Chapter 38: The Real Date

Avery laughed, a fake laugh that was so obvious to Carson. “Do I have to always say yes to you? Just because we are in this fake relationship, you can just ask me everything you want?”

His grip on her loosened, “Is this about yesterday? About me saying you’re my happiness? You were scared that I would fall for you?” Her face softened because of what he said. When she didn’t reply, he nodded as if he took it as her response.

He moved away but it was obvious that he was hurt. “Don’t worry, Avery. I won’t force you to stay with me if you didn’t want to. I can tell my father to stop the whole thing.” Avery looked down, she was debating the right words to say even if her heart already knew what it was.

He was about to leave when she spoke, “Carson. It’s not about that. Everything’s just overwhelming for me. I didn’t expect that things would end up like this.” She was surprised that she was telling the truth. She was telling him her real feelings. It felt scary but somehow the burden was lifted.

Carson smiled and moved closer to her. He cupped her face. His expression was full of love and it was the first time she saw it from someone other than her mother. “I’m sorry. We can stay away from the press if they are making you uncomfortable.”

She took a deep breath and leaned to his hand. His touch was gentle and warm. It felt like home and for a couple of minutes, she wanted to savor this feeling that she missed ever since her mom was gone.

When Carson let go, she knew that she had to follow her plan. Despite his comforting touch and words, she couldn’t throw her plan away. As Avery started working, she began thinking of other plans she could do to get out of Carson’s life without hurting him. Or at least make the pain bearable.

That lunch time, Avery decided to eat somewhere a bit far from the office. She wanted to clear her thoughts and set her game straight. She decided to eat in a restaurant that was an hour away from Lee Technology. It was a restaurant she found while she was dating one of her targets before.

The restaurant wasn’t popular which made it the perfect spot for Avery. She wanted to escape the press and just enjoy her meal. The place was small and it was Asian themed. The moment she entered the restaurant, she smelled noodles and herbs.

She decided to sit by the corner and ordered the restaurant’s best-seller. She was scrolling on her phone while waiting for her order to arrive when someone decided to sit in front of her. Avery was starting to think that maybe she should remove the excess seat to prevent people from sitting with her.

Avery looked up and paused to see Ran. “Hello, Avery.”

“What do you want?”

Ran laughed, “Is that how you greet your potential targets just because you have a new one?”

Avery sighed and looked back at her phone. “I am not interested in anything related to you.” Ran nodded and took a deep breath. “Well, congratulations on being Carson’s new girl. I am forever amazed at your skills. But I also know that someone is digging your dirt.”

She looked up to him, making him smile. “Don’t worry, Avery. It’s not like I will side up with the wrong person. But I just want to warn you though, if you keep this up with Carson, everything you worked hard for might be thrown away. You got yourself a powerful enemy.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Ran. We both know I won’t lose anything.”

He nodded, “Yeah. You can always go back to me when Carson throws you away. Just give me a call when things get rocky.”

He didn’t wait for her response and left. Avery looked down. Ji was really finding everything about her past. While that wouldn’t normally matter, she knew that if Carson knew the truth, he wouldn’t handle it well. When the time comes, she didn’t want to see him.

When she came back to the office, Carson wasn’t there. She was able to breathe well. For now, her plan was to find a new target and leave Carson. But doing that wouldn’t be easy if there were a lot of news reports about her and the Lee family.

She sat on her seat and started searching for potential targets. The earlier she leaves, the better. Or she could just disappear for a year and come back later on.

She was busy working when she receives a message from Carson. “I left a folder on my desk and I need to give it to one of our clients tonight. Can you bring it to me?”

Avery headed to his table and saw a folder there. She found it weird that he would ask her to do something like this but it was part of her job anyway. She got the folder and head out to the location he gave her.

The cab took her to an expensive hotel. Avery headed inside, where as usual, the people around looked at her. She head upstairs where the room was. When she knocked on the door, it took him a couple of minutes to answer it.

He smiled widely upon seeing her, making her feel weird about the whole situation. She handed the folder, “Here”
Instead of getting the folder, he pulled her closer inside. Her eyes widen at the sudden act. The room was filled with rose petals and candles.

“What’s happening?” She asks as she looked around the room. He chuckles, “You won’t come if I ask you directly and you didn’t want people to see us so I set up a date where there will only be the two of us.”
She turns to him, “date?”

He nods as he takes her into the middle of the room. There was a table with delicious meals. “Yes, Avery. I am taking you on a real date.”