Chapter 145 - 145: Regal Glare

Evan holds Avery tightly in his arms and regards the crowd with a regal glare.

"I will show zero tolerance toward anyone who dares to touch Avery," he announces.

Mrs. Florence Howel presses her hand to her heart and slowly regains her composure.

"I know you didn't mean to offend me," she says, "You're worried about unborn baby in Avery's belly, and I don't blame you. But listen, Evan. I want to have a great-grandson as much as you want to be a father, but I don't want you to trust her blindly. We need to be careful as we proceed."

Her tone and expression are worried. Although the pregnancy test confirmed that Avery is pregnant, Mrs. Florence Howel half suspects that Avery is tricking them all. Mrs. Florence Howel's words cut Avery to the quick. Avery clearly knows that she's not actually pregnant. She simply claimed the pregnancy to protect herself, and she planned on telling Evan the truth in private. Now that Mrs. Florence Howel has publicly announced the pregnancy, she's lost her chance to properly explain things to Evan. Everyone will be furious when the truth gets out.

"You don't have to worry about it," Evan hisses, "I'll make sure everything checks out."

Avery's back stiffens. Evan notices and begins to guide her toward the house. Behind her, Avery can hear the guests murmuring; she turns around and sees they're all looking up and pointing at the sky.

"It's a beautiful picture of Evan and Avery kissing each other," she hears one woman exclaims.

"Mr. Howel is the most romantic man I have ever seen," sighed another.

"Rumors are so terrible and I don't believe any of them anymore," says another, in tears.

"It's a romantic birthday for Avery after all," says one malicious voice, "Leonie invited so many people, but she still lost."

Avery looks up at the sky, and she's stunned by the sight. In the sunset, hot-air balloons dot the sky. From each balloon, there's a large banner printed with a photo from a different year in her life. Avery counts twenty-two hot-air balloons floating around the house.

"Mrs. Howel, this is a birthday gift for you," Evan murmurs against her ear.

"How did you get the photos of me as a kid?" she asks.

"In order to find your photos, we almost tore the Peters' house apart," Evan replies, "That's how I found out that you used to take secret photos of other men."

Robert clears his throat and approaches the couple from behind.

"Mr. Howel wanted you to ride in that hot air balloon," Robert says, "It's said that the closer you are to the sky, the easier it is for God to hear your wish."

Avery's eyes follow the direction of Robert's finger and she sees a hot air balloon with a picture of them kissing in the open-air restaurant at the Zuri Hotel.

"But Mr. Howel said that you are pregnant and it's not suitable for you to do something so risky," Robert continues.

Avery clears her throat. She wants to confess to Evan that she's not pregnant, but she can't work up the courage. She looks across the crowd and trembles to imagine their response to the truth. Instead, she looks up at Evan's chiseled face.

"Why are you back?" she asks.

"You don't want me back?" he says.

"I didn't say that," she responds, "I'm just wondering how your grandfather let you go so easily."

"Is there anything else you'd like to ask me?" Evan says, stopping suddenly.

"For example, did you miss me?" Evan thinks, "Why did I save your life with so little thought for my own that day?"

Avery looks away from his gaze and shifts awkwardly. She wants to ask him why he risked everything to save her life, but she's afraid that his answer will be beyond anything she can bear. If he said what she's aching to hear, all of her resolutions would crumble.

"No," she whispers.

He didn't expect her to return his love, but he still feels disappointed in her answer. He looks at her seriously.

"He let me go because he heard that you're pregnant," Evan explains.

Before Avery can decide how to break the news, he steers his into the house, up the stairs, and into his bedroom. He closes the door and pushes her up against it. He takes her face between his big hands and leans forward to kiss her. If it weren't for all the guests, he would have kissed her already.

The kiss leaves Avery breathless. She tries to pull away, but he only deepens the kiss. His hot lips cover hers, and his tongue invades her mouth. She clings to his back, and he holds her tight against him. It's a long time before he lets her go.

"Tell me, are you really pregnant?" he asks urgently.

Avery feels trapped in a state of physical and emotional chaos and shakes her head blankly.

"I'm not pregnant," she murmurs.

She knows he'll discover the truth sooner or later and she doesn't want to deceive him.

"But my grandfather heard you were pregnant," Evan insists.

"I lied to them," she says.

He presses his body onto her, and she can feel the force of his weight.

"Dr. Walter said you're pregnant," Evan says with complacent certainty.

"No, he was just helping me," Avery explains, "While you were away, your grandmother wanted to punish me, and he came to my aid."

"You should be tested again," Evan says.

"No, I said no!" Avery objects.

Evan stares at her. He refuses to accept that she's not pregnant. As soon as his grandfather got the news, Evan raced home without a single delay. He's been overjoyed ever since hearing the news and has been distracted by the thought of her carrying his child. Suddenly he picks her up and walks to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Avery asks.

"You're taking a urine test," Evan replies.

He kicks the toilet lid up and placed her on the toilet seat. He opens the medicine cabinet and pulls out a box of pregnancy tests. Avery gasps and wonders when he prepared the tests.

"Pee!" he commands, "Now!"

Avery is forced to sit there awkwardly.

"I can't pee now," she objects.

"Try," he insists, "Just a little urine is fine."

"Sorry, I can't," she sighs.

Evan lifts her arms gently and carries her back to the bed.

"If you don't want me to take you to the hospital, you'd better take a urine test," he warns.

It takes an hour or two to drive to the hospital, and the results from the blood test takes time. A urine test is faster and Evan can't bear to wait. He calls for a servant and soon a young maid brings a tray with several glasses of water. He takes a glass of water and passes it to her.

"Drink it," he commands.

Avery drinks several glasses of water. She feels as though her stomach might burst. On the fourth glass, she reaches out to stop him.

"I don't want to drink it," she complains.

Evan puts the glass in front of her lips and forces her to drink it.

"Enough!" she m.o.a.ns, "I can't drink anymore!"

Though the next glass of water is ready, Evan puts it down.

"Do you want to pee now?" he asks gently.

"No!" she insists.

Evan looks at his watch. After drinking so much water, she'll be dying to pee in half an hour. Avery wants to cooperate with him—he seems anxious to know the result. She reasons that early disappointment is better than allowing him to continue building hopes.

"You may be disappointed," Avery cautions, "Sometimes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."

"Disappointment is better than hopelessness," Evan says.

He reaches his hands into her dress and rubs her abdomen.

"You want to pee now?" he asks.

"Still no," she answers.

Evan orders the maids to bring her a glass of orange juice. Avery really wants to pee, but she stubbornly resists when she sees such a big glass of orange juice.

"Why are you forcing me?" she asks, "Is it really so urgent?"

"Is he so eager to know because he's happy to be having a child with me?" Avery wonders, "Or is he just excited for Diana to come back? Either way, I'm going to disappoint him."

She sighs and decides to go to the bathroom. She knows it's impossible for her to get pregnant and she doesn't want to give any more false hope. Before she gets up, he takes a large sip and feeds her the orange juice with his mouth. Avery has no choice but to swallow it.

"Enough!" she says, "I'm going to the bathroom!"