Chapter 680 Avery Learns the Truth: He Has a Daughter 4
Avery slid into the car.
The heat wrapped around them, but Autumn's posture was tight, her eyes restless. Women could always tell. She felt it tonight—his warmth, his attention—none of it had been for her. It had been for that woman. For Isadora.
She had heard the rumors before, but she'd brushed them off. She was young, beautiful. How could she possibly lose to a woman in her thirties?
Now, she wasn't so sure. The way Avery had looked at Isadora tonight—it wasn't casual. It was tangled, dangerous. Desire and resentment all at once.
Avery settled into the driver's seat beside her. They were supposed to be engaged soon. Tonight had changed that.
His gaze stayed on the dark stretch of road ahead. "Autumn, I'm sorry. I can't marry you."
She didn't need to ask why.
Her eyes burned, the tears coming faster than she could blink them back.
She forced her voice steady, but it cracked anyway. "It's because of her, isn't it? Because of Isadora? You like her. But she's not even respectable—there were rumors in Vesper City about her and that man, Samuel—"
Avery turned his head toward her.
The look in his eyes froze her mid-sentence. The rest of the words died in her throat. She swallowed hard, her voice small. "Why?"
"Because I love her."
He said it quietly, without hesitation.
The pride he could never set aside in front of Isadora was gone now, stripped away in front of the woman he was supposed to marry.
He didn't hide the truth. He didn't excuse it. He admitted, without shame, that he'd walked straight back into the 'trap' Isadora had set for him—and that he wanted to be there.
Autumn's eyes were raw and swollen. Her lips trembled, but no words came. She had been one step away from marrying him. At her age, Avery had been the dream—charming, powerful, untouchable.
Now, the dream was gone.
She broke. The sobs came hard, shaking her small frame. Her eyes puffed up within minutes.
Avery, the man who had just ended their engagement, sat beside her with infinite patience, passing her tissues, murmuring that his secretary would choose an appropriate gift to make amends.
"I don't want your gift," she choked into the tissue. "Avery, I hate you."
"I have a child with her."
His voice was soft, almost gentle.
Autumn froze. She lifted her head, staring at him like he'd just spoken something impossible. "You… you have a child?"
He didn't give her time to imagine it differently. "Exactly. I will be with her. No matter what rumors you've heard, no matter her past, no matter what she's done—I will take her. And I will take the child."
Whatever fragile hope Autumn had been holding shattered. The sobs returned, louder, messier.
"Avery, I can't stand you!"
"I know," he said quietly.
Just then, a knock at the window broke the moment. The driver Avery had called over was standing outside.
Avery lowered the window and told him, "Take Ms. Foster home."
The driver glanced at Autumn's tear-streaked face and smiled gently. "Don't worry, Mr. Montague. I'll see her home safe."
Avery looked down at Autumn. He had known her since she was a girl. He still had patience for her.
"You're going to see her, aren't you?" she asked, her voice thick. "You said you'd take me home."
"I want to see my child."
Her tears came harder. "I'm just a girl, and you're a man with a kid. Why should I put up with you? And for the record, Avery, I'm the one leaving you. Not the other way around."
He gave a small, helpless smile. "All right."
She climbed out of the car, then turned back, throwing his coat at him. "I don't want your jacket. And from now on, we're done. One more thing—my breakup gift had better not be less than twenty million dollars. I'm not letting you off easy."
He agreed to everything without argument.
Only then did she leave, still crying.
When the car was finally quiet, Avery leaned back against the leather seat and lit a cigarette. He sat in silence, thinking.
Thinking about Isadora. About their daughter, Maggie.
He resented her, for not telling him sooner. If he hadn't found out, Maggie would have been nothing more than his illegitimate child. And he and Isadora would never have had a chance to share a life.
But he believed she still cared for him. She wouldn't have cried like that otherwise.
Avery had never been a man of faith. But tonight, he thanked God for Maggie—for giving him a reason to go back to Isadora.