Chapter 85
Lucas rubbed the back of his neck and apologized with a very good attitude.
"I said the wrong thing that day. I'm sorry."
Daniel didn't give him any face in front of Ava,
"If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?"
Lucas was left speechless.
Ava bought water and quietly listened to the two bickering. No matter how she heard it, it sounded a bit like flirting.
"Ava, since someone's here with you, I'll go. Let's stay in touch if anything comes up."
After Daniel finished speaking, he opened the door and left. Lucas wiped his forehead and chased after him.
"Want to come over to my place? We're having hot pot tonight."
Lucas was pretty direct with his words. He was good at arguing with people, but not so great at sweet-talking them. A guy nearly six feet three couldn't quite manage those soft, gentle words.
Daniel jingled his keys and rolled his eyes at him, "Didn't you hear Ava say we already ate?"
"You can eat a little more even if you already ate."
Daniel stepped into his Ferrari, "I'm leaving. Next time."
It wasn't like he came specifically to invite him anyway—he only asked because they ran into each other. Who wants to go to his place? Not interested.
Lucas came back inside. Ava looked at him with curiosity, and even as longtime friends, her stare made him uncomfortable.
"Ava, do you know what your expression looks like right now?"
Without waiting for Ava to answer, he gave the answer himself, "Like you're looking at a monkey."
Ava coughed, "So, um, can you tell me which one of you is the bottom?"
Pure curiosity.
Lucas immediately gave her a knock on the head, "Why are you asking so much? Curiosity killed the cat."
Ava brushed her bangs aside, truly curious inside,
"When did you two become friends?"
Lucas found a place to sit down, "After that incident."
Ava counted on her fingers—that wasn't long ago. Things developed that fast? Just now, when the two were chatting, their tone didn't sound like they'd just met recently, but more like a couple in the heat of romance.
Lucas felt uncomfortable under her smile, "Stop laughing. Are you coming to my place or not? Olivia's already washed the vegetables, just waiting to cook them."
Ava paused, "I want to keep sorting through my mom's things. You guys eat today, don't wait for me."
She had just returned to this house and didn't want to leave for even a moment. Before her mom passed, she told her to find Joseph. Now that she'd just discovered a small clue related to Joseph, she wanted to search more to see if there would be other discoveries.
Lucas sighed, feeling down—the person he invited today wasn't coming. He'd finally waited for William to go on a business trip, and Olivia had the day off too, so the three of them could get together. It was a rare opportunity.
"Then take your time sorting. I'm heading back."
"Drive carefully."
After seeing Lucas off, Ava continued sorting with her head down.
William's call came through at that moment,
"Ava, where are you?"
Ava's ears perked up at his voice. His tone sounded like he was in a bad mood.
"I, I'm at home."
"You're home and don't even give me a call? I've been gone a whole day."
Ava carefully considered his words. Did this mean he wanted her to call him?
"Didn't you tell me before not to call you during the day and disturb your work?"
"When did I ever say that?"
William didn't remember saying such a thing at all and denied it outright, "What I meant was don't call during my working hours."
"You're on a business trip to work, aren't you? How am I supposed to know when you're not working?"
William gritted his teeth. This little woman was getting more and more sharp-tongued. She couldn't remember when he told her not to contact Michael, but she remembered this small matter about phone calls crystal clear.
After a while, he realized something was off about Ava's voice today. Her voice sounded a bit hoarse, like she'd been crying. When he asked if she was at home, she even stuttered.
William immediately thought of what Steven had told him on the phone today. His heart clenched—don't tell me that old bastard bullied her again?
"Ava, where are you right now?"
He asked again.
"Huh? I...I'm at home."
Ava had a problem—whenever she lied, she stuttered.
"I'm asking one more time. Where are you? Don't make me find the answer myself."
Ava felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, as if this man was monitoring her. How did he know she was lying?
"I'm at EastLake Villas."
Under his powerful presence, she had to confess honestly.
This time, it was William who fell silent.
After a long while, he asked, "Daniel told you everything?"
Ava sat down on the sofa with her phone, "Yeah."
He was waiting for her to ask something, but she just said "yeah." With that kind of reaction, William felt like all his effort was wasted. At least give some emotional feedback so he'd know she was happy about what he did.
What kind of response was just "yeah"?
William himself hadn't noticed that he was doing things to please her, even wanting to hear something nice from her.
"Why did you buy this house?"
She finally asked after a while.
William's brows furrowed tightly, "The key's already been given to you, and you're still asking why I bought the house? You think I'm living there myself?"
Ava paused. His words were harsh, but she found them especially pleasant to hear. That was just his temperament—never expect to hear a nice word from his mouth.
He was clearly trying to be sweet.
"You really bought it for me?"
"No, I bought it as a warehouse."
Ava felt like laughing, "What are you putting in the warehouse?"
"You. Is that okay?"
"Okay."
Ava finally couldn't help but laugh softly.
William leaned against the headboard with a cigarette between his fingers. Hearing that soft breath against the phone, he couldn't help but take a deep drag, feeling a bit lightheaded.
"William, thank you."
Ava's heart felt incredibly soft. She was most vulnerable to him being good to her. Even just a little bit moved her tremendously. She thought it was probably because she loved him so much that she saw him through rose-colored glasses.
"What's there to thank between husband and wife? If you need help with anything, tell me directly. Don't make me guess."
Ava's thoughts were all over the place. She never thought William would stand on her side and help her get back what belonged to her from Sarah.
He bought back that villa for her, and even though he did it behind Sarah's back, it was enough to move Ava.
"I still need to thank you."
She said.
"If you want to thank me, show some sincerity. Don't just say it with words—I'm not that easy to fool."
William took a drag of his cigarette, lightly twisted it with his fingers to put it out, and tossed it in the ashtray. He was like a girl asking her for sincerity.
Ava knew what sincerity he was talking about—nothing more than wanting to mess around with her.
"William, when you come back, there's something I want to discuss with you."
She gently touched her belly. This couldn't be hidden anymore. She decided to find the right time to have a good talk with him. Knowing he didn't like children, she would fight for every chance to give birth to the baby.
"What is it that you can't say now and have to wait until I'm back?"
"It's hard to explain over the phone."
Ava felt they'd inevitably have a fight over this. She was doing mental preparation bit by bit, thinking of countless ways to minimize the damage from this matter. She would definitely give birth to the baby!
Seeing she didn't want to talk about it, William didn't press further,
"Ava, call me Honey!"
Calling him William could no longer fill that bit of expectation in his heart.