Chapter 236

Chapter 236

Ava tried to pull her hand away, but he gripped it even tighter, and she felt pain shooting through her wrist.

During the struggle, there was a ripping sound—her shirt sleeve tore open.

William's gaze fixed on the tattoo on her shoulder, and he froze right there.

A bright red spider lily bloomed vividly. Looking closer, the petals concealed a frightening scar beneath them.

The spider lily's meaning: never to meet again.

William smiled bitterly. Over these four years, she had changed her name and cut off contact with everyone—she truly intended never to see him again, not even in death.

When he saw that terrible scar, his heart ached. He knew every inch of her body, and that scar was new. It must have been from that car accident. She was someone who feared pain the most.

"Ava..."

He called her name with reddened eyes, and his voice was filled with regret.

Ava calmed down.

"Can you let go now? It hurts."

Only then did William realize he'd been gripping her with great force. Subconsciously, he just wanted to hold on to her. He was terrified that she would disappear from his life again, but he'd forgotten to control his strength and hurt her.

He released his hand, though his eyes never left her for even a second.

Ava's wrist now bore several finger marks from his grip. She rubbed her hand and said coldly,

"Ava is dead. My name is Mia. I'll pay you back every cent."

She broke free from his hold, opened the car door, and slipped into the driver's seat.

William reacted quickly. The second she got in, he followed, sitting in the seat behind her.

He knelt on one knee in the car, leaning forward to touch that scar.

"Ava, can you please talk to me? I have so much to tell you. I made a memorial for you next to Mom's grave. Every moment of these years, I've missed you terribly. Have you been doing well?"

Ava drew in a cold breath and tried to steady herself. Before, he wouldn't care about anything related to her, let alone her mother's grave. He didn't even know his own mother-in-law's name. Now, after the divorce, he respectfully called her "Mom."

Ava only felt it was ridiculous. Her words came out without a trace of warmth.

"Mr. Morgan, please get out. I need to go home. It's not convenient to drive you around."

William didn't get out. Instead, he fastened his seatbelt, planning to stay put.

"Ava, these four years have been terrible for me. At night when I turn over and feel the empty side of the bed, I think about that car accident. You must have been in so much pain. Will you hit me? You can do whatever you want, just don't ignore me."

Ava listened to these pleading words as he lowered himself to the lowest position. When he mentioned that car accident again, her heart still filled with terror. That brush with death was something she would never forget.

She warned him coldly again,

"William Morgan, please get out!"

"Ava, can you give me one chance? We still have a long life ahead to spend together. Family and friends all miss you so much, they're all waiting for you to come back. Don't you miss them?"

Ava felt a sharp pain in her heart. He mentioned family, which made Ava think of Howard.

When she had the accident, Howard was still calling her, asking if she was eating and sleeping well. She couldn't imagine how sad and devastated Howard must have been when he heard the news of her death.

Could his body handle it?

Howard was the person who gave her the most warmth during the most desolate time of her life. She wasn't heartless—she couldn't forget that kindness.

Ava steadied her emotions and asked,

"How is Grandpa doing now?"

William was overjoyed that she was finally willing to talk to him.

"Grandpa is recovering at the Morgan Mansion. After you left, he disowned me as his grandson. He told me to bring you back, otherwise I'm forbidden from stepping through the Morgan Mansion doors."

He was stating facts, hoping to gain her sympathy, even just a little bit would make him happy for days.

Ava lowered her head and fell silent. Hearing that Howard was okay put her mind at ease.

Ava's phone ringtone broke the brief silence. She glanced down—it was Sophia calling.

In this situation, how could she dare answer? He still didn't know that the two children had safely come into this world. She didn't want him to know.

He had Sarah to bear his children. Ava would never allow her precious babies to be taken away by him and compete for fatherly love with that mistress's child.

Ava hung up ruthlessly and turned off her phone.

"I'll ask one more time, Mr. Morgan, will you get out?"

William sat completely still. Having found her again, he was incredibly thrilled and refused to leave no matter what.

Ava sat in the driver's seat, unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and got out, immediately merging into the subway crowd nearby.

William got out and chased after her, but Ava had already squeezed into the densest part of the crowd.

Through the crowd, he looked at her—shoulder-length hair, capable and calm, with a maturity refined by years that she hadn’t had four years ago.

But those fox-like eyes still captivated his soul.

For the first time in his life, William entered a subway station. He'd never experienced rush hour congestion and was quickly pushed out of line by the crowd.

A train arrived. He watched helplessly as she was pushed onto the train by the crowd, never looking back once.

The subway departed, and a long queue formed again outside the safety doors.

He stared in the direction the subway had gone but couldn't move his feet.

He'd missed the three-minute subway interval, just as he'd missed his marriage at twenty-eight. This sense of failure made him feel that despite being the heir to the Morgan Group worth hundreds of millions, he was worse off than these workers who diligently commuted by subway every day.

At least they had goals, knew which train to take, and knew how to queue up and squeeze in when the train came.

But he loved without knowing it, only regretting and trying to cherish after losing it.

At thirty, he'd lost his love and lost his child. What was the point of doing well in business? No amount of money could be taken into the coffin.

Ava stood in the crowded car, her whole being like a lost soul.

Someone noticed her torn clothing and kindly reminded her, offering their seat.

She waved her hand and said thank you. This wasn't even the train that would take her home—she'd gotten on simply because it happened to arrive, happened to give her a chance to escape him.

When the train stopped at the next station, Ava got out and hailed a taxi home.

At the Davis mansion, Sophia couldn't find her mom and looked unhappy. Finally seeing her return, she ran over,

"Mommy, why didn't you answer my call? Uncle Robert picked the best school for Samuel and me. We were planning to wait for you to come back so we could all go see it together."

Ava tried to control her emotions in front of the children.

"Sophia, Mommy's phone died. I'm very tired today. Can Mommy take you to see it tomorrow?"

In just a few sentences, the little smarty had already detected something was wrong.

"Mommy, what's wrong? Did you run into a difficult client?"

Ava forced a smile.

"Mommy's fine. I'll be better after some sleep."

Sophia said "oh."

"Mommy, wait here for a second."

She turned and ran to the refrigerator, stood on her tiptoes, and took out a small cake—strawberry flavored.

Holding it in her small hands like a treasure, she brought it to Ava.

"Mommy, here's something to cheer you up. I put a happiness spell in it. You'll feel better after eating it."

Ava took the little cake the child offered and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Sophia."

Robert came down from upstairs. He'd already noticed from the stairs that something was off with Ava today.