Chapter 34
EastLake Villa was Ava's mom's house before she got married. It had nothing to do with Steven. Her family lived there before Mom died, and it held all her memories of Mom. Of course, she wanted the house back.
But wait, did she hear that right? The house was now under Sarah's name?
Ava tried hard to control her emotions.
"I agreed to the divorce. When the house gets transferred, we get divorced."
Steven's patience was wearing thin, and his voice got louder.
"Why is it so hard to ask you for one thing? Do you really want to push your own sister to her death? Would you be happy if she died?"
"Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me. She's the one pushing herself; nobody's forcing her."
"It's just a man. Do you have to be so petty? Men are everywhere. Dad will find you someone the day you get divorced."
"Finding a man isn't like buying groceries. Why don't you say the same thing to Sarah? Does she have to cling to a married man?"
"What are you trying to say? Are you saying your sister is the other woman, wrecking your family?"
"Isn't that exactly what's happening? Her mom wrecked my mom's family, and now she's wrecking mine. What did I do wrong? Why should I let you all push me around? If you hate me so much, why did you have me in the first place?"
A slap landed, and Ava's ears instantly started ringing.
William heard the argument outside and came out, just in time to see this scene.
"What are you doing?"
He strode over and pulled Ava into his arms protectively, his voice full of anger.
Steven felt embarrassed being scolded by his son-in-law.
"My daughter wasn't listening. I was helping you teach her a lesson. Don't worry, William, this girl's been tough since she was little. She can take it."
Ava's mouth was bleeding a bit, but worse was her ear. She was getting tinnitus now. Their voices sounded like they were hammering her eardrums, all just noise.
William turned Ava around to face him, his arm around her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
He asked.
Ava shook her head, holding back the pain. One side of her face was burning up fast. She didn't need a mirror to know it must be bright red.
"Here's the document."
"I'll take you to see a doctor."
He walked her toward the elevator. As they passed Steven, he stopped and warned,
"Figure out that loan yourself. The Morgan Group isn't a charity. We can't just lend people that much money for nothing."
Steven's heart sank. What did he just say? The loan they'd agreed on - how could he just change his mind like that?
"William, let me explain..."
William completely ignored him and kept walking with Ava. As they neared the elevator, Nola rushed out the door shouting,
"Doctor, is there a doctor? Come quick and check on my daughter... Help..."
That panicked voice echoed through the entire hallway.
William let go of her and immediately ran back.
Ava covered half her face, watching him run back, feeling cold all over.
She seemed to always be watching his back as he ran toward Sarah.
If just once he could stand on her side, she might try to save this family for the sake of the two babies in her belly.
Ava leaned against the wall to steady herself.
"Ava, why do I keep running into you looking so miserable at the hospital?"
Before her was Michael's gentle face.
"Michael, what a coincidence. Running into you again."
Ava felt deeply powerless as she spoke.
"Come on, I'll take you to see a doctor."
She followed Michael into the elevator and once again came to the examination room - the same Dr. Shawn White as last time.
Dr. White examined Ava's face and couldn't help shaking his head.
"Young lady, do you get into fights every day? This is the first time I've had a repeat customer in this office."
"Sorry to trouble you, Dr. White."
Ava didn't want to explain. Let him think she'd been fighting - those ridiculous situations would only be more embarrassing to explain.
Dr. White brought over an ice pack and pressed it to her face. Ava couldn't help but hiss,
"It hurts."
The usually good-tempered Michael couldn't sit still anymore.
"Can you be more gentle? Do you even know what you're doing?"
Dr. White was too scared to continue after being snapped at.
"Why don't you do it then?"
He asked jokingly, but didn't expect Michael to actually walk over and take the ice pack from him.
"Ava, tell me if it hurts."
He held the ice pack and gently pressed it to Ava's face. Ava tensed up for a moment, forgetting the pain.
Dr. White went to write a prescription, occasionally glancing up at this golden bachelor, wondering if he'd fallen for her.
"Okay, you can go get the medicine."
Michael placed the ice pack in Ava's palm, speaking softly,
"Keep it on yourself for now. I'll go get the medicine."
Ava turned to ask Dr. White,
"Dr. White, I also have some ringing in my ears. Do I need a different medicine?"
Michael exploded when he heard this.
"Who hit you so hard?"
Ava looked at that angry face, a bit scared. In her memory, Michael was always gentle and refined. She couldn't imagine him losing his temper.
"Steven did. Personal grudge."
She said flatly.
"Did you hit back?"
Ava shook her head, like a bullied child.
"Couldn't win."
Dr. White silently thought that the guy named Steven better not go out for the next few days. His friend here wasn't as nice as he seemed on the surface - he was like a black sesame dumpling, dark on the inside.
"I need to test you first to see if there's a problem before I can say if you need medicine."
Ava cooperated with the examination. Fortunately, nothing serious. The eardrum was vibrating but not injured. It would recover in a day or two.
"Ava, where to? I'll take you."
Ava didn't feel like going home today. Going back meant being alone, surrounded by traces of his life everywhere, which was annoying to look at.
"Michael, I don't want to go home. Can you just find me a hotel?"
Michael slowly drove her out of the hospital. Ava quietly looked out the window and turned off her phone.
On this side, they left the hospital. On the other side, someone in the hospital room was restless.
"William, if you're worried about my sister, go check on her. I should be fine. Dad really shouldn't have hit Ava."
Sarah pretended to scold him.
William looked at the IV drip by her bed that wasn't finished yet.
"Sarah, if you're tired, sleep for a bit. I'll step out."
"Don't worry, William, I'm fine. Go check on Ava first. If something happens to Ava, I'll feel so guilty."
As soon as William left, Sarah pulled out the needle from her hand.
Nola scolded, "You finally got him back here, why let him go? Do you really want him to go find that bitch?"
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mom, I'm not really sick. If I keep tying him down like this, I'll get caught eventually. Plus, lying in this crappy bed will make me sick even if I'm not. And I have to keep getting stuck with needles, injecting these damn drugs into my body.
My letting him go and his leaving on his own are two different things. If he leaves now, he'll think about me."
Nola smoothed her daughter's bangs, looking at her with heartache.
"My girl has suffered."
Then she turned to Steven and asked, "Did you work things out with that little bitch?"
"We did. She has one condition - she wants the EastLake Villas house. Once it's transferred, she'll agree to divorce."
Nola got anxious when she heard this.
"I knew that little bitch wouldn't be so easy to deal with. She's got some nerve asking you for the villa. That house is Sarah's. Don't you dare play favorites. If you give her that house, we're done."
Steven was getting a headache from all the nagging.
"Alright, alright, stop it. I'll figure something out."
As he spoke, his phone rang.
Steven saw it was his assistant.
"Hello, Chris, what's up?"
"Mr. Brown, this is bad. The Morgan Group just suddenly withdrew the funding they gave us a while back. Now there are a bunch of people at the company demanding payment, threatening to tear the place apart. You need to come back and handle this."
Steven looked at his palm, his scalp tingling.
He couldn't believe all these problems came from one slap. William clearly only loved his precious Sarah - why would he go against him for Ava?
No mercy at all.
Just as the outside world said - ruthless.
His small company was just about to get through the crisis. Cutting off the funding now was basically killing him.
"Sarah, call William quickly and beg him. Our company is facing a crisis."
"Dad, don't panic. I'll call him right now."
Sarah opened her phone and dialed William. The word 'Honey' kept flashing on the screen, just like her fluttering heart.