Chapter 5
“You’re proposing to her, and you want me to help your future wife? Marcus, you’re no different from Mindy. Why are you so cruel to me?” Avery questioned hoarsely, her emotions spiraling out of control.
At this point, she didn’t want to hold it in anymore.
Marcus looked at Avery with a dark expression. “And you say you’re not throwing a tantrum.”
Avery couldn’t breathe properly. She wanted something from Marcus that he could never give.
“Even if I don’t marry Madison, I’ll marry someone else. But it will never be you, got it?”
Marcus had made himself extremely clear.
Avery had no status. They were not a match in terms of background or family.
Marcus was someone who placed great importance on family background. The fact that he had taken care of her back then was already the most reckless thing he had ever done in his life.
Hence, it was absolutely impossible for him to ever give Avery an official title by his side.
Avery smiled self-mockingly. “I never expected you to marry me. I’m self-aware. I knew we would end one day.”
“Avery, you’re an adult now. Be realistic. Behave and listen to me. When the time comes to end this relationship, I won’t treat you badly. You can pick any house you like in Heisenville. Whether it’s a car or money, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Marcus stood up and walked closer to Avery. “Come over early tomorrow.”
“Marcus, I want to get married, too,” Avery uttered numbly.
Marcus paused in his steps, staring back at Avery.
Avery looked up, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m serious.”
“Get some rest. I’ll take this as you throwing a tantrum. When you’re truly ready to end this relationship and want to get married, let me know. I’ll find a promising young man from a normal family among the employees for you.” Marcus spoke magnanimously, then turned to leave.
He was confident that with Avery’s background, she wouldn’t be able to find a good man.
He had already been patient with her. Other than not being able to give her the marriage she wanted, he could give her anything.
With a bitter smile, Avery collapsed weakly to the floor.
Marcus had been sleeping with her for four years. Now that he was tired of her, he planned to marry her off to a low-level employee he could easily control.
He was controlling her now, and he also wanted to control her future partner?
How cruel.
But it didn’t matter. She was going to meet Gideon Langston, someone even Marcus wouldn’t dare provoke. As long as she could marry Gideon, everything would be over.
…
The next day, Avery went to Bullmar Manor No. 1.
All the luxury homes in Heisenville worth over 100 million were developed by Bullmar Real Estate of Gramsville. Marcus’ villa and Gideon’s Bullmar Main Manor were both top-tier luxury homes.
It wasn’t Avery’s first time at Marcus’ house. As his intern assistant, she had picked him up many times. But every time she came here, she felt uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was because she was an orphan, but Avery had a deep obsession with the idea of home.
Marcus kept her outside. Though the apartment he rented for her was one of the best in Heisenville, it wasn’t a home.
It was a gilded cage—a place to keep her locked up.
Marcus’ real home was here, and Avery would never have a place in it.
Seeing Avery walk in, Madison smiled and came up to greet her. “You’re here.”
The demeanor of a hostess fit her and the house perfectly—it was all so natural.
Avery had once fantasized about what it would be like if she could marry Marcus and become the lady of this house.
But every time she thought about it, Avery would find it ridiculous because she didn’t fit in in a villa like this.
“Ms. Harper, this is for you.”
Avery had brought a gift—cookies she made by hand.
She used to make them often for the children at the orphanage. They weren’t worth much, but they carried her sincerity.
No matter what kind of gift she gave, it would be worthless to someone of Madison’s social class.
Madison smiled as she accepted the cookies.
Opening the box, she looked at the cookies before turning to Marcus, her smile never wearing off. “I think I saw the same cookies in Marcus’ car.”
Marcus frowned slightly. The atmosphere instantly turned heavy.
He thought Avery intentionally brought the cookies to provoke Madison, which enraged him.
But Avery really didn’t know which car Marcus had ever left her cookies in.
“Mr. Lowell used to be too busy to eat breakfast. I made too many cookies, so I left some in his office…” Avery hurried to explain. When she got nervous, her fingers would stiffen.
Her depression had severe physical symptoms, and it was still getting worse.
“It looks like Marcus really enjoys your cookies. He even went out of his way to take them to the car,” Madison commented with a smile, looking at Marcus. Her voice was always so gentle.
But behind all that sweetness, there was a sting.
Avery lowered her head helplessly, knowing that the more she said, the more mistakes she’d make. Marcus would definitely misunderstand again and think she was deliberately provoking Madison.
“I don’t like them. I threw them in the trash. Finnick must’ve picked them out and left them in the car,” Marcus said casually, as if it didn’t matter.
Finnick Clarke was Marcus’ special assistant and driver—a perfect scapegoat.
Avery’s body stiffened slightly.
Trash.
The cookies she had gotten up before dawn to make, scalding her hands with blisters, were just trash to Marcus.
Marcus wasn’t even trying to hide the fact he was aiming that at her.
Madison smiled softly and asked the maid to bring Avery a pair of disposable slippers. “Don’t be nervous. Come on. I’ll introduce you to my friends.”
Madison gave Avery a pair of disposable indoor slippers, but the other guests in the house were all wearing customized pairs.
That meant Madison only intended to have Avery over this once.
Marcus had said Madison was divorced and a sensitive woman, but he didn’t realize that Avery’s heart was more fragile than anyone else’s.
She was an orphan. She had grown up in an orphanage where reading people’s moods was a survival skill.
Marcus had clearly noticed the difference in slippers, but he said nothing, which was a silent approval.
He was silently approving that Avery would only visit his home this one time.
Madison then brought Avery to the tea room, where her friends were gathered.
Then, with a smile, she uttered, “Everyone, let me introduce you. This is Marcus’ assistant, a very pretty young girl.”
Avery nodded at them politely without looking at them. However, the moment she looked up, she felt as though she had fallen into an ice cave.
There were six people seated in the tea room.
Three of them were her classmates in university, the ones who had bullied her together back then—Mindy, Zack Harper, and Susie Thompson.
Frozen in place, Avery couldn’t stop trembling as she looked to Marcus for help.
Perhaps Madison didn’t know her past, but Marcus did.
Knowing Madison would invite those people, Marcus still forced Avery to come.
Was he trying to drive her to her death?
