Chapter 20
“You’re finally here, Avery. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” Damien said as he pulled Avery into
his embrace.
Avery swiftly freed herself from him before handing him the gift box she had prepared beforehand.
Damien was momentarily stunned. “What’s this?” he asked.
“A present for you,” she answered calmly.
Damien’s eyes brightened. “You’re not angry at me anymore?”
“Open the present first. Take a look and let me know if you like it or not.”
“I have a present for you, too, Avery,” Damien said, smiling widely.
He then pulled a ring box out of his blazer pocket and handed it to her.
Avery didn’t accept the box from him. Instead, she gestured for him to open her gift for him again.
The reporters had surrounded them, pointing their cameras at them.
“It looks like both Mr. and Mrs. Whitlow have prepared presents for each other. How thoughtful of them!”
“It’s obvious that Mr. Whitlow’s gift is a ring, but we don’t know what sort of present Mrs. Whitlow has prepared for him.”
“Hurry and open the present, Mr. Whitlow! Please satisfy our curiosity!”
Damien’s own curiosity was piqued upon hearing the reporters’ words. He couldn’t help but think about the many surprises that Avery had prepared for him over the past five years. He opened the gift box, only to lay eyes on a divorce certificate.
His eyes were widened to the size of saucers as he turned his disbelieving gaze on Avery. “What is this?”
“Don’t you know how to read?” she asked with a condescending smile.
Realizing that something was amiss, the reporters immediately began to snap photos.
Damien assumed that Avery was just playing a prank on him, but he was left in a daze when he took a good look at the certificate and realized that their names were printed on it.
Meanwhile, Eldon and Serena had walked over to see what the fuss was about. Having no clue about what had just transpired in the last few seconds, Eldon was all smiles as he spoke to Damien. “What did Avery give you? Show me.”
Snapping back to his senses, Damien hastily snapped the gift box shut. “It’s nothing.”
No matter whether the divorce certificate was genuine or fake, he couldn’t afford to let Eldon see it. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he did.
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However, it was obvious that Eldon didn’t believe him. He turned to look at Avery, asking, “What did you give him? Can you tell me?”
“Avery!” Damien exclaimed, forcefully suppressing the fear gripping his heart. “If there’s anything you’d like to discuss with me, can’t it wait until after the banquet is over?” he asked.
Serena realized that something was amiss when she heard Damien’s words. There must be something strange about Avery’s gift. She guessed that it could be divorce papers or something similar.
She grew excited as she considered the possibilities. She snatched the gift box out of Damien’s hands when he wasn’t paying attention and pulled out the divorce certificate, gasping in surprise when she
realized what it was.
“Mr. Whitlow Senior, Avery and Damien are divorced!” she exclaimed, elated.
Her words stunned Eldon, and he wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. “What did you say?”
Avery suddenly spoke up. “Damien and I are divorced, Eldon.”
“She’s just joking with you, Grandpa!” Damien cut in hurriedly. “Our relationship is totally fine. There’s no way we’d get a divorce.”
He then lowered his voice and whispered into Avery’s ear, “No matter how angry you are, you shouldn’t joke around about something like divorce-”
“I’m not joking,” Avery interrupted coldly. “The divorce certificate is real.”
Damien stared at her in disbelief. His voice was hoarse when he asked, “You’re divorcing me just because
I asked you to donate blood to Serena?”
Avery scoffed. “I know everything, Damien. You can drop the act.”
Damien’s breath got stuck in his throat. “What do you know?”
“I know that you didn’t want to marry me. The person you love is actually Serena,” Avery answered mockingly.
“I also know that you’re the one who drugged me five years ago. To help Serena torture me, you created a fake report that claimed that I was infertile after we got married to force me to undergo IVF 99 times. You
even got me pregnant with someone else’s child!”
A deathly silence fell over the hall following Avery’s outburst.
