Chapter 58: Her Opinion

"Please Evan," Leonie says with tears in her eyes, "Let me apologize to Avery. Please don't make me go to the hot springs in front of everyone."

Evan turns to the woman behind him but continues to shield her body with his as if he's protecting her from something dangerous. Avery raises her head to meet his gaze. The expression on his face is questioning like he's waiting for Avery's answer.

"Does he really care what I think?" Avery wonders.

"Miss Summers we paid you a very handsome fee to appear in our promotional shoot," Evan says, his voice cold and business-like, "It's your responsibility to protect and promote the image of the hotel. Now go and earn your fee."

"But I've already explained the situation to numerous reporters," Leonie blubbers, "I'm confident that they'll believe me and restore the hotel's image."

"Actions speak far louder than words," Evan mutters.

Leonie turns to Avery with a pleading look but quickly sees that the other woman will not intervene on her behalf. Avery has a neutral expression, but there are daggers behind her eyes. Leonie can tell that Avery is eager for her downfall.

"Hurry up," Evan says.

Leonie knows she can't defy Evan, but she hesitates. She's never been naked in front of so many people, and she's terrified of all the cameras. It'll be humiliating to see photos of herself all over the internet. But as horrified as she is by the prospect of revealing herself to everyone, she's even more furious that Evan has once again taken Avery's side. 

In the past, Evan took his grandmother's word. Whenever something happened between her and Avery, Evan took Leonie's side. Now, he's humiliating her in public in order to protect Avery. Leonie can't believe it.

Leonie bites her lower lip and allows the bathrobe to fall to the ground, revealing her pale skin, mottled with a red rash. Instantly, she's covered in goose-bumps. The reporters notice that she has just disrobed and they begin to scream. Leonie blushes and looks down at her naked body.

As Leonie walks into the hot spring, the cameras begin to flash. Evan turns away; he has no interest in her naked body.

"Still think I'm a bad man," Evan asks Avery.

"What?" Avery asks distractedly.

"Am I a bad man?" Evan repeats.

"Do you actually care about my opinion?" Avery asks lazily.

"Yes," Evan looks at her meaningfully, "Don't you want me to care about what you think?"

"I honestly don't," Avery says with a dismissive shrug.

"You're a dishonest woman," Evan says, smirking.

After soaking in the hot spring for half an hour, Evan gestures to Robert and the butler allows Leonie to leave the water. When she emerges her skin has been transformed: the rash is gone and she's covered in a healthy glow. Instead of worsening her allergy, the water has healed her.

The reporters begin to gossip and whisper amongst themselves. Leonie must have actually been allergic to her makeup, they agree. They're thrilled about the potential headlines—the opportunity to expose Leonie as a liar and publish nude photos is almost too good to be true.

The frenzied journalists turn toward the Howel. Before they can take pictures of Avery in her robe, Evan signals to his guards and they begin clearing the journalists away from the springs. Satisfied with the photos of Leonie, they leave without creating a fuss.

Leonie wraps herself in her robe and approaches Evan and Avery, but she's met with cold looks.

"Evan, I'm truly sorry," she says.

Evan ignores her, so she turns to Avery. Through gritted teeth, she hisses an apology to the other woman.

"Leave us and get dressed," Evan says.

Evan takes Avery's hand in his and leads her toward the dressing room. Leonie follows them, seething silently. They part ways at the dressing room as Evan enters the men's room and Leonie and Avery enter the women's. Avery opens her locker and begins to gather her clothes.

"You should be careful with Evan," Leonie says darkly.

"Oh?" Avery asks.

"He may have taken your side again, but he doesn't love you," Leonie says nastily, "He loves my older sister. He doesn't like unruly, dirty women like you."

"Thanks for your insight," Avery says blandly.

She flashes a dazzling smile at Leonie and strides across the room towards the showers. The smile infuriates Leonie. Even though Avery has left, Leonie scowls intently at the contents of her locker.

Evan showers quickly dress and relaxes on a velvet sofa in the hotel hall. Even with damp hair, he looks crisp and polished and exudes an aura of power and control. The hotel staff can't help staring at him as they pass.

"Mr. Howel here's all of the information on the Zuri Hotel's current employees," Robert says as he hands a single sheet of paper to Evan.

"That's it?" Evan asks incredulously.

"The hotel was already understaffed, and the hot spring incident caused even more employees to quit," Robert says apologetically.

Evan glances around him and notices that the hotel is conspicuously empty. Even the reception desk in the lobby is unstaffed.

"Deal with it," Evan orders.

He frowns to himself and thinks.

"The Zuri Hotel will be in terrible debt soon, but Avery seems completely unconcerned. Why is she so calm about it?" he wonders, "Is she purposely trying to make it fail just to throw my gift back in my face? Or does she have some other motivation?"

He quickly calls Robert back, "Wait. Try to find who owns a black and gold business card holder."

Evan's phone rings with an incoming message and he sees Avery's name flash across the screen. He quickly reads the message, feeling his blood pressure rise with every word. "I'm finished in the shower and am leaving the hotel. Bye."

"Ungrateful woman!" Evan fumes, "She needs to learn a lesson in gratitude. Every time I save her from a bad situation she immediately runs away as if she can't stand accepting my help."

"Please escort my wife from the changing room," Evan orders his bodyguards.

Robert stares at his boss in confusion.

"The man is so changeable," Robert thinks, "Ever since Mrs. Howel went off the rails, Evan has become completely unpredictable. One minute he's happy and the next he's in a rage, and it's all to do with her."

Leonie comes bustling out of the changing room. "What's going on Evan?" she asks with mock concern, "A bunch of your guards just entered the changing room and said they were looking for Avery. I was already looking for her, and I swear she's not in there."

Evan looks even more enraged.

"Let's go," he says, already striding across the lobby.

Robert scurries behind him, unsure of what to say or how to console his boss. "Are you returning home, Evan?" Leonie asks.

Evan nods curtly in response.

"Can I ride back with you? I'm not sure where my driver went," Leonie explains.

Evan says nothing, so Leonie continues to follow him. The chauffeur pulls the car up to the hotel entrance and Evan gets in the passenger seat without so much as a look at Leonie. Leonie lets herself into the car and sits in the spacious back seat. She's never been in Evan's car before and she takes a minute to assess her surroundings. The black leather on the seats is quite soft and luxurious, and a well-stocked mini bar gleams in the corner.

Suddenly, a delicate velvet box draws her eye. The velvet is pink and the box looks like it contains jewelry. Leonie burns with curiosity. It's obviously a gift, but she wonders who it's for Avery or Diana.

Quickly, Leonie glances at the passenger seat. The partition is down, but Evan is on the phone. He barely seems to realize she's there. With sudden decisive movements, she grabs the box and examines it more closely. A hand-written gift tag dangles from a small pink bow.