Ch. 771..780
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 771
Chapter 771
Seeing the determination in Layla's eyes, Hayden simply said, "good luck."
Meanwhile, Cole stood in front of the office window and watched as the neon lights lit up the city. The bustling night view outside signaled the start of the night life.
Had it been any time before, he would have left the office and headed out to enjoy the night scene; but today, he wasn't in the mood.
He had been forced into bankruptcy by his own uncle and would be bearing a tremendous amount of debt.
He did regret what he had done, but mostly, he resented it all.
He had been leading a comfortable life as Elliot 's nephew, and yet, it was as easy as killing a bug for Elliot to crush him.
For the past few days, Cole watched his own father called Elliot countless times, begging for mercy in order to salvage the situation. His father had hoped that Elliot would forgive him for the sake of their kinship, but Elliot would either refuse the call or transfer the call to his assistant.
'Elliot is merciless! My own mother had already died and I just want to live my life in peace. Why do I have to bear such a high debt? It's worse than killing me, ' he thought.
An unknown period of time had passed before the door was opened and Henry stepped in.
"Leave now! Starting tomorrow, this will no longer be your company, " Henry said coldly, "your uncle might be ruthless, but you are ungrateful! I wouldn't have been affected if you weren't my son, and I wouldn't have to clean up after a murderer like you!"
"Dad, I know that I've made terrible mistakes, but it's already happened. What's the point of scolding me now?" Cole turned around to face his father. "I a m on the wrong path because you fail at parenting."
Henry's lips trembled as he was rendered speechless.
The two left the company and returned home with red eyes.
The servants served dinner at the table, but Henry had no appetite. He only felt like drinking.
"Let's sell this mansion! This is the only property I own that's worth something. Sell the mansion and clear your debt. After that you are no longer my concern, " Henry said as he poured wine into his own glass.
"I don't want to sell the mansion, " Cole said with a lump in his throat, "if we sell this mansion, where are we going to live? I am not married yet. Without a house, how am I supposed to get a wife?"
"You are still thinking about getting a wife right now?!"
" If I don't get a wife, that means the end to your legacy. " Cole drank a whole glass of wine ?f.&< !;l asked, "Dad, you are Elliot's father. Don't you have anything that you can hold against him?"
"Hold against him?" Henry was stunned for a moment. "I might be his older brother, but we are too far apart in age so I haven't a clue about his business."
"I'm not talking about business. I mean his private life... I heard that he was the one who killed Grandpa, " Cole lowered his voice and continued, " Dad, you must know something about this, right? Why haven't you ever mentioned it to me? If it wasn't for someone to come to me about this..."
"Who came to you? Who told you that?!" Henry's eyes widened in shock. "Bringing your uncle down doesn't benefit us in any way!"
"But what if someone is willing to pay my debt for me? Dad, I will never agree to selling the old Foster mansion. The market value of this place will only go up in the future, " Cole said in a calculative tone, " have you heard of Charlie before? He used to be Elliot's classmate, and he is also Elliot's competitor.
Instantly, Henry's eyes were filled with complex emotions.
He, too, wanted to keep the old Foster mansion, but it was never a good thing to betray his family with scandal. If his mother was still alive, she would have a heart attack.
"Dad, I don't know what's there to think about. Elliot has left us with no choice. Will keeping his secret do you any good? Right now, all I want is money!"
A stream of tears scrolled down Henry's cheek. " Your grandfather was, indeed, killed by your uncle. Your uncle came close to being thrown into juvenile jail. In order to protect him from it, your grandmother found a psychologist and forged a document stating that Elliot was psychologically disabled."
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 772
Chapter 772
Cole listened to his father as though he was listening to an intoxicating story. "So, is my uncle really mentally ill?"
Henry frowned and sighed. "There are different levels of severity to mental illness. Even if your uncle was ill, he had not had another episode since then. How else did he succeed afterward?"
"His business took off, but his love life did not. Avery divorced him and refused to hand over the custody of her children. Do you really think it's because they don't love each other? Maybe she's known about his illness the entire time and decided not to be with him!" Cole guessed.
Henry considered his words thoughtfully.
"Dad, we already have nothing. We have nothing else to lose. Even if we side with Charlie, what exactly can Elliot do to us? I don' t have any more money that he can take anymore!" Cole found his determination in desperation. "I have to work with Charlie. "
Henry took his glass and drank all the wine in it. "Tell Charlie about this, and then what?" Henry scowled. "Even if you tell everyone that Elliot murdered his own father, what's going to happen? Back then it happened, your grandmother's first reaction was to protect him. If even your grandmother wouldn't blame him on this, what gives anyone else the right to punish him for it?
Besides, it happened too long ago!"
"Dad, the reason why you are not as successful as Elliot is because you are not as ruthless as him." Cole poured his father another glass of wine. "He has just enormous influence now and once a scandal like this gets out, it will destroy him!
Charlie wouldn't try so hard to find his weakness otherwise."
"Elliot is still my brother!"
"But he killed your wife and forced your son into bankruptcy! Do you still care that he's your brother? Is he going to take care of you when you grow old?"
Cole's words had rendered Henry speechless.
Half an hour later, Henry had too much to drink and started turning red. "Standing against him won't end well for you... I am going to retire to the country... Don't come to me for anything from now on... It's up to you if you have a death wish... but I don't... I don't want to die..."
Cole clenched his fists at his father's words.
"Elliot is a god to you, but not to me! Sooner or later, he will be defeated by someone better than him! Maybe he will end up even worse compared to us!" Cole said, as his eyes glammed with hope for such a day to arrive.
He returned to his room after stepping out of the dining room =a%)?4?t called Charlie.
Though he was slightly drunk, he was excited and felt as though he could see the Elliot's scandal being printed on tomorrow's headline.
"Charlie, does your offer still stand?" He asked, " I've learnt my uncle 's secret, but I need you to pay off my debt."
"Just how much exactly do you owe?" Charlie asked calmly, "I'm not as rich as your uncle, so it depends on how worthy your tips are."
"My tips are definitely worth the money. If you don't intend on working with me, then I will just find someone else," Cole said confidently, "my uncle has plenty of enemies. I can just find the wealthiest amongst them and they would surely pay mv 7-5 million debts off for me."
Charlie considered the amount '7.5 million' and hesitated for a few moments, before saying, "I will give you a prepayment. Tell me everything that you know and I will transfer the remaining balance to you."
Cole had not expected that Charlie would agree to it so quickly; it seemed like he really was determined to destroy Elliot.
After the trade, Charlie felt slightly displeased because the information Colt provided him sounded like it was the most shocking news at first, but Charlie had already heard of it before; he simply hadn't been able to put all the pieces together just yet.
Which meant that he had spent 7.S million on a confirmation from Cole.
The crimson-colored box that Elliot had lost potentially contained information related to his condition. Once he obtained the box, Charlie would be able to make Elliot his puppet.
At that point, 7.5 million aside, Elliot would have to pay him even if he asked for 75 million or 750 million.
At night, Elliot was about to rest at eleven when the screen of his phone lit up all of a sudden.
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 773
Chapter 774
She felt like there could be some sort of connection between Adrian, his father, Shea and Elliot; not social connection, but biological connection.
Avery was startled by her own thought.
Had she been too tired lately, to come up with such a senseless idea? Aryadelle and Bridgedale were so far apart that even if Adrian's father was from Aryadelle, there was no way that he was related to the Fosters.
The Fosters were so wealthy that they were untouchable in Aryadelle; though their family relations were a mess, if something did happen, Avery would have at least heard of it throughout the time she spent by Elliot ' s side. However, she had not heard of any rumors apart from matters concerning Shea.
The car stopped in front of the mansion and she got out of the car.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she spotted an elegant figure standing by the door.
"Avery!" The person spotted her as well and immediately greeted.
A smile appeared on Avery's face at the familiar voice.
It was Tammy.
Since Tammy had been discharged from the hospital, she had traveled to Bridgedale with her mother. Once she caught news that Avery had come to Bridgedale with Robert, she immediately hurried over.
"I thought that you said you are coming tomorrow? " Avery was slightly surprised. Had she known that Tammy was visiting, she would not have gone to the White Family Mansion.
" I just really want to see Robert." Tammy hooked her arm on Avery's and pulled her into the living room. "Robert is a little handsome fellow, and he is definitely going to bewitch countless women when he grows up."
Avery couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't expect that he would. I'd rather he stays healthy and safe."
"He seems energetic, so he's definitely healthy," Tammy said as she strolled towards the crib and played with Robert. "Avery, are you going back to Aryadelle after new years?"
"Yeah. You?" Avery asked.
"I have classes starting in Spring next year, so I don't plan on going back just yet." Sorrow filled Tammy's eyes.
The trauma from the latest incident had affected her, after all; Tammy' s eyes used to be filled with spirit, but now, her eyes were no longer as bright.
"Tammy, you >f*+ ;,<s Jun..."
"Things between us are over. I told you, his family was pressuring me to give birth."
"Okay. I will support you no matter what your choice is." Avery's lips curled into a smile. "You and your mom should come over to my place for new years! The more the merrier. "
"Sure!" Tammy agreed right away. "Avery, back when you broke up with Elliot, did he pester you?"
Avery remained thoughtful for a few moments. " Back when we broke up, he was a successful business man and I was just a college student; if we are talking about pestering, I think I was the one who pestered him. Besides, he is too proud to do that."
"But you didn't exactly pester him as well, right?"
Avery sat down next to the crib. " It really hurt at first when we broke up and sometimes I would
really want to message him, but I know that doing so won't change anything; so, I packed my schedules with activities to keep myself busy."
"Hm. Jun has been messaging me lately and it's quite bothersome." Tammy had decided to forget him and start a new life, but Jun would send long messages every single day to recap on their past.
"You can block him if you don't want to receive messages from him."
"Should I really go that far?"
Avery wasn't sure how to answer. If one refused to do what had to be done and remained involved, it would only be more painful.
"Whatever. I'll block him! It's impossible for us to get back together again anyway." Tammy took out her phone and blocked Jun on every platform. "If he still manages to find a way to bother me, then I'm going to get a new boyfriend to make him give up."
Meanwhile, in Aryadelle.
Elliot remained depressed for two days, before deciding to hold a funeral for Shea.
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 774
Chapter 775
He had never publicized their relationship when Shea was still alive. It was a decision he made to keep her from the interference of the outside world; not even Avery understood him and thought that he hid Shea away from others' knowledge because he was ashamed of her intellectual disability.
He had never once been ashamed of Shea; she would have died long ago if he felt ashamed of her.
With Shea gone, he no longer had to worry about someone bothering or hurting her. Upon deciding that he would hold Shea's funeral, he started making arrangements on his own.
When news got out, Hayden told Mike that he wanted to attend Shea's funeral.
Mike immediately called Chad to ask if they could go.
"Mr. Foster is the one who drew up the guest list, you and Hayden are not on the list," Chad said in a troubled tone.
Mike lifted an eyebrow. "Is Avery on it? If her name is on it, then Hayden and I will attend the funeral as her representatives."
"No, " Chad said directly, "he only invited some of the managers in the company and some clients that Sterling Group has worked with for years... He didn't invite Avery or any friends, for that matter..."
"Oh... But Hayden says that he wants to see Shea off. Go ask Elliot if Hayden can come, if he says no, he will never hear Hayden refer to him as his father again, " Mike threatened, "even if Shea died because of Robert, Hayden has nothing to do with it."
"I get it. Don't get so riled up. I'll go ask right away.
Chad hung up and took a sip of cold water to calm himself. He spent some time preparing himself, before gathering the courage to call Elliot. When the call was answered, he expressed Hayden's will to attend Shea's funeral and started building Hayden's case.
"Mr. Foster, Shea was very close with Hayden when she was alive..."
"Sure, " before Chad could finish, Elliot agreed.
Chad felt slightly dazed, as he had not expected Elliot to agree without reservation.
After the call, he conveyed Elliot's response to Mike. "My boss isn't that narrow-minded. Once Shea 's
funeral is over, he should be able to slowly recover."
" I don't care about him," Mike said, "now that all three kids belong to Avery, things are great."
"You have no empathy. Shea is Mr. Foster's biological sister. They were fraternal twins."
Mike froze.
"Shea's real name is Shea Foster. It's written on her tombstone, " Chad continued, "if she was still alive, we would probably never learn her real name."
"Why would he keep it hidden if they were brother : b.+?- <w sister? I hate sneaking around most!"
Mike mocked and decided to tell Avery about it to see if she would like to attend the funeral.
Avery remained quiet for a few moments when she heard the news. For the past few days, she had been hoping for a miracle; as long as Shea's body was not found, she could still be alive.
However, if Elliot had decided to hold a funeral, it meant that he had obtained intel that confirmed Shea's death.
"I need to take care of Robert, so I'll pass. You should take Hayden and go. If Layla wants to go, take her with you as well," Avery said.
"Alright, " Mike said.
"Has Shea's body been transported back?"
A bold thought appeared in Avery's mind: she wanted to run a DNA test on Shea and Adrian.
She wanted to know if the two were related... how else could she explain all the coincidences?
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 775
Chapter 776
"I didn't hear anything about the body. What's wrong? You can't possibly be thinking of reviving her from the dead, right?" Mike's mind ran wild.
Avery's head started to hurt. "I was just asking, Mike. If I can revive the dead, then no one will truly die on this earth. Don't you think that's really scary?
"Oh. I didn't hear that Wesley will be coming back, so there probably won't be a body. Elliot must have gotten news that Shea was dead, though; he wouldn't have arranged a funeral otherwise."
"Yeah."
"Are you really not coming back? Robert is still little. You can hand him over to the nanny and come back for a short trip."
Mike wanted her to attend the funeral. No matter the nature of their relationships with Elliot, they had always been close to Shea.
"I've failed Shea," Avery spoke her mind in a hoarse voice. "If only I realized what she was thinking earlier on, I would not never have let her do what she's done. I feel like I'm going crazy. I met a patient that has the exact condition as Shea. Not only do I think that he looks like her, I've even gone so far as to imagining that there's a connection between him and Shea simply because they share the same blood type..."
Mike was silenced at her confession. He had not known that she was treating another patient in Bridgedale.
" I've just realized it, but maybe it is their unique blood type that makes them more prone to this illness!" Avery said as sharp pai pierced through her heart.
The world was never short of coincidence, but the chances of ordinary people being exposed to those coincidences were slim.
It was likely that Adrian and Shea were not related in any way; they simply happened to share the same blood type and were both diagnosed with the same condition.
As for the resemblance in their looks, perhaps it was merely a result of how much Avery missed Shea.
"Avery, it's best that you don't attend the funeral. I think that you are not in right state of mind," Mike said after remaining silent for a few seconds. "Do you ever feel like everything seems small next to life ;b— " : + =v death?"
Avery hummed in response.
"Since we are still alive, then let's live our lives with joy!" Mike consoled, "I will take the kids to the funeral. Once it's over, I will wrap things up at work as soon as possible and bring the kids with me to join you."
"Okay. "
Meanwhile, in Elliot 's mansion, all belongings in Shea's room had been organized and packed, before being moved and locked inside the warehouse.
Elliot thought of leaving her belongings as they were, but he couldn't help but wanting to go into her room. He would be reminded of her at the sight of her things and whenever he was reminded of her, he would also be reminded of why she died.
His psychologist told him that he should not consider Shea murdered if she was not forced into donating blood.
There was something more powerful than hatred in this world, and that was love.
Because of her love for Robert, Shea had saved him with no concern for her own life.
He should not turn Shea' s love into never-ending
resentment, so he listened to his psychologist and tried to overcome it.
He did not do it for himself; he simply didn't wish to torture Avery and their children over this.
A day before the funeral, Elliot received a phone call from Wanda.
It was the first time Wanda had taken the initiative to call him ever since they met two months ago.
Seeing the way Cole's company went into bankruptcy, Wanda was concerned that Elliot would have more time to spare and that she would be his next target, and that was the reason for her phone call.
"Elliot, I heard something, " Wanda said, "I had dinner with Charlie last night and asked him about the crimson box when he got drunk."
Elliot started breathing heavily.
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 776
Chapter 776
"I didn't hear anything about the body. What's wrong? You can't possibly be thinking of reviving her from the dead, right?" Mike's mind ran wild.
Avery's head started to hurt. "I was just asking, Mike. If I can revive the dead, then no one will truly die on this earth. Don't you think that's really scary?
"Oh. I didn't hear that Wesley will be coming back, so there probably won't be a body. Elliot must have gotten news that Shea was dead, though; he wouldn't have arranged a funeral otherwise."
"Yeah."
"Are you really not coming back? Robert is still little. You can hand him over to the nanny and come back for a short trip."
Mike wanted her to attend the funeral. No matter the nature of their relationships with Elliot, they had always been close to Shea.
"I've failed Shea," Avery spoke her mind in a hoarse voice. "If only I realized what she was thinking earlier on, I would not never have let her do what she's done. I feel like I'm going crazy. I met a patient that has the exact condition as Shea. Not only do I think that he looks like her, I've even gone so far as to imagining that there's a connection between him and Shea simply because they share the same blood type..."
Mike was silenced at her confession. He had not known that she was treating another patient in Bridgedale.
" I've just realized it, but maybe it is their unique blood type that makes them more prone to this illness!" Avery said as sharp pai pierced through her heart.
The world was never short of coincidence, but the chances of ordinary people being exposed to those coincidences were slim.
It was likely that Adrian and Shea were not related in any way; they simply happened to share the same blood type and were both diagnosed with the same condition.
As for the resemblance in their looks, perhaps it was merely a result of how much Avery missed Shea.
"Avery, it's best that you don't attend the funeral. I think that you are not in right state of mind," Mike said after remaining silent for a few seconds. "Do you ever feel like everything seems small next to life ;b— " : + =v death?"
Avery hummed in response.
"Since we are still alive, then let's live our lives with joy!" Mike consoled, "I will take the kids to the funeral. Once it's over, I will wrap things up at work as soon as possible and bring the kids with me to join you."
"Okay. "
Meanwhile, in Elliot 's mansion, all belongings in Shea's room had been organized and packed, before being moved and locked inside the warehouse.
Elliot thought of leaving her belongings as they were, but he couldn't help but wanting to go into her room. He would be reminded of her at the sight of her things and whenever he was reminded of her, he would also be reminded of why she died.
His psychologist told him that he should not consider Shea murdered if she was not forced into donating blood.
There was something more powerful than hatred in this world, and that was love.
Because of her love for Robert, Shea had saved him with no concern for her own life.
He should not turn Shea' s love into never-ending resentment, so he listened to his psychologist and tried to overcome it.
He did not do it for himself; he simply didn't wish to torture Avery and their children over this.
A day before the funeral, Elliot received a phone call from Wanda.
It was the first time Wanda had taken the initiative to call him ever since they met two months ago.
Seeing the way Cole's company went into bankruptcy, Wanda was concerned that Elliot would have more time to spare and that she would be his next target, and that was the reason for her phone call.
"Elliot, I heard something, " Wanda said, "I had dinner with Charlie last night and asked him about the crimson box when he got drunk."
Elliot started breathing heavily.
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 777
Chapter 777
"He said that he has something to hold against you, but he won't use it thoughtlessly because he needs to reserve it for the right timing, " Wanda said hastily, "as for what's the right timing that he was talking about, I have no idea. Charlie is a sly man. I haven' t known him for long, so he doesn't really trust me. But we are content with our partnership so just give me more time and I will find a way to get that box back to you."
"You already know that the box contains something that would post a threat to me; why would you give i t back to me should you ever get your hands on the box?" Elliot said sarcastically.
Wanda froze. Her mind went blank as she dazedly tried to think back to what she had just said.
Why did Elliot sound as though he had been provoked?
" I just wanted to know if Charlie has the box. Now that it's confirmed that he does, you are useless to me," Elliot gritted out coldly, "Wanda Tate, whatever you are plotting, I know everything. "
Wanda was scared senseless at merely the sound of his voice.
"Elliot! I am not plotting anything! I wouldn't dare to! My nemesis is Avery, not you! Your business and your life have nothing to do with me..."
"Avery is a part of my life," he interrupted her and said, "Cole was the one who got your daughter killed; Jack Tate was the one who drafted the will and left Tate Industries to Avery's hands. The only reason you see Avery as your nemesis is because you have been so used to bullying her that your
jealousy has consumed you when you see that she was doing better than you."
Wanda's hand on her phone started to tremble.
"I won't kill you now," Elliot drawled, his tone powerful and intimidating, "because death would free you; whereas keeping you alive means you remain tortured. I will make it so that you beg for the sweet release of death in the end."
Wanda's blood ran cold. "Elliot Foster, don't forget that I was the one who brought you and Avery together to begin with! I was her step-mother! I was her family for over twenty years!"
"You killed your mother. I won't give you the pleasure of a happy ending, " he said, before hanging up.
W;e&* > " : ma collapsed onto her seat.
Though Elliot had said that he wouldn't kill her for the time being, her fear had only grown.
Indeed, true horror was when one could not tell one's fate. If she wanted to turn the table, she would have to obtain the crimson box before
Charlie; that box was the key to staying alive for her.
At night, the looks in Elliot's eyes darkened as he burned through cigarette after cigarette.
He wanted to be a good man, but the gods had not rewarded him for it; instead, there were always people who tried to challenge his boundaries. If
that was the case, he might as well continue being the bad guy.
He put out the cigarette and made a phone call. "Where is Charlie now?"
"He is at a dinner meeting." "Keep your eyes on him."
"Yes, Mr. Foster. Do you have any further instructions for me?"
"Yes."
At three in the morning, one of the high-end residential buildings in the city center caught on fire, followed by horrifying explosions from where the fire had started.
Instantly, the sky was lit by fire.
The petrifying crimson flame burnt bright through the night and it almost seemed like the world was ending.
Just then, Elliot sat in the empty room that once belonged to Shea in a formal black suit.
As the noises of explosions pierced through the sky, he held a wine glass in one hand and a bottle of wine in another to pour himself a glass.
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 778
Chapter 778
If there was one thing Elliot hated most in his life, it would be being threatened by someone.
'So Charlie has something to hold against me, but won't move because he is waiting for the right time? ' He thought to himself, 'ha! I won't give him the chance. If he won't act, then I'll destroy him along with the box. Even if the fire doesn't kill him, his house would be burned into ruins.'
The siren of the ambulance echoed in the air through the silent night.
In Starry River Villa, Hayden had been woken up by the noises, and was shocked when he saw the sky painted with red.
He crawled down the bed and stepped towards the door in the dark, before opening it and walking towards Mike's room.
Mike had just fallen deeply asleep and had not noticed all the noises on the outside.
"The sky is red." Hayden pointed outside the window to show Mike.
Mike rubbed his eyes and saw what was happening outside, so he took out his phone to check the news.
"A fire broke out in a residential building in the city center." Mike yawned. "Something exploded so the fire was spreading wide."
Hayden stood still after learning what had happened.
Mike noticed that he seemed depressed and tapped him on the shoulder. "Big H, do you miss your mom? I will take you and Layla to Bridgedale in a few days. It's late now, go back to sleep! By the way, it might look scary out there, but the fire won't spread to our area, so don't worry. Go to sleep!"
Hayden hadn't thought of Avery until Mike mentioned her. He was actually affected by the noises of the ambulance and the light from the fire in the dark night; when he realized that someone might die during the disaster, his heart simply grew heavy.
He had not been this sentimental before, but perhaps Shea's passing had traumatized his young heart.
The next day, the fire that broke out in the city center in the middle of the night had appeared on the headline because it had occurred in a high-end residential area.
Apart from that, not only did the fire destroy the unit where it first started, it affected all the units on the same floor, along with the floors above ?a- " < o/o- k below.
As for the unit where the fire broke out, everything was burnt to ashes except for the load-bearing wall.
Luckily, the people who lived in that unit managed to escape during the explosion, and according to the news, two people were found critically injured.
It was one of the most alarming news stories of the community in recent months, but Mike did not bother to look into it because it was the day for Shea's funeral.
He woke up early and took the children to breakfast, before rushing to the funeral venue.
Upon arriving, Chad leaned towards him and whispered, "have you seen the news today? That headline about an indoor gas explosion..."
"You mean that incident that took place at three in the morning?"
"Yeah! Do you know whose apartment that is?" Chad asked mysteriously.
Noticing something unusual, Mike asked, "is it someone we know?"
Chad nodded.
Both Hayden and Layla widened their eyes and leaned closer to eavesdrop.
"That's Chelsea's brother's place. She lived there, too. When the explosion happened, she was in there, " Chad immediately told him, "the siblings barely made it, but both of them suffered rather severe injuries."
"Is this the gods' way of punishing them?"
"Not the gods. It's Mr. Foster."
Chad didn't give too many details considering how many people were around them.
Mike nodded. "Let me tell Avery about this."
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 779
Chapter 779
Mike summarized the incident in simple wordings and sent it to Avery while attaching a photo of Elliot that he took in secret along with the message.
It was ten at night in Bridgedale. Avery had just gotten into bed and had yet to fall asleep.
When she saw the message Mike sent, she tried to picture the reason behind Elliot 's action, but her lack of imagination had left her helpless in figuring out why he would suddenly attack the Tierney siblings.
If it was done to seek revenge from Chelsea for causing Avery to go into delivery early, why would he burn Charlie's apartment down, and why did he choose to do so at such a time?
There had to be something else going on apart from his history with the Tierney siblings.
Had it been any time before, Avery would have confronted Elliot to ask him what had happened between them, but she no longer had the energy for that.
Her three children had taken up eighty percent of her energy; and what little was left was reserved for
treating Adrian's illness.
She had come to an agreement with the White Family that she would perform the first surgery on Adrian after new years. After the first surgery, they would decide if they could proceed with the second surgery based on the outcome.
Seeing that she did not reply, Mike took a photo of Hayden and Layla and sent it to her.
This time, she couldn't help but reply, 'why are Layla's eyes so red? Did she cry?'
'Yeah. Shea's photo was displayed at the funeral and she cried when she saw it.'
Avery was overwhelmed with emotions when she received his reply. If she was at the funeral, she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears as well.
After remaining silent for a while, she sent another message.
'How is he?'
'Which one? Are you talking about Hayden or Elliot?
Avery gasped awkwardly.
Mike was teasing her on purpose, but did not want to enrage her, so he replied right away.
'Hayden didn't cry, but has been frowning the entire time. Elliot is the same. There's no doubt that they are father and son. They are practically identical.'
Avery held onto her phone ;a" - ;":t slowly began to drift off the sleep.
Shea would rest in peace and all the pain would sooner or later fade.
Meanwhile, in a hospital in Aryadelle.
Wanda rushed to the hospital at the first chance she had to visit Charlie.
It wasn't that she truly cared if Charlie lived or died; she simply wanted to see how miserable he was.
Elliot told her the night before that she would not have a happy ending, and because of that, she had not been able to sleep much since the fire.
She had seen her share of vicious people, and she herself was someone who would do anything to get what she wanted; but Elliot was different from them all.
Because of how powerful and wealthy Elliot was, it would take someone with nine lives to defeat him in Aryadelle.
Inside the ward, Charlie's body was completely wrapped in bandages except for his eyes and mouth.
Wanda set the flowers and fruits she brought down and consoled Charlie's mother.
"Sis, this is not an accident, " she said, "Elliot set the place on fire."
When she spoke, Charlie reacted right away from the bed. He tried to nod but his eyes were soon filled with tears from the pain.
His mother felt even worse when she saw her son's reaction.
"Charlie, we just need to protect our own properties. If you focus too much on taking something that belongs to others, you could risk what you have in the end!" Charlie 's mother knew how ambitious her son was, and felt helpless when she saw what had happened to him.
"Don't cry, sis. Charlie will get better," Wanda said, "I want to talk to him, alone. I will talk some sense into him."
Charlie's mother nodded and left the room.
Wanda said to Charlie, "seeing how you've ended up is like looking into my own future, but I don't want to submit to my fate, so I have to gamble. I thought of a perfect plan and I will surely be able to get that box. However, I will not be working with you any longer, because you have been utterly defeated this time."
When His Eyes Opened Chapter 780
Chapter 780
As Wanda was leaving, Charlie's eyes were filled with resentment and tears.
'I'm not dead yet! How dare Wanda look down on me?!' He thought, ' it's bad enough that Elliot doesn't consider me his rival. Who does Wanda think she is to look down on me?'
At the memorial service, personal belongings that represented Shea were carried onto the car after the ceremony and they were meant to be buried next to Rosalie's grave.
The rest of the guests headed towards the hotel for the lunch service; Mike was about to take the children to the hotel as well, but noticed that both Layla and Hayden were staring at Elliot, who was about to deliver Shea's belongings to the graveyard.
"He is going to the graveyard. Do you two want to go with him?" Mike asked.
Hayden nodded and Layla copied his motion.
"Alright! Let's go with him, then." With that, Mike took them along with him and headed towards the graveyard.
The graveyard was surrounded by mountains and the temperature was extremely chilling.
Once they buried Shea's remains, the gravestone was planted. Elliot kneeled and placed a bouquet of lilies in front of the grave while looking at the smiling photo of Shea. "Shea, if there's a next life, don't be so silly again."
Layla heard him and mumbled, "Shea isn't silly! Silly people know nothing, and she knew everything. "
Mike gave Layla a look and silently hinted her to stop talking.
"Shea must have known that it's my mom who did her surgery, that's why she likes my mom so much. That's why she likes me and my brother, and also our little brother..." Layla was so depressed; she knew that if she didn't take the opportunity to speak her mind, she wouldn't get another chance again. "If I have a time machine that allows me to travel back in time, I will definitely stop Shea from giving her blood to our brother. Robert is really cute, but I didn't want to lose Shea as well."
Elliot's body stiffen at Layla's words.
Avery was the one who performed Shea' s surgery? It was Avery the entire time.
Elliot felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
Mike watched as Elliot 's face turned from white to red, before darkening.
"Layla, why would you spill everything out like that? Your mom didn't even mention this to him," Mike whispered to Layla.
Layla didn't think that she had done something wrong. "But Shea is already gone! Even after the two surgeries my mom did for her, she still died!"
'Two surgeries! ' Elliot thought, 'Avery was the one who did both surgeries on Shea!'
Elliot swallowed hard as he stared intently at Layla's face, feeling as though everything before him was a dream.
If Avery was the one who performed the surgeries on Shea, why was he completely unaware of it? He even ended up paying Zoe 300 million like a clown.
He felt like a fool, while Avery watched everything : g4*< != v refused to mention this to him even after Shea's death. If Layla hadn't talked about it, was Avery going to keep this from him forever?
Mike could sense that Elliot was emotionally unstable, so he picked Layla off the ground and took Hayden's hand with his other hand, before saying goodbye. " It's too cold here. I will take the kids and go now."
With that, Mike left hastily before Elliot could react.
The weather was cloudy and it looked as though the sky was about to fall.
The graveyard was surrounded in silence, so one would distinctly hear the slightest movement.
Elliot looked back at Shea's smiling face in the photo as his state of mind shifted drastically.
It was no wonder that Shea would call out to Avery every time after the surgeries; it was no wonder that Shea said she heard Avery's sound after the second surgery and refused to accept that Zoe was the one who performed the surgery.