Chapter 08: An Unexpected Video Call

Avery chuckled quietly. "If your job is to persuade me to return with my own, you're failing miserably. I have no intention of going back."

The woman rose from her seat and approached Avery, who clenched her fist tightly. "This isn't about what you want and don't want. It was your father's order for me to come find you." 

"I'm sure I'm the least of my father's concerns. You should just return." 

The woman stared at her, unwavering. Avery huffed in annoyance. Was the sun not torturous enough for her? Why did the heavens have to send someone to torment her even more?

"Fine. I'll call my father after I'm done here. So, don't bother me anymore." The woman opened his mouth to say something, but Avery raised her palm as if to stop her from speaking. "Don't. I might change my mind." 

This silenced the woman, who turned and stormed out of the RV, passing through the entrance past Avery.

"Next time, don't just let anyone in here without telling me or Su Tang," Avery said, taking a clean towel and wiping her forehead.

The assistant lowered her head in embarrassment. "I thought she was someone from the agency." 

Avery glanced sideways at the girl and sighed. "It's alright, you don't have to be so nervous. I'm not scolding you."

If it weren't for the familiar face she hadn't seen in a couple of years, Avery might also have mistaken that woman for someone from JJ Entertainment. 

Nonetheless, it didn't sit right with her that someone from her past could find her and even come to see her. 

Gritting her teeth, Avery looked for her phone. Once it was in her hand, she started to message someone she hadn't contacted for a few months. 

[Avery: When are you going to tell me that you and father arrived in the country?]

After sending this, she leaned back and closed her eyes to rest. The cool air condition inside the car wiped away all the tension in her body. 

'Ding!'

She opened her eyes to see that she had received a reply after a minute.

[Alexandrei: How did you know?]

Avery glared at her phone, feeling an urge to shout rising from inside her. But she quickly restrained herself, and reminded herself not to do it in front of her assistant. 

She typed and send him a reply. [I met Andrea. She came to me at the filming set.]

There was a delay from the other side. 

But soon, she got a reply from her brother. 

[Alexandrei: Sh*t. Did father come to see you?]

[Avery: No.]

[Alexandrei: … I see. Well… to be honest, it's grandmother who told father to find you.]

Figures. Avery didn't think that her father would waste his time trying to find her, especially after he made it clear eleven years ago that he never wanted to see her again.

[Alexandrei: Don't worry about anything. I'll talk to father later. Just come and see grandmother when you have time. She misses you a lot.]

Avery frowned at his reply. Did something really happen to her grandmother? Her mother died before she could even see her face, but her grandmother had filled that void, constantly taking care of her and making sure that she felt loved. But because of that incident eleven years ago…

She paused. Avery didn't want to think about what happened in the past. 

[I will.]

…

In the end, Avery couldn't make it to the restaurant that the director arranged for everyone to eat at. The moment the door to the restaurant opened, she almost felt like she would spill her guts in front of everyone.

Now that she knew she's pregnant, Avery couldn't stand being around certain foods. She used to like barbecue, but now, just the smell of it, made her recoil in disgust. 

Fortunately, there was signal and Wi-Fi in the village where they were filming,, making it easier for Avery to order food online that she could eat.

Ever since arriving in the village, her cravings for seafood had her salivating all day. Suppressing the urge to skip filming and visit a seafood place had become increasingly difficult. She even had a small breakdown inside her RV because she couldn't get any until her scenes were done. 

Several minutes passed, and her eyes were glued on her phone screen, indicating the time left until her food would arrive. 

3 minutes. 

2 minutes. 

Anytime now…

A knock on her door made her heart skip a beat in anticipation.

Avery had never run so quickly as if her life depended on it. As soon as her eyes fell on the package the delivery guy was holding, she almost burst into tears. She thanked him by giving him a tip before closing the door behind her. 

Rubbing her hands, she eagerly opened the package and let the scent of something sweet, briny, and buttery assault her nostrils, filling the entire room with it. 

"Baby, mommy will eat for the both of us now!" Avery smilingly said, rubbing her flat tummy and wiping the drool that spilled on the corners of her mouth. 

The amount of food in front of her was meant to be eaten by two to three people, but that didn't matter to Avery, who now has to eat for two.

"Hu… hu… sniff!" 

All of a sudden, in the middle of her fourth serving of lobsters, she started to cry. 

At the same time, her phone, which had been abandoned and buried under a pile of crab and lobster shells, began to buzz. 

Avery glared at it. Who was interrupting her pregnancy craving time? She wanted to ignore it, but it kept ringing. Moreover, once she saw who was calling, she absolutely couldn't disregard it any longer.

The number was registered under the name 'Aidan'.

She hurriedly picked up the call, sniffing. "Hello?" 

However, there was an odd silence after she spoke. 

Well, that was strange. Avery pried the phone away from her ear and looked at it, with tears and snots on her face, and mouth still stuffed with a big chunk of lobster meat inside it. 

That's when she realized that it was not a regular call; it was a video call.

On the screen was the face of the handsome man she met in the hospital, sitting on a leather chair, with the starry night displayed through the window as his background.  He was holding a paper in his hand, a document of some sort, and there was a spinning pen in his other hand that soon fell out of the camera's view, clattering with a soft noise below.

Before she could stop herself, she cursed. "Fuck me."