When she went to turn off the lights, he could see the tears rolling down her face. Though
he was physically satisfied, he felt discontent.
He felt worse when she remained quiet.
The room was dark with only the faint light coming in from the street lights down below. He started at her
back and furrowed his brows. Instinctively, he wanted to be closer to her, so he stretched out his arm and
tried to pull her to him.
She shoved him away with all the power she could muster. The moment she felt the warmth of his body,
she shouted, “Let me go!”
“No!” He tightened his arms around her and indulged himself in her scent. He rested his chin on her
shoulder. “I’m not leaving tonight.”
Avery felt as though she had been tied up, and she could not move an inch.
Elliot had not been gentle, but he was not as rough as the last time.
“When has he ever asked for my opinion before showing up or leaving? What I think doesn’t matter to
him, so he doesn’t even need to say anything! He would just do what he wants
anyway!” she thought.
The next day, Avery woke up at seven in the morning as she usually did on weekdays.
When she woke up, the man beside her stared at her through bleary sleep-filled eyes before he turned
over and fell asleep once more.
She got dressed swiftly and stepped out of the room.
Her children had already woken up, and Hayden was combing his sister’s hair.
Avery’s heart ached as she thought back to the way her children had shouted the night before. After
calming herself down, she entered their room and said, “My wonderful babies! You didn’ t even need me
to wake you up today!”
She went over to hug them.
“Mom! Has that bad guy Elliot left yet? Did he bully you?” Layla grabbed Avery’s arm with her little hands
and scanned her from head to toe.
Avery shook her head. “He didn’t bully me. I would definitely retaliate if he bullies me! Don’t worry about
me, okay?”
Layla sighed a breath of relief. “I knew that my mommy isn’t easy to bully!”
“Yeah!” Once she had put her daughter at ease, Avery turned to look at Hayden. “Hayden, let me take
you guys out for breakfast today, okay?”
Hayden nodded.
“I’m fine, really.” Avery patted him on the head, before heading to the closet to find him a hat. “You like
hats, so put this on. Mommy will buy you plenty of cool hats.”
Hayden remained expressionless. His jaw was tense. Avery could sense that he was angry that she had
not come out of her room last night when they had been yelling for her.
She felt horribly guilty.
After getting her children to wash up, the three of them left the room and were about to head downstairs.
When they walked past the master bedroom, Hayden looked over at the door. He had a strong feeling
that Elliot was still inside his mother’s room.
At nine in the morning, the bodyguards of the Foster family came to deliver clothes to Starry River Villa.
Elliot changed, and his phone rang as he stepped out of the room. He answered the call while walking
down the stairs.
On the other end of the line, he heard Chad’s anxious voice.
“Mr. Foster! Our server has been hacked! That hacker left a message.”
Elliot stopped and uttered calmly, “Go on.”
“The hacker says he is your dad and told you to learn your place, or he will hack your system every day.”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda