Chapter 52: Husband support

"Who is it?" Avery asks.

"Take a guess," the man says.

He shakes his head at Claire. With a blush, the woman closes her mouth and allows Avery to guess.

Avery reaches to pull his hands off her eyes. She feels that the fingers are long and calloused from years of hard work or exercise.

"Bryan Flynn?" she asks with disbelief.

Bryan pouts and brushes his hand through his shaggy hair, "That was too easy."

Avery takes him in. He has long bangs that almost cover his eyes, a pointy nose, and eyes as pure as crystal. He's wearing a white shirt with a skull pendant necklace.

"Well you've finally shown up," she says, "But how did you get into the hotel?"

Bryan shoves his hands into the pockets of his torn jeans. He looks casual and masculine, like a rebel.

"I get in when I want to get in," he says, flexing his biceps.

Bryan is fit and muscular, and Avery isn't surprised by his looks. She knows he's always been dedicated to his weights. Claire seems to be smitten with him and takes a deep breath to steady herself.

"Still trying to prove you're all muscles and no brains?" Avery teases him.

"Sis," Bryan says, taking Avery's shoulder, "Isn't this a nice surprise?"

Before Avery can answer, the director shouts at Bryan:

"Get over here, Bryan. It's time to start."

"Are you starring in this shoot?" Avery asks with disbelief.

Bryan smiles mysteriously at her. Avery hasn't heard from Bryan for a long time. She had no idea he'd become successful as an actor.

"That's my cue. How about you buy me dinner afterward?" Bryan says, walking away before Avery can reply.

"You know Bryan?" Claire says moony-eyed, "Oh no, I forget to take a selfie with him."

"Is the actress here?" the director shouts again.

A crowd appears at the entrance to the spa. The actress is surrounded by security, make-up artists, and stylists. Though Avery can't see the actress she recognizes the entourage from the morning. It's Leonie.

Avery supposes it makes sense that Leonie was scheduled to appear in the promotional footage. After all, her family still owned the hotel when the commercial was planned.

Leonie sees Avery watching her through the steam of the hot springs, and Avery can feel the daggers hidden beneath Leonie's professional expression. Wearing a bathrobe, Leonie approaches Avery.

"Hmm so this is your first day," Leonie says, "I look like you have to deal with a lot and Evan doesn't seem eager to give you a hand. Zuri Hotel is about to become a shell and you find time to gawk at me at my shoot? Are you afraid that I won't do this job properly?"

"Evan trusts me so he gave me this hotel," Avery says calmly, "If he's not worried, why should you be?"

Leonie sneers, "Your calm pretense might work with the staff, but we'll see how long you can keep this hotel running."

"Even if I can't, my husband will support me," Avery says.

"I'll wait for the day when Evan isn't your husband then."

Leonie stalks away to the hot spring where the lighting and camera crews are waiting. Leonie takes off her bathrobe and slowly enters the hot spring.

The first footage shows Leonie relaxing during the hot spring with Bryan holding her from behind. Steam rises from the water, and Leonie closes her eyes in comfort. She takes a deep breath and gets into the role quickly; she looks as if she's in paradise. 

She cups the water with both hands and slowly pours it over her face and arms while Bryan hugged her from behind. The young couple looks sweet and natural. Soon the filming ends.

It has gone unexpectedly well. Leonie buried the hatchet and did her best on the shoot. Somehow that knowledge doesn't make Avery feel any better.

Leonie gets out of the hot spring and an assistant wraps her in a towel. Another one holds a parasol for her. They all walk together to the dressing room but suddenly Leonie stops and glares wordlessly at Avery.

"They are so much alike, Diana and Leonie. Both are so pretty," Claire observes, "They were so close, too. I remember Leonie used to come to visit Diana all the time. They talked about everything and seemed inseparable. But something happened three years ago that changed their relationship."

"What happened?" Avery asks as she watches Leonie and her assistants retreat to the dressing room.

Claire is a bit hesitant. She looks around to make sure there's no one near before saying, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I came to discuss some business with Diana but Leonie was there too. It was right before you and Mr. Howel were going to be married. Well, I heard them mention the Howel name and something about drugs."

"Really?" Avery asks with amazement.

She tries to remember her wedding to Evan, but her memory is hazy from the poison. She vaguely recalls pouring the two of them red wine on their wedding night. She remembers hearing a crash. Did Evan throw the glass onto the floor?

She closes her eyes with concentration and she can hear Evan's angry voice: Avery Peters, you're a bitch. You only know how to use such a despicable means to seduce me. Or do you simply want any man to touch you? How about I call some in for you?

She remembers feeling dizzy then.

"Was I drugged too?" she wonders.

Though trying to remember makes her head in pain, she forces herself to think back on the night. She remembers the security guards rushing in and grabbing her. She fought like hell and used her remaining sanity to throw herself off the balcony. She remembers landing on the green lawn and hitting her head.

"Is that why Evan hates me—because he thinks I drugged him on our wedding night?" Avery wonders, "I'd naturally assume Leonie was behind that, but if Leonie and Diana were discussing it, it might be more complicated than that. I wonder what Diana is really like."