Female Novel"Hi" for some weird reason, I squeaked the word.
Coming face to face with Ava was like coming face to face with your secret crush. I was all of a sudden sweaty and nervous. Instead of answering, she pulled me into a tight hug. It was a warm hug. It felt like hugging a soft and fluffy teddy bear.
"It's nice to officially meet you, Harper. Welcome to the family" she whispered right before she stepped away.
Gabriel then led me to the out-door setup that had multiple foods on the table. He moved me so that I was sitting right beside him.
Did he get that I hated his proximity for a reason?
Within seconds, everyone was digging in.
"So, Harper, what do you do?" Gabriel's mom asked.
I swallowed, when everyone turned to look. I hated it when attention was focused on me.
"I'm an interior designer," I replied, while trying to maintain eye contact.
If there was one thing my mother taught me, it's that eye contact was important, especially when it came to people from our world. The rich and influential viewed avoiding eye contact as a sign of weakness. My mother instilled in us to never show that weakness, no matter what.
"That's just perfect," Ava added. "I've been dying to change things in a few of the Hope houses. Maybe you can help with that."
Lilly, ever the curious little thing, catches that quickly. "What are Hope houses?"
"They're homes my mom funded to help children who were less fortunate." Noah is the one that answers. "She's the founder of The Hope Foundation and those houses give the children she helps a place to call home."
Noah was smiling, and you could see just how proud he was of his mother. You could also see the love he had for her. It seemed that both father and son loved Ava unconditionally.
Lilly frowns, but then her face clears as if a light bulb just went on in her mind.
"I know about the Hope Foundation. It's one of the biggest children's foundations in the country. No one knew who the founder is for the longest time."
Everyone just stares at Lilly like she's an alien from space. I, on the other hand, was quite proud of my daughter's extensive knowledge.
"No wonder you looked so familiar," Lilly told Ava. "You're Ava Sharp, though you changed your last name. Your foundation is worth millions of dollars and you're the richest woman in the country and the six richest overall."
Damn she was good... That's the thing about Lilly, she takes in information like a sponge absorbs water. Anything to do with money, Lilly probably knows all about it.
"How do you know about all this, sweetheart?" Gabriel's dad asked after the shock wore off.
Lilly shrugged like it wasn't really a
big deal, and to her, it wasn't. "I know things.want to be a billionaire when + grow up and in order to achieve my dream, I need to study the rich and how they make money."
All eyes turned to me and I almost froze. The keyword being, almost.
"She loves numbers" I added, "Actually, anything to do with finance."
"And you encourage this?" my mother-in-law asked.
"Of course," I replied. "It's her dream, so why would I stand in her way? Anything I can do to support and help her with achieving them, I will do it in a heartbeat."
You could clearly see she was fighting back tears. "She's just like her daddy. Gabriel also used to obsess over numbers when he was younger."
"Mom", Gabriel complained, and for a moment I forgot that he was a grown-up man. It's like he was back to being a little boy.
Seeing him like this, so different from the cold man I was used to, was overwhelming to say the least.
Why couldn't he be like this when we were married? Why didn't he show me this side of him when we were together? Why now when I wanted nothing to do with him? Standing up, I excused myself. "Excuse me, I need to use the washroom."
His mother points me in the right direction and I basically flee.
When I get to the washrooms, I sigh in relief before leaning against the countertop, I didn't want to feel like this. I didn't want to feel the attraction between Gabriel and He already shattered me once. How can I risk it?
There was a knock on the door, causing me to scramble to blink back my unshed tears.
"A minute" I called out, trying to get myself together. Once I felt more like myself again, I walked to the door and opened it. To my surprise, Ava was standing against the wall. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You looked so overwhelmed back there."
"How did you forgive Rowan? How did you move past everything?" the question just slipped past my lips without me meaning to. "He was horrible to you, yet you are now together."
"You love Gabriel, don't you?" she asked softly, her eyes conveying understanding.Contents belong to NovelDrama.Org
I pulled my eyes from hers. “I used to, but it still hurts, sometimes."
She surprised me even more when she pulled my hand in hers and squeezed it.
"You and I are going to be really good friends, Harper, and just know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."
I was grateful for her offer of friendship, but I couldn't help but notice that she had not answered my question.