Chapter 125 - 125: Persuade Avery

After a while, they send for Anthony Peters in the hopes that he can persuade Avery. This is the first time that anyone in the household has taken Avery's threats seriously. Anthony rushes to her room and tries every possible method to persuade her to eat.

"All the people are waiting for you," he says, trying to make her feel guilty, "The food is getting colder by the minute, and they're all hungry."

"I have said that I don't want to eat," Avery says, "Why do I have to have dinner if I don't want to?"

"Please eat something. You haven't eaten anything all day," Anthony continues, knocking on the door as he speaks, "What if your refusal to eat makes you ill? Avery, please eat something."

"I haven't lived at home for several years," she said dryly, "And you all managed to enjoy your dinner just fine without me."

"Avery, don't put me in such a difficult situation," Anthony complains, "If you get ill, I don't know how I'll explain it to Mr. Howel."

Hearing the Howel name makes Avery even angrier.

"Is Gabrielle not your daughter? Is Evan Howel not the man who had her taken from you?" Avery yells through the door, "You should be worried about her, not about some dinner or the opinion of the man who took your daughter from you."

"Mr. Clifford said that he needs a special nurse and Gabrielle is majoring in nursing," Anthony says, "It's not some big scandal. You don't need to worry about it."

"There are many people who are majoring in nursing in the city," Avery responds, "Why does he have to pick her? Why not tell him to choose someone else?"

"Mr. Howel has sent people to find her," Anthony says, "It will be alright."

Avery refuses to respond, but Anthony continues to mumble outside the door. The sound of his voice makes her feel anxious and angry. She doesn't want to listen to him anymore. When she opens the door anxiously, she finds that Anthony smiles warmly and servilely at her.

In the past, he always treated her poorly. He was especially awful to her about dinners—if she came to the table even a minute late, she would find that all of her silverware had been removed. The servants were forbidden to bring her food until everyone else was finished eating, and even then, she was forced to eat with her hands.

She goes downstairs and finds everyone waiting expectantly. Maids stand on both sides of Katherine, Janetta, and Vanessa—they have been instructed not to feed the ladies of the house before Avery appears. Janetta has just returned from her forced swim in the estuary. Fortunately, she didn't come across crocodiles, but she is still hungry and cold. While waiting for Avery, the women have been forced to hungrily stare at the steaming dishes on the table.

Anthony clears his throat and Katherine and Vanessa stand up and nod at Avery. Janetta continues to sit, sulking because of her swim and the sudden poor treatment. Anthony shoots her a meaningful glance and she reluctantly gets to her feet.

The maid leads Avery to the seat at the head of the table. The place was originally prepared for Evan Howel, but Anthony has decided to honor her. The maid pulls the chair out for Avery and places the cloth napkin on her lap before ladling her a portion of delicious soup.

Katherine, Vanessa, and Janetta sit down after Avery. Avery finds the sudden change in behavior almost humorous. In the old days, they usually yelled at her, and just yesterday afternoon they wanted to trap her, but now, they all show her respect.

"Avery, we made a mistake and gave you little care in the past, and I'm sorry for making you unhappy yesterday afternoon," Anthony says, "Your sisters have accepted the blame, and Janetta has accepted her punishment and her mother's. I hope you will forgive them because, after all, we are family,"

Janetta throws her spoon on the soup plate heavily.

"Really?" Avery asks with a slight frown, "I'm afraid that someone here thinks I'm not one of the family."

Anthony understands Avery's meaning and stares reproachfully at Janetta. She snarls like a cat whose tail has just been trampled.

"Does nothing please you, Avery?" Janetta hisses.

"I'm surprised you can still talk about your exertions swimming," Avery responds.

"You little—!" Janetta spits, "I bet you want to hit me, don't you?"

Janetta wants to stand up, but Katherine grabs her forearm and firmly holds it against the table.

"Janetta, you seem confused," Avery says, "It seems like you're still trying to fight against me. If you don't act this way, I won't be forced to respond. Honestly, right now you should be thanking your guardian angel that you didn't come across any crocodiles."

"Why do you pretend that everything's all right?" Janetta asks, "I know the divorce agreement will take effect soon. Until then, I'll just wait for you to be thrown from the Howels' house. You may think you're untouchable now, but just you wait."

"Whatever becomes of me, I'll still be better off than you," Avery says with a cold smile.

"Enough, Janetta!" Anthony says warningly.

Janetta has never been able to control her temper, and it's gotten her into many conflicts over the years. Anthony knows the situation all too well. He also knows that things aren't quite what they seem. As soon as Gabrielle was taken away, Avery insisted that her husband retrieve her.

Much to Anthony's surprise, Evan complied. There is no doubt in Anthony's mind that Avery is incredibly important to Evan Howel. If Mr. Howel didn't seem so in love with Avery, Anthony wouldn't bother trying to curry favor with his least favorite daughter.

"You mustn't talk about that anymore," Anthony chides, "We're not qualified to talk about that, and Mr. Howel has told us that it's all gossip anyway."

Avery still doesn't have an appetite—all of the gourmet food looks as appealing as rubbish. She stands up suddenly and drops her napkin on the table.

"You go on," she says, "I'm full."

"Avery, please," Anthony begs.

"I just hope that Gabriele can come back quickly," Avery says, "Then I can go back to the Howel's house."

"What about Mr. Howel?" Anthony asks fearfully.

If Evan finds out that Avery hasn't eaten, he may bring his wrath down on the whole of Peters' family.

"Don't worry about him," Avery says, "I can handle him."

"Very good. I have your word," Anthony says with delight and relief, "You are a member of our family and I believe you will protect our family."

Avery smiles ironically.

"When they need me I'm a member of their family," she thinks, "But when they don't need me, I'm nothing.

She returns to her bedroom and asks the maid to bring Gabrielle's phone to her. She wants to call Charles Meyer again, and she hopes she'll also be able to get in contact with Gabrielle and see if Andrew has hurt her. Since Gabrielle's phone was evidence, she wasn't allowed to take it with her when she left with Andrew.

She hasn't spoken to Charles in about a week. She tries to contact him almost every day, and every day her hopes are dashed. After another failed phone call, she sighs heavily. She looks listlessly through Gabrielle's phone, but she can't find any useful information. Suddenly, she sees a location contained within an app.

Avery rushes downstairs. Anthony and the family are having a happy dinner without Avery, but when they see her, they stop talking immediately.

"Avery, where are you going?" Anthony asks.

"I want to take a walk in the garden," Avery replies.

Avery walks toward the garden and finds there are bodyguards everywhere. It's clear that Evan has asked them to watch her and prevent her from trying to escape. Avery walks casually to a small shed in the garden because she knows there's a small hole inside that leads outside the grounds.