thought for a moment. "I think it was a man named Sam."
"Doctor, please keep my pregnancy confidential."
The doctor shook his head with a sigh and walked out.
Ava stared blankly at the ceiling. Steven, that old bastard, had been beaten a while ago, and she'd forgotten about this mysterious Sam person.
She took out her phone, found the mysterious Sam, and sent two words: "Thank you."
A moment later, she received a message: "Ms. Davis, no need to be polite. I'm specifically responsible for your safety. Today's incident was my failure. Please feel free to ask if you need anything."
Ava spent a long time wondering who Sam worked for. Not many people knew about her pregnancy. Besides those close friends, who else could it be?
And those close friends wouldn't protect her secretly if they wanted to help—there'd be no need to hide it from her.
Thinking it over, a face appeared in her mind.
Could it be Michael?
Her head hurt a bit.
After the doctor left, she took a nap.
She vaguely felt a gaze on her face. Opening her eyes, she looked straight into William's deep eyes. Rarely did she see a trace of concern in them.
"How do you feel?"
He asked.
A whimpering, crying sound reached her ears.
Ava followed the sound and saw Sarah standing on the other side, sobbing. She had to admire her acting skills—the entertainment industry definitely owed her an Oscar.
"Ava, are you okay? You scared us all."
Sarah's eyes were red, her face full of concern.
Ava thought her eyes were red from happiness. Seeing her like this, she was clearly crying tears of joy. Or perhaps she was a bit regretful that Ava hadn't been killed.
In any case, it wasn't a concern.
Ava pulled her right hand away in disgust.
"I'm a bit hungry."
She said to William.
"I'll go buy some food."
Rarely did he want to go himself, without ordering James around.
Sarah stayed in the hospital room. She knew Ava had sent William away because she had something to say to her—this was the understanding between rivals.
"Say whatever you want to say quickly. You might not be this lucky next time."
Ava felt disgusted. So it was her after all.
"Sarah, I've been putting up with you before because William promised me we'd get divorced after the company's product launch. Now that you're so impatient, don't blame me for not being nice. However you treat me, I'll return it to you the same way."
Sarah let out a scoffing laugh. "Go ahead and try."
She had never believed that Ava, that pushover who let everyone walk all over her, could make any waves. Dealing with her would be easy.
As they were talking, William returned.
He bought Ava's favorite foods.
The tense atmosphere in the hospital room immediately became harmonious with his return.
There was no intense hostility between rivals—only sisterly affection.
Of course, Sarah was the lead actress.
She took the package from William's hands and thoughtfully opened it to feed Ava.
"Ava, eat more so you'll recover faster."
Ava's morning sickness, which had disappeared for a while, was triggered again. She dry-heaved a few times, her face turning pale.
"Please stay away from me. Your smell makes me sick."
Sarah was unhappy but held back from making a scene with William present.
"You can go."
William strode over with his long legs, took the food back from Sarah's hands, and coldly dismissed her.
He pulled out a pair of disposable gloves from the box, put them on, and fed Ava the pan-fried buns. This was the first time Ava received such treatment, and she felt she couldn't handle it.
If it weren't for Sarah's return, she would even suspect William had fallen in love with her. Otherwise, why would she see concern in his eyes, and why would he be kind enough to feed her?
The last time she had a fever of over 39 degrees, all he said was, "Drink more hot water."
"I can do it myself," Ava said.
William lost patience, pulled off the gloves directly, and handed her the utensils.
"You go ahead with your work. No need to waste time here."
The CEO of the Morgan Group had countless daily affairs. At this time on other days, he was either entertaining clients or busy at the company.
Ava said this partly because she didn't want to be alone with him.
Having decided to leave him, she needed to gradually fade from each other's lives. She believed time was the best medicine—people you can't forget, pain that won't heal, all eventually lose to time.
William asked helplessly, "What are you making a fuss about now?"