1 The Trap
Emerging from the funeral home, Avery Miller's face was a portrait of exhaustion and despair, her father's remorseful words echoing in her mind... "Avery, I have wronged you and your mother, I admit my mistake! I implore you, you must forgive Emily. She is innocent, and so is the unborn child she carries!"
Emily, her most trusted friend in college, had secretly become her father's lover.
Now, her father had been exposed for embezzlement, and her mother, unable to bear his betrayal, had taken her own life by jumping from a building.
Avery's once-happy life had been shattered in an instant.
The sky outside was overcast with dark clouds, mirroring her suppressed, heavy heart, as if a storm could break out at any moment. Tears fell silently.
She vowed never to forgive anyone.
The tolling of a distant clock seemed to put a full stop to her past.
Looking up, she saw birds flying across the sky, unable to carry away her sorrow.
Feeling helpless for the first time weighed heavily on her, her face reflecting infinite bewilderment as she gazed into the distance...
The wide road stretched into the distant woods, the wind making her slender frame sway. Her tear-streaked eyes were dry and sore. Turning around, she realized she had walked a long way.
The sudden ring of her phone in her pocket broke her reverie.
Taking it out, the screen flickered lively, as if mocking her plight and her mother's tragic demise.
How ironic!
Avery looked at her phone, hatred spreading from her fingers to her heart, gripping it so tightly it hurt.
Her fingers turned white with the strain, holding back sobs as tears streamed down her face. She pressed the phone to her ear, her voice hoarse and agitated, revealing her inner turmoil.
"What more do you want? My mother is dead, what more can you want!"
There was silence on the other end, then after a long pause, a low, helpless middle-aged male voice: "Avery, I'm sorry!"
Avery's heart crumbled again at this apology. "If sorry were enough, my mother wouldn't be dead!"
She tried to wipe her tears away, but they kept flowing, more and more, like a fountain that wouldn't stop, the more she wiped, the more they flowed.
"If you're calling just to say sorry, then you needn't have bothered! You owe me nothing;your debt is to the wife you've sent to heaven. There's nothing more to say between us. Look after yourself!"
Intending to hang up the phone, Avery Miller aimed to put an end to this pointless conversation.
However, the voice on the other end grew increasingly agitated, pleading, "Avery, Avery, don't hang up. Can you listen to a few words from your dad, just a few? After that, I won't disturb you again, okay?"
Silently, Avery Miller waited, a whimper escaping her and momentarily startling the person on the line, who then proceeded to reveal the reason for the call.
"Avery, I know you can't forgive me anymore. But, I have one last request, please, you must help your dad. I'm desperate, soon to be imprisoned for the rest of my life in that dark, hopeless jail. All my hopes are pinned on you, so…"
Closing her eyes, tears cascaded down Avery Miller's cheeks unrestrained, like a dam bursting open.
His voice, significantly more hoarse than a few days prior, conjured the image of his aged, increasingly gray silhouette.
The once-kindly face that now only lived in her memories.
"Alright, just this one last time," she whispered.
Turning away, Avery Miller's delicate figure seemed as if it could be toppled by a mere gust of wind.
Her long hair, loosely curled, flowed wildly behind her, becoming disheveled with each breeze. Her white chiffon dress swayed melancholically in the wind.
Standing outside the grand Yangdu International Hotel, Avery Miller felt slightly dazed, the towering, beautiful structure looming before her.
She had suppressed her sorrow on her way here; her tears had dried, yet the redness and swelling around her eyes lingered.
Moving forward, she entered the hotel lobby.
A young, attractive receptionist, clad in a smart black uniform with her hair neatly tied back, welcomed her with a clean, professional smile.
Avery inquired about Mr. Montgomery's office, as her father had mentioned on the phone. The receptionist nodded and smiled, signaling for Avery to follow her.
Avery trailed behind the receptionist, her heart filled with a growing sense of unease. In a hidden corner behind her, David Miller watched his daughter step into the elevator, his heart aching with each throb.
"My daughter, if this decision is wrong, what can I do to make it up to you in the next life?" David Miller stealthily wiped a tear from his eye and turned to leave the Yangdu Hotel, leaving behind the trap he had set for his daughter.
Following the elegant receptionist to the thirty-seventh floor, Avery stepped out of the elevator and approached the CEO's office. The receptionist opened the door for her, turning to say, "Miss, this is CEO Montgomery's office. Please, feel free to rest inside for a moment. CEO Montgomery will be with you shortly."
Avery Miller greeted her with a polite nod and a smile, her fingers slightly tensed, betraying a trace of sweat in her palms.
A flicker of nervousness shimmered in her water-like eyes, her lips pressed gently together, her emotions scattered like pearls across a plate.
As she entered, the luxurious office took her breath away—the immense, open floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of the city's hustle and bustle below.
A lavish crystal chandelier hung grandly from the center of the ceiling, its light cascading over the intricately flower-vine patterned walls, painted a soft white.
The room boasted a luxurious black leather sofa, and an oversized rosewood desk dominated the space.
Behind it, an orderly bookshelf held thick business volumes, hinting at more hidden behind it, but her view was obstructed.
Seated elegantly in front of the grand leather sofa at the center of the unfamiliar office, her fair legs were subtly angled, her white knee-length dress exuding a fresh elegance.
Avery glanced to the side, her heart rhythmically tapping like small raindrops, creating a continuous sense of unease.
Silently, she waited, planning to take the money and leave...
Looking back towards the door, she noticed the beautiful receptionist had already closed it and left.
Avery Miller's eyes wandered, reflecting on the owner's remarkable success.
In just five years, they had built such a vast business empire. Even her father, who had spent his entire life in pursuit, had never experienced such luxury.
Soon, the receptionist re-entered, carrying a cup of coffee, her face adorned with a perpetual, trademark smile. "Ms. Miller, I apologize for the wait. I've brewed you some coffee. Please, enjoy it while it's still warm."
Accepting the steaming cup, Avery Miller smiled slightly and, under the receptionist's watchful eye, drank the coffee unsuspectingly – the very coffee her father had arranged for her.
Finishing the coffee, the cup slipped from her grasp, shattering on the floor with a loud crack.
The receptionist's lips curved into an ambiguous smile as she picked up the broken pieces, casually discarding them in the trash.
She then lifted the unconscious Avery Miller from the sofa, dragging her towards the large bed hidden behind the bookshelf...
Such a fragile, unguarded girl sometimes stirred a sense of pity. The slight redness around her eyes suggested she had suffered a great deal and cried bitterly.
"Ms. Miller, I'm sorry. I drugged you only because your father asked me to. Please don't blame me; I desperately needed the money and had no other choice."
The receptionist looked at the lifeless girl on the bed, feeling a twinge of remorse, but still turned and walked away.
