Chapter 213 Avery’s Past
Rick told Anne what he said to Charlotte without leaving out a word.
“I… I just feel like the relationship between both of you is a little complicated.” Anne didn’t even know what to say.
Rick smiled and said nothing.
Anne asked tentatively, “Well, what should we do now? Are you both going to stay in a fight?”
“Let’s talk about this after I recover.”
“Rick…”
“I’m fine,” Rick said. He paused awhile and continued, “She’s okay too.”
Anne sighed.
Charlotte was in the garden alone, lost in her thoughts. Her phone vibrated a few times before she snapped back to reality. She hurriedly picked it up and said, “Hello?”
“Darling, it’s me.” Avery said lightly from the other end of the line.
Charlotte lowered her voice and replied, “Are you nuts?”
Was it allowed to randomly address anybody as “darling”?
“Probably. I drank a lot. Hurry up and fetch me home, darling.”
“That’s none of my business.”
“Wow, Aria. You are so heartless. I am your brother!”
Wait a minute.
Had Avery mistaken Charlotte for somebody else?
Charlotte hesitated for a moment and asked Avery to provide his current address.
The main reason was that there was nothing she could do if she stayed in the hospital. Rick wouldn’t want to see her anyways.
Charlotte texted Anne to tell her that she had to go help a friend in need. After Anne read her text, she looked over to her brother, who was sleeping soundly, and replied with an “Okay”.
Shortly afterwards, Charlotte rushed to the bar.
Avery was leaning against the bar counter alone. His wallet, which had no cash, sat still beside his hand, his credit cards scattered all over the floor.
“Hello, what’s wrong with him?” Charlotte questioned the bartender.
“I don’t know.” The bartender didn’t feel like meddling in their affair.
Charlotte fished out her purse and withdrew 500 dollars from it. “Please, this is my… brother.”
She forced out the last word while gritting her teeth.
Normally, she wouldn’t have paid any attention to Avery.
However, this time, not only did he not confess that he was drunk, but he also mistook Charlotte for his sister.
“As a friend, it’s better to help him than to pretend as if I don’t know him at all,” Charlotte thought.
“Miss, you’re too kind. I think I kind of heard that a customer named Mr. Fuller came in today. He ended up like this after Mr. Fuller gave him several pieces of paper.” The bartender accepted the bribe and emphasized with a smile, “I only kind of heard about it.”
“Don’t worry. Both of us know this man named Mr. Fuller. How much money does he still owe you?”
“He doesn’t owe me any money now. Mr. Fuller has already paid the bill.”
Charlotte nodded.
She tidied up Avery’s belongings, helped him out of the bar, and assisted him into her car.
Once Avery was seated in the front passenger seat, he immediately opened his eyes. “Lottie, my ID card is in my left pocket. Type the address written on the ID card into the navigator, I need to tell you something.”
“You were faking it?”
“Shane was spying on me.”
“Hold on, aren’t you friends with Shane?”
“He’s both an enemy and a friend. There’s no such thing as true friends in the business field.”
Avery sounded entirely different from usual. Upon realizing the seriousness of the situation, Charlotte immediately took out his ID card from his pocket.
Shire Oak Road, Fuchsia District?
Charlotte entered the address into the navigator. After driving for a short distance, something suddenly flashed across her mind.
Avery was not from River City.
“How did your household registration end up in River City?” she asked.
“Before I moved, I re-registered my household in River City .” Avery opened his eyes completely this time. Through the rearview mirror and the side mirror, he was able to see Shane’s car.
As expected, that guy decided to follow him.
Even if he called Charlotte over, that fellow still didn’t think of letting him loose.
“You’re being very secretive.” Charlotte also noticed Shane’s car and asked, “Why is he chasing after you?”
“Heh, he wants to know why I came to River City.”
“Isn’t it because of our business?” Charlotte questioned with suspicion.
“Charlotte, I have to apologize to you. I chose to do business with you because I wanted to come to River City, not because of you and Jane Corporation.”
Charlotte nodded her head without feeling surprised. “When Rick told me that I was extremely lucky to have you as a business partner, I already knew that you chose to partner with me because of something personal, and not because of who I am.”
Avery smirked and smiled charmingly. “My first love died in River City, and my sister also went into a coma because of the accident. No matter what, I will find the mastermind behind the plan and tear this person to pieces!”
“So… you’re being flirtatious to play dumb?”
“I would say it’s a form of protection.”
Charlotte sighed. “Poor Avery,” she thought.
Seeing that she didn’t want to know more, Avery was slightly taken aback. “Don’t you want to ask me more about who I’m investigating?”
Charlotte shook her head. “This question concerns your privacy, I don’t think I have the right to ask.”
“So we are friends, but Shane and I will never be friends.” Avery said with his eyes closed, “I’m sorry that I dragged you into this issue.”
“Although I’m not sure why you think that my appearance might help you from stopping Shane, I won’t leave you alone because you treat me as a friend. After all, I’m not that close with Shane anymore.”
It was not hard to crack the code inside Avery’s mind.
First, he tried to erase Charlotte’s speculation by purposely mistaking her as his sister. Then, he caught her attention by blurting out Shane’s name. Seeing that she was dumbfounded, he then proceeds to ask her to drive to the address written on his ID card. And finally, he told her about his past.
All of this was for the sole purpose of keeping her by his side.
Well then, what would be the greatest benefit of keeping her by his side?
From Avery’s point of view, Charlotte’s appearance would be helpful in terms of making Shane contend against him.
Avery’s idea was great and all, but unfortunately, Charlotte didn’t think that Shane would have shown mercy to anyone just because of her.
She was not that important to Shane.
Their car arrived at Fuchsia District.
Charlotte helped Avery, who continued his act, into his house.
Inside the house, it was dark and empty as there was nobody inside.
After Charlotte mustered the courage to switch on the lights, she took Avery to the second floor. She later drew the curtains and locked the bedroom door.
After settling down, Charlotte sat on the couch and sighed in relief.
Avery looked at her behavior and smiled helplessly, “Lottie, you’re too paranoid. Shane wouldn’t have gone so far as to hide in my house before I even got home.”
“Sorry, it’s a personal trauma.”
“Hmm?” Avery was confused.
“If I were in an empty room and a person appeared unexpectedly, I would lose all my sense of security,” explained Charlotte.
When she was a child, she watched a movie that was related to criminal psychology. In the movie, there was a group of profilers, who arrested criminals by specializing in profiling.
There was this particular scene from the movie.
A woman, killed in her own house.NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.
The profiler uttered one sentence.
“There is nothing more terrifying than being killed in your own house.”
From that moment onwards, an impression started to form in Charlotte’s mind: Home isn’t always the safest place. Contrarily, because home should be the safest place, it is also the most vulnerable place as well.
Avery failed to grasp her thoughts. He nodded his head gently and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, my house is pretty safe. There are all kinds of security systems.”
“Alright,” Charlotte replied and pointed at the closed curtain. “So, are we just going to stay in here like this?”
“You certainly can’t stay here forever. Shane will definitely come here after you leave.”
“So, that means I have to find a way to make Shane follow me home.” Charlotte felt helpless.
“Or maybe we can just create a “plan”.”
A “plan”?
Charlotte instantly thought that it was a fantastic idea.
In this way, not only could she get to know more about Avery’s past, but she could also get to the bottom of Shane’s motive.
However, if it was a “plan”…
Suddenly, an idea flashed across Charlotte’s mind. “You can just pretend that you were drunk and fell asleep. I’ll take care of him.”
“Are you sure?” Avery blinked a few times in confusion.
“I’m sure.”
Avery immediately fell down on his bed. He propped up himself on his side with his elbows and blinked playfully at Charlotte. “I’ll leave it to you then, sis.”
Charlotte was speechless.
Was he trying to flirt with her?