Chapter 41: You can’t win from me.
Ava sat in silence, her mind reeling from the revelation. Dylan had acted quickly to punish those women who attacked her, something she never would have expected from him. It was hard to reconcile this protective side of him with the man she had known before—distant, neglectful, and indifferent to her suffering.
’Is he really changing?’ she thought.
Her mind flashed back to what Justin had said earlier. Her chest tightened with regret. Instead of thanking Dylan, she had lashed out at him.
Her gaze drifted to the untouched soup bowl on the table beside her bed. Justin’s words, ’He hasn’t eaten anything all day, but he made sure you didn’t starve,’ echoed in her mind. Slowly, the anger she had felt toward him began to dissolve, and her heart softened.
"Ava! Are you still there?" Ethan asked when he didn’t hear anything from her.
"Yeah – uh...I-I’ll call later." She ended the call, putting the phone aside. With a sense of nostalgia and regret, she took the bowl and drank the soup, which was now cold.
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Gianna tugged at Dylan’s arm and pouted in disappointment. "I have been waiting for you all day, but you didn’t come. I was all alone. Erica also didn’t come to see me. Have you all forgotten about me?" She whined exaggeratedly, like a child seeking attention.
Dylan grimaced at the mention of Erica. He pulled his arm free, turning away slightly. "Didn’t Erica call you?" he asked as he couldn’t believe Erica hadn’t called Gianna before leaving the country.