Chapter 673 Avery's Unending Hatred for Isadora 1
It was noon in Evergreen City, and the most charming restaurant in town was bathed in warm light.
Avery sat by the window, sunlight slanting through the glass and spilling across his shoulders. The golden glow sharpened the lines of his face, making his already striking features impossible to ignore.
This lunch was a blind date Amelia had arranged for him. The woman, he had been told, was in business.
Avery had never liked career-driven women. Maybe it was because of the shadow Isadora had left on him years ago.
They had slept together, shared moments that should have meant something. But when he asked Isadora if she wanted to be with him, she had shot him down without hesitation. Later, he learned her heart belonged to someone else—a man who had rejected her in favor of her younger sister.
The memory soured his mood.
A slender figure stepped into the path of the sunlight. Avery knew his date had arrived. He looked up—and froze. His jaw tightened, teeth grinding.
"Isadora."
She had the audacity to show up. After everything, she dared to come here and meet him like this.
She had toyed with him more than once. Even the last time he asked her if she had ever developed feelings for him, if sleeping together had meant anything to her, she had answered with a cold no. She never denied liking Jacob.
Of course she hadn't. Her heart had always been elsewhere.
But Jacob was now her brother-in-law, forever out of reach.
Avery was stunned. Isadora looked just as shocked.
She clearly hadn't expected her lunch date to be Avery.
After a brief hesitation, she sat across from him and offered a faint smile. "Since we're here, we might as well have lunch."
Avery leaned back in his chair, his gaze cool. "How rare. What is it this time? Money trouble again? Trying to get rich by clinging to another man?"
His words dripped with contempt. Normally, Isadora would have snapped back, but today she simply lowered her eyes. "I didn't know it was you."
"And if you had?" Avery pressed.
She looked at him, silent.
He wasn't letting her off that easily. His voice hardened, carrying a sharp edge. "If you had known, you wouldn't have come, right? So who would you have shown up for instead?"
"Jacob?" Avery's lips curled into a bitter smile. "Too bad he's your dear brother-in-law now. That ship has sailed."
His words were cruel, but only he knew how much jealousy lay beneath them.
Yes, he was jealous of Jacob.
But it was a hollow, powerless kind of jealousy— the kind that gnawed at you for no reason.
Jacob had never cared for Isadora, had never even noticed the way she looked at him. They had always been like two trains running on separate tracks, never destined to cross.
Isadora was no pushover, but his words left a bitter taste in her mouth. She saw no reason to continue this lunch.
She stood, her voice flat, "I think I'll go."
The next moment, his fingers wrapped around hers, firm and unyielding.
She lifted her gaze to meet his, and the shadow in his eyes felt like it could choke the air from her lungs. For the briefest heartbeat, she thought she saw something raw and venomous.
Yes. He hated her.
But who was she meant to hate in return? The accident of her birth? The chains of her circumstances? Or the love she had once clung to so desperately, each step dragging her to this very place?
She gave a small, bitter smile. "Avery, let's just end this."
He didn't let go.
Instead, his grip shifted to her wrist, firm and unyielding, pulling her back into her seat.
Where his fingers pressed against her skin, a shiver ran through her.
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