Page 380 of Now and Forever

Chapter 141

Ava

My father. My sweet, loving, deceitful father was the man behind all of this. The suffering I had endured for years on end had been blatantly committed by my own flesh and blood.

My ears were ringing. My heart thudded as I disdainfully stared at the man I had shared a decade with—ten years of him witnessing the pure torment that my guilt-ridden conscience had done to me. In all this time, he had never uttered a damn word to tell me the cause of my misery wasn’t dead, that he was in fact somewhere in England, hiding away as he carried on with his life. Whereas I, idiot Ava, had blindly lived life as if I wasn’t all there. Yes, I had lived and breathed, but I hadn’t been all there in my body, in my mind and in my soul. I had functioned, yet I hadn’t truly been alive.

My family were the ones who had caused me pain. It hurt to even look at Ashton.

“How could you do this to me? You’ve sacrificed my happiness for your own selfishness. I will not forgive you for this!” Hissing the words out, I scrambled out towards the bedroom, grabbed my purse while I slipped into my nude pumps, and then dashed out towards the main door.

Ashton tried to block me from leaving. “We need to sort this out. You can’t just leave without talking to me, Ava!”

Nostrils flaring, I elbowed his chest as I fought to be set free. “Let. Me. Go! Or so help me God, you will regret ever marrying me!” I thrashed as his hold lessened around me. We were both breathing raggedly as he fully let me go.

Straightening my clothes, I glared at him.

“I shall wait for your return, whenever that maybe. Rest assured, dear wife, I will be here.”

Almost running out of the hotel, I fumed as I walked hurriedly, as though the hounds of Hell were chasing me. My scrambled thoughts didn’t help ease the deep-seated betrayal Ashton’s revelation had caused. Much more so at the knowledge that my father had been involved in Reiss’s disappearance from my life.

I needed to get to the bottom of this. There were millions of questions whirling in my head, and I meant for each and every one of them to be fully answered.

* * *

Fifteen minutesor so had passed since I had left the hotel when I found myself outside Reiss’s building. I stood gazing at it, contemplating what to do next since the owner of the building’s parting words had been too hateful to even hope of an invitation upon seeing me again. It wasn’t as if it would literally stop me from going inside the building to confront him about what I had just uncovered, although I was more nervous at the thought of seeing him again after the torrid sex session less than forty-eight hours ago.

Locking my jaws, I held my breath as I pushed forward, striding with confidence as I entered the building even though I wasn’t looking my best. My hair was tied in a loose bun with my face clean of makeup other than a swipe of peach lip gloss. My white jeans and plain white blouse matched the colorless theme. With my pink-tinged cheeks from suppressed anger towards Ashton and my father, I hurried towards the bank of elevators, hoping I could get past his military-style secretary. The woman’s steel-like personality petrified me a little, though I tried not to show it.

Getting into the elevator, I patiently waited until I reached the top floor. Once I did, the elevator had barely cracked open when the she-devil gave me a glare. Her desk was approximately six to seven meters from where I stood, but she didn’t have any qualms about greeting guests in such a cold manner.

“Sorry Miss, but Mr. Chambers gave strict orders not to let you pass.”

Strict Orders?Did he now? What a bloody wanker. “Well, can you tell your arse of a boss that this is bloody important? Oh, and while you’re at it, do warn him that I won’t be moving from this very spot until he sees me.”

I stood my ground, knowing this could very well be life and death for me. The comparison was quite extreme; however, my life was hanging in the balance, and I needed to know the truth. I deserved to know it … even if I was the main cause for why the situation had been initiated in the first place.

She raised her chin as she measured me up as an opponent before huffing her snobbish nose at me. She then raised her brow then spun around with her four-inch Prada pumps, striding towards the office of His Lord Almighty. The insipid fool had me blocked? The nerve! What made him so bloody sure I was going to come here and demand to see him? Arrogant arse.

Seething, I had ideas that ranged from scratching his eyes out to gripping his balls through my nails until they were black and blue. Inflicting physical harm had never been attractive to me, but right this instant, my thoughts lingered on some colorful ideas.

Tapping my foot on the shiny marbled flooring, I was impatiently waiting the she-devil’s return. If Reiss had more excuses to throw me out—hell, he could even go as far as bringing security in to escort me—I wouldn’t be going anywhere. I’d return every day and exhaust all of my resources to get to him. This was vital for my sanity—for my existence—.

The sudden sound of high heels clicking against the floor brought me back to my senses as I glanced towards the smug-looking secretary.

“Well? Is he going to see me or order security to kick me out?”

She didn’t stop until she reached her desk and then took a seat before giving me an insufferable expression. “You can wait for twenty minutes since he’s on a very important call, then you may see him in his office.”

Well, that went quite easy, didn’t it?

Releasing a breath, I made a curt nod, looking more dignified as I straightened out my top before murmuring, “Thank you. I shall take a seat whilst waiting.”

She barely gave me a nod of acknowledgement before resuming her work, carrying on as if I didn’t exist.

My attempt at occupying myself with reading materials with celebrity and lifestyle magazines didn’t do much to ebb the explosive feeling I had in my chest. I was wired with too much frustration from being lied to. It had built an emotional ball inside me, and I wouldn’t let up until I had all of this out of my chest.

Time went by at a snail’s pace as I waited for the minutes to hit the twentieth mark. And, when it finally did, I didn’t even wait for the ill begotten queen to notify me it was all right to move forward. I basically zoomed out of the receiving area and immediately headed straight to the other wing where Reiss’s office was located. My memory served fresh as I recalled my recent visit. It didn’t take me long until I reached his door, not bothering to knock as my hand gripped the handle and pushed the heavy, polished oak door open.

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