Chapter 13
Chapter 13
It was dawn by the time they arrived at Ackleton.
As the Bentley was provided by their company, Trevor had to drive it back to the company.
Cecelia hopped out of the vehicle.
Zayne helped Avery take her luggage out of the trunk. “I'll give you a ride home. Have a good rest, and we'll see each other tonight.”
Avery bobbed her head.
With her luggage in one hand, she waved goodbye to Cecelia and Trevor with her other hand. She then went to hail a taxi by the road.
Zayne mused, I should buy a car tomorrow. It's too inconvenient not to have one.
Avery was exhausted. Despite having slept for around two hours throughout the car ride, she didn't get to sleep well.
Before she could hail a taxi, Zayne's phone rang.
“Let me answer this,” Zayne told Avery. He quickly took the call.
Avery watched as he frowned and grunted a couple of times throughout the call. “All right. I'll head there now.”
“What is it?” Avery asked after the call ended.
“Well, our team leader said we need to attend a meeting this morning. Apparently, he wants to strike while the iron is hot and discuss the following steps,” Zayne explained irritatedly. Right then, an empty taxi drove up to them.
Avery glanced at the taxi and took her luggage. “Go back to work. I can head home myself.”
Zayne felt really guilty. He wanted to give his girlfriend a ride home after how hard she worked during her business trip. Alas, work came first.
Avery got into the taxi, and it drove away at a stable speed.
Her head was buzzing, and she nearly fell asleep.
After what seemed like a long time, the taxi driver said, “We've arrived.”
Avery's eyes snapped open, and she saw her residential area right ahead.
Perking up, she got off the taxi.
As she had caught a cold, she felt really unwell.
Ever since she left Ackleton five years ago, she had been used to being independent all the time. Having a fever or catching a cold were minor issues to her.
However, no matter how strong she was, she was still a young lady craving for someone to shower her with love.
Avery was pretty disappointed to realize that Zayne didn't notice that she had caught a cold.
Back home, Avery dropped onto the couch at once. She was so tired that she didn't feel like doing anything else.
She promptly fell asleep. A while later, she jolted awake to realize that she was practically breathing out hot air.
Forcing herself to sit up, she went to get some cold and fever medicine.
She was about to pour herself a cup of water when the doorbell rang.
Avery pressed the intercom button and asked weakly, “Who is this?”
This was her rented house, so the only ones who knew she was staying here were Zayne and Nina.
“Hello, Ms. Rumpley. I'm from the community hospital. Someone reserved a consultation for you,” a female doctor wearing a white coat greeted her warmly. C0pyright © 2024 Nôv)(elDrama.Org.
Avery fell into deep thought.
Did Zayne call the doctor? It turns out he noticed I've caught a cold!
Avery was weak and sensitive as she was ill, so the door-to-door service requested by him moved her
heart. Even a pack of cold medicine would make her cry tears of joy.
After the doctor left, food was delivered to her doorstep.
Avery's entire body was aching as she got up to open the door. To her surprise, it wasn't an ordinary delivery service. There was a spread that one would normally see in dramas.
“Please sign here.” The man and woman delivering the food shot her a complicated look.
Avery felt really awkward. She lived in an ordinary residential area and looked like a white-collared worker. Thus, it didn't seem befitting for her to order such a spread.
After she signed her name, they both left.
Avery was at a loss as she glanced at the spread.
Zayne was born into an ordinary family. He wasn't rich. Usually, she wouldn't mind if he spent money on movie tickets or eating at restaurants. However, she couldn't accept him wasting his money on such a lavish spread.
Alas, the order had already been made and delivered.
Despite having no appetite, she forced herself to take a few bites. The meal was mostly nutritious and mild flavored. It seemed to be specially prepared for patients.
After lunch, Avery cleared the table before she sent a WhatsApp message to Zayne.
Her text read: Thank you.
Zayne replied: Why are you thanking me?
Avery froze in surprise. Perhaps he thinks it's too formal to say thank you. She quickly typed: But I still have to thank you.
It took some time before Zayne's reply arrived. He asked: Why are you so sentimental all of a sudden?
Avery knew she wasn't sentimental; she was touched by his gesture. Her stepmother and stepsister robbed her of her father's love, and she rarely got in touch with her other relatives.
She was literally the loneliest person in the world.
The only ones who would show her any form of concern were Zayne and Nina.
Despite promising to come to see her tonight, Zayne called her that afternoon and told her something urgent cropped up, so he wouldn't be able to pay her a visit.
Avery stared at the dishes she prepared for him in the kitchen silently.
She packed the dishes away and kept them in the refrigerator.
The next day, Zayne came to pick her up in the morning.
Avery got into his car and greeted him warmly. As she still had a cold, her voice sounded muffled.
Zayne looked at her. “Did you catch a cold?”
Avery was buckling her seatbelt when she heard her question. Shocked, she whipped her head around to stare at him.
“Did you catch a cold?” Zayne reached out to touch her forehead in concern. Realizing she was burning, he unbuckled his seatbelt. “Stay here. There is a pharmacy fifty meters ahead.”
Avery watched as he got off the car to buy her medicine.
It was pretty obvious from his words that he had no idea she had caught a cold yesterday.
The door-to-door medical consultation and the lavish spread for patients... They couldn't be from Nina!
Nina was busy with work, so Avery dared not talk to her for fear of disrupting the latter's work.
Right then, her phone buzzed in her bag.
In a daze, Avery fished her phone out to realize it was an unknown number.
“Hello? Who is this?” Avery asked.
“Ms. Rumpley, there is a delivery for you. It's a gift. I rang your doorbell, but you don't seem to be at home,” the deliveryman declared loudly.
“Gift?” Avery glanced out of the window. “I'm at the entrance of the residential area.”
She then unfastened her seatbelt and got off the car.
Two minutes later, the deliveryman came to her with a wide grin on his lips. Clad in a green vest, he proffered a bouquet of flowers to Avery. “Ms. Rumpley, here are your flowers. They are air-flown in this morning. Please sign here!”
“Who gave me the flowers?” Avery asked sternly. That was the only thing that troubled her for now.
She had to find out who the sender was.
Air-flown flowers should be pretty expensive.
The deliveryman chuckled and shook his head. “I'm sorry. The customer paid for our service, and my job is to deliver the flowers to you.”
The bouquet of flowers was shoved into her hands.
After the deliveryman left in his van, Avery didn't budge from her spot. The flowers were gorgeous and smelled pleasant, but she wasn't in the mood to enjoy them.
“Ery.” Zayne's low voice sounded behind her.
Avery turned around to see Zayne's grim expression. It was a stark contrast to the pretty flowers.
“I-I don't know who sent these,” Avery explained hastily, for she didn't want Zayne to take things the wrong way.
“You don't know?” Zayne stared at her. The fear in his gaze turned to condemn as he mocked, “Air- flown fresh flowers, huh? What an expensive and romantic gesture!”