Billionaire Defiant Wife

Chapter 236: Wrapped Gift Box

The bullets shoot past Evan without touching him and slam into the wall. Robert charges at one of the bodyguards, and a bullet clips his shoulder. Blood soaks his white shirt, but he continues running until one of the bodyguards tackles him to the floor. Evan grabs another bodyguard and twists the man's arm until he drops his gun. Evan takes the pistol and points it at Francis.

"Would you really kill me over a woman?" Francis asks with disgust.

"Yes," Evan answers, leveling the gun at his grandfather's chest. "I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt her. Now, let me go. You can't keep me locked up here until she gives birth. If I'm not back in a few days, she'll get worried and upsetshe could lose the child."

Francis shakes his head and snaps his fingers again. Bodyguards burst through the doors and quickly overpower Evan. They drag him and Robert to a guest bedroom and lock the door from the outside. Robert sinks to the floor, his face pale with pain.

Evan looks at his butler's bloody shoulder and frowns. The wound isn't very bad, but it needs to be bandaged. With a sigh, Evan takes his shirt off and tears the fine linen into thick strips. He ties the fabric around Robert's arm, making a simple but neat bandage.

"Sir, you don't have to do this," Robert says. "I can do it myself."

Evan shakes his head and continues wrapping Robert's shoulder. When he's done, he throws himself onto a sofa and closes his eyes. His headaches, and he's worried about Avery.

"Sir, do you really think Mr. Howel will keep us prisoner here for months?" Robert asks.

"I don't know," Evan snaps, secretly wondering the same thing.

Someone is screaming in the darkroom. Avery looks around in a panic, but she's aloneshe realizes she's the one screaming. She gasps for breath and wipes her sweaty forehead with a cloth. She closes her eyes and sees the image from her dream as clear as if it were real life. Evan is lying on a marble floor in a pool of his own blood. Gunshot wounds scar his chest, and dark blood continues to flow out.

"Mrs. Howel?" a maid asks, knocking on the door, "Are you okay?" 

"I'm alright," Avery answers. "I've just had another nightmare. Can you come in?"

The maid comes in and looks at Avery with concern. Avery knows she must look terrible. She runs her fingers through her hair and finds that it's soaked with sweat. She pulls the quilt down and fans herself. The maid opens the curtains, and early morning light floods into the room.

"Mrs. Howel, you got a phone call last night," the maid says. "It only rang once, and then the other person ended the call. It didn't seem urgent, so I didn't wake you up."

Avery looks down at her phone and sees Andrew's number. She sighs and unlocks her phone. For a moment, she thinks about calling him back to find out what he wants. Then she shakes her head and blocks his number. She gets out of bed and crosses the room to the French doors.

The grass is still covered in dew, and birds hop back and forth, looking for worms. Suddenly, they stop singing and fly into a tree. Fiona and Leonie are crossing the lawn hand in hand, and Avery wishes she could disappear like the birds.

"Why are they here?" Avery asks the maid. "I thought Leonie was still in the hospital?"

"When Mrs. Florence Howel heard that Leonie was in the hospital, she was really worried," the maid says. "She invited Leonie to come to stay and recover here." 

"Only Leonie would use her illness to get an invitation," Avery says with a groan.

"I don't know what's wrong with Miss Summers, but it must be something bad," the maid says. "Mrs. Florence Howel was so upset."

"I'm sure she was," Avery says with a sigh.

Leonie looks at the window and smirks and waves at Avery. Avery jerks the curtains closedshe's in no mood to play Leonie's games. Evan has been gone for five days, and she feels anxious and worried. She wraps herself in a thin robe and slides slippers onto her feet.

"Mrs. Howel, are you ready for breakfast?" the maid asks. "Sarah says she's done cooking now."

Reluctantly, Avery leaves the privacy of her room and heads to the kitchen. Sarah has prepared a small wooden table so Avery can eat in the kitchen instead of in the large formal dining room. Avery is only halfway through her oatmeal and smoothie when she hears high heeled footsteps.

"Good morning, Avery," Leonie says. "I thought I saw you in the window earlier and wanted to stop by and say hello."

Avery feels her stomach turn. She drops her spoon with a loud clunk and turns to glare at Leonie and Fiona. She pushes her chair away from the table and tries to leave, but Leonie grabs her arm.

"Avery, you need to finish your breakfast," Leonie says, smiling sourly. "Your baby needs all the nutrition it can get. I'll keep you company while you eat."

Leonie pulls out a chair and helps herself to an orange wedge. Avery sighs and sits down. She hates to admit it, but Leonie is rightshe needs to eat for the baby.

"So I heard that Evan is with his grandfather," Leonie says casually. "You look surprised by the newsdidn't he tell you where he was going?"

Avery forces herself to swallow the smoothie, but it suddenly tastes thick and horrible. Why didn't Evan tell me he was going to see his grandfather? Avery wonders. Is it about me or the baby? Or is it possibly about Diana? And how does Leonie know where Evan is?

"Don't you know that it's rude to talk so much while someone is eating?" Avery asks. "You might want to be more careful, Leonieyour child might pick up your bad manners."

"Evan obviously didn't tell her," Fiona says, patting her daughter's shoulders. She shoots a sideways glance at Avery and continues, "What was it Mrs. Howel was saying about Evan? Something about a huge fight he had with his grandfather?"

"I'm afraid I wasn't really listening," Leonie says. "What did she say?"

"I don't remember exactly, but I do remember her saying something about abortion," Fiona says. She pauses and looks down at Avery. "Oh, now, I remember. Evan wants Avery to have an abortion."

Avery rolls her eyesthe women are obviously trying to upset her. She looks back and forth between Fiona and Leonie and calmly eats another bite of oatmeal. Sarah rushes over to the table with a fried egg and quickly serves it to Avery. She shoots Avery a questioning look, but Avery waved her away.

"What interesting stories you tell," Avery finally says to Fiona.

"If you don't believe me, that's okay," Fiona says. "You know that Francis really cares about the Howel family heir. Evan was making all kinds of wild threats to try to get Francis to release Diana. He told his grandfather he'd make you get an abortion if Diana wasn't freed within the next three days. Now he's a prisoner in his grandfather's house."

"Fascinating," Avery says sarcastically.

"You don't believe me?" Fiona asks.

"Don't insult my intelligence," Avery says. "Why would I believe a single word, you say? You're a pathetic, jealous woman."

Sarah rushes back to the table with a beautifully wrapped gift box. The sparkling paper is champagne gold, and the box is tied with a matching silk ribbon. She passes the box to Avery.

"Oh, Mrs. Howel, you're so lucky," Sarah says with a quick wink at Avery. "Mr. Howel loves you so much. He's left you a beautiful present for every day he's been gone. The first was that stunning necklace, and then those beautiful matching earrings. The shoes he gave you on the third day were perfect, and then those diamond hair pins yesterday were lovely. What do you think he'll give you today?"

Avery starts to tear at the wrapping paperthis box is a lot larger than the others. She opens it and pulls out a beautiful champagne gold dress. A hand-written note falls from the folds of the dress, and Sarah stoops over to pick it up.

"Oh, Mrs. Howel, it matches the other gifts perfectly," Sarah says. "I think he wants you to wear that outfit for him when she comes back. Oh, he's so sweet with you."

Fiona and Leonie's faces pale with anger and jealousy. Avery smiles, gratefully at Sarah, and stands to leave the kitchen.