"Welcome to Villa de Sierra, Miss Tate." The staff member handed over an entry pass to Avery, then said, "You may only enter and exit the villa with this pass. Please keep it on you at all times."Avery took the pass. Dragging her suitcase, she entered the modern villa that thrummed with the grandeur of modern technology. When she stepped into the foyer, she suddenly noticed that the villa was much more spacious than it looked from the outside.She felt like she had walked into a majestic maze.She pulled out her phone and found the course schedule that the vice president had sent her. She dragged her suitcase and began to search for the multipurpose training hall.Soon, she arrived at the hall's entrance, knocked on the door, then walked in.There were about twenty to thirty men and women seated in the hall.After Avery entered the hall, everyone's eyes turned toward her at the same time.Her cheeks suddenly flushed. Just as she was about to apologize for being late, she hear

"Can you not try and give me a bad name, Elliot?" Avery was trying her best to remain clear-headed and not get dragged into Elliot's tempo. "If I really wanted to chase you a thousand miles away, I wouldn't have let you come to the birthday party yesterday."Elliot pursed his lips. He wanted to say something but ended up keeping it to himself."I'll take you to your room to get some rest." He picked up her suitcase and walked toward the door."You know my room number?" Avery watched as he led the way, then said, "Did you really bribe my vice president? Where do you find all your courage, Elliot?"Elliot stood waiting at the doorway for her, then said, "It's now what you think. Your vice president asked me for help at the hotel yesterday. His son really is sick. He wanted to get a refund on the enrollment fees, but the organizers didn't allow it, so I helped him out with that. When I asked him to ask you to come here, he refused at first, but he changed his mind after seeing how wel

The doorbell to Avery's room rang a while later.Avery heard it, but she did not feel like opening the door nor did she want to know who was on the other side.She felt hollow. It was as if she was floating on the surface of a body of water but could not drown no matter how much she wanted to.She wondered for a moment why she felt this hopeless. She wondered if she still harbored delusions about Elliot. Despite all the times he had lied to her, she had never really learned her lesson.Otherwise, she could have immediately left after he revealed his plan.The doorbell continued to ring and it gave Avery a splitting headache.She had a feeling that whoever was ringing the doorbell would not cease until she opened the door.She held onto the edge of the bed for support, got to her feet, then dragged herself toward the door.When she opened the door, a tall, familiar silhouette appeared before her.The moment Avery saw Elliot, she took a step back on reflex."Avery! You got it

"Mr. Foster asked me to take you to the airport." Once the elevator doors opened, the bodyguard entered with Avery."I don't need you to take me there!""What are you raising your voice at me for?" snapped the bodyguard. "I'm just following my boss's orders and doing my job!"As Avery looked at the dark expression on the bodyguard's face, she swallowed the words she wanted to say before they could escape her lips.This entire thing was strange and absurd. She had a hunch that something was not right."Did he say anything else when he told you to take me to the airport?" she asked softly."First, wipe those tears away. Your crying is frustrating me."Avery lifted her hand to wipe the tears off her face. "Is he being threatened?""I don't know. He just told me to take you to the airport as soon as possible."Avery remained silent."From what I know about my boss, I'm guessing this place is most likely not safe anymore. He fought with you to protect you and get you to leave."T

"I'm safe, Avery." Elliot's deep voice came through the phone. "About this morning—""Let's talk when we meet." Avery's voice was trembling uncontrollably. "It's a good thing you're alright. You almost scared me to death, Elliot."Elliot heard the hurt in her voice and said, "Everything's alright now. I'm coming to see you now."After the call ended, Avery lifted her hand and wiped her tears away.The bodyguard wanted to console her and calm her down, but ended up saying, "Mr. Foster isn't dead! I hate seeing women cry and whine."Avery looked up at him with teary eyes and asked, "Why weren't you worried that something would happen to him? You seemed really composed the entire time."The bodyguard chuckled bitterly and said, "This was nothing. There've been countless assassination attempts on Mr. Foster, and many of them were far more dangerous than this. Since you've decided to stay with him, then you'd better prepare yourself for assassination attempts, too."Avery was taken a