5 Sign the contract
Avery didn't have time to process what she was going to do as she made her way out of her father's office.
Betrayed once again by her family, she contemplated taking a taxi to leave Los Angeles altogether, or to have Logan arrested for what he did yesterday.
However, doubt lingered in her mind. Who would believe her?
Avery took a taxi to her apartment. All while the driver was driving, her mind was somewhere else.
'In this time and age?" she asked herself.
How could someone tell her she would be getting into a contract marriage?
Avery paid the driver and alighted from the car. She rushed into her apartment like a stray cat. Her heartbeat drummed loudly in her chest from running.
"I need to go," she muttered as soon as she got into her room. She wore the slippers and walked into her bedroom in haste.
It felt as if she was being chased, but Avery knew the kind of person her father was. If Walter says he is going to do something, then he is not joking, because he will surely do it.
"I know you aren't joking, but...how could you?" Avery asked no one in the room as she rested her hand on her hips.
Her eyebrows raised as she looked at the family portrait on the wall.
She rubbed her hand against her neck and sat on the bed. Her mind was becoming fuzzy with every passing second. Gone are the days when she had a happy family.
Avery pulled out the traveling suitcase and dropped it on the bed. She pulled out some beautiful dresses from her wardrobe and began to place them inside the suitcase.
"I got this from a gala. I can't leave it behind," Avery said, holding a yellow dress in her hand. It was one of her favorite dresses.
She kissed the dress and put it inside the suitcase. She packed some heels and some of her makeup kits inside her bag.
"I need to escape," Avery said aloud as she flared her hands in the air. "If he doesn't see me, then he will surely find someone else to marry the man!" She yelled in the quiet room.
Avery smiled blindly when she said this. She hoped this will work because she has no other means.
She changed her dress to a long cream-colored gown that reached her knees. She draped a hat over her head and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She looked like a celebrity who just had a scandal and was trying every means to flee the country.
"No one will recognize me. I just need to leave Los Angeles and go somewhere else," Avery assured herself, pulling the suitcase down from the bed.
She wore high-heeled shoes to match her outfit.
Avery closed the window and brought out her phone from the handbag. She began to type a message to someone on her contact list.
'Something came up; I need to attend to some things. I will be back in two weeks. Thank you,'
Avery clicked the send button, and the message got delivered. She needed to inform her manager that she wouldn't be coming. The woman is sure good at nagging.
Avery put the phone back inside her bag and closed the window blinds. She pulled the suitcase with her as she walked outside her room to the sitting room. Taking one last look around the room, she locked the door and took the elevator.
When she got outside, the sun was still on the horizon. Shining brightly against the earth. Avery adjusts the cap on her head and tries to see if a taxi will be coming her way.
She waited for ten minutes, and yet she couldn't see any Taxi. It was as if luck wasn't on her side today. Her hands were already sweaty because she had been holding the suitcase since.
Just when she thought she would have to get the bus at the bus station, she saw a taxi coming her way from afar.
Avery adjusted her dress and moved closer to the edge of the tiled road.
However, before the taxi could get to her, a car stopped in front of her, the tyres making a screeching sound on the tiled road.
She wasn't sure it was one of her father's cars, but she still tried to move away from the car to board the taxii. The taxi was getting closer to where she was standing.
Avery pulled the suitcase with her, but the car soon opened, and a hefty, tall man came out of it. He was putting on a black suit with sunshade glasses.
"Miss," she heard the man address her, and Avery froze.
She couldn't take a step as she turned to look at the man with her head tilted up. Her feet glued to the floor.
"Let me help you carry the suitcase, my boss wants you to come with me," The man said and walked towards Avery.
He held Avery's wrist and dragged her with him like a prisoner.
"What are you doing?" Avery asked, attempting to release her wrist from the iron grip.
She had never seen this man before, and, despite being in broad daylight, the situation felt unnerving.
"I said, leave me alone!" Avery screamed at the man. He stopped in his steps and turned to face her.
"I was asked to bring you along with me."
"Who is that?" she asked, scrutinizing him.
"You will know when you get there," he replied, pushing her towards the backseat.
Who was she kidding? She was sure it was her father, but when did he hire someone to start monitoring her?
No one was even looking her way because the black car was like a shield to her. She decided to comply now and figure things out later. The man sat beside her as the chauffeur drove off.
However, Avery didn't feel at ease with the two men inside. She wondered if it was Logan or her father who sent them, but why would Logan go as far as kidnapping her in front of her apartment when he didn't even know she was there?
The only people who knew about her whereabouts were her father and that guy.
After several minutes of driving, the car stopped at the same garage she left this morning.
Her heels made a soft sound on the floor as she walked towards the door, with the man following her closely.
"It was the guy that sent someone to get me, huh?" Avery asked in her mind.
Her eyebrows raised as she wet her lips with her tongue.
When Avery got inside, the devil was already sitting on the couch in the lounge, waiting for her with some documents in his hands. The two men behind her bowed before leaving through the door.
With him and her alone in the room, Sebastian crossed his legs over another and beckoned to her to sit in front of him.
"Sit," he said casually, looking at her and taking in her appearance.
Of course, she looks like a mummy in this long dress.
"He must have known I was trying to escape," Avery thought, but she refused to sit down or let her guard down. She needed to stand firm.
"I don't know what kind of relationship you had with my father. I don't know anything, and I would like to make it clear that I don't want a marriage with you. I know you saved me, and I already thanked you for that. You don't have—"
"Sign the document, Avery." He said in his deep baritone voice, cutting her words short.
"What?" Avery was taken aback by the way he ignored her words. "This man even dares to shut her up?"
"Just like that!"
