There were far too many documents for her to finish reading in Hutchinson's house, so she packed them up and brought them home."Avery, Ben is asking us out for dinner," said Elliot coming back from his phone call. "I will reject him if you are too tired.""Is Lilith coming?" Avery was feeling slightly tired but she was willing to go out if she could see Lilith.Elliot immediately asked Ben through the phone, "Is Lilith coming?""She's not done with work yet! She usually comes home at around nine or ten at night. Are you two not coming out to eat if she isn't there?" Ben asked. "You can still come if Avery doesn't want to! We haven't seen each other for so long, do you not miss me?"Elliot felt goosebumps all over his body. "Just come over to where we stay and I'll consider treating you to dinner somewhere nearby.""Do you know it's an hour's drive from where I stay?!" Ben exclaimed. "I am injured!""Hasn't that small wound on your face recovered? I thought you said that it's no

Elliot took his phone back. "I haven't told Avery this yet. I figure I can wait for a while.""Wait for what, exactly?" Ben was already slightly drunk, but he had completely sobered up."For the baby to grow and see if her looks would change," Elliot said. "Why would my child with Ruby look like Layla?""Yeah! I am confused about that as well! Anyone who has eyes would be able to tell how much Layla resembles Avery. Your daughter with Ruby Gould might look like you, or like Ruby, but she couldn't possibly look like Avery!" Ben could not help but slam his palm against the table."Don't tell Avery about this, or anyone else for that matter," Elliot reminded him. "I promised Avery that I would never go to Ylore or contact Ruby again. If I am to keep that promise, I shouldn't even mention Ruby or that child."The more he drank the more awake Elliot felt. Every time he thought of how much that child resembled Layla, his heart felt heavy."Relax, I will keep my mouth shut." Ben set the

"What kind of nightmare?" Elliot kept his hand on the jacket."It's a weird dream so I don't dare to talk about it," she scowled."It's just a dream. It's not real." He hesitated and said, "Was it about what happened in Ylore?"She nodded, before shaking her head. "I dreamt about Jed. I used to be quite close with him. Though we hadn't contacted one another for a few years, I felt the same when I saw him again; but in my dream just now, he was the villain.""The villain? What did he do in your dream?""He tried to stop us from being together. In that dream, he was on Ruby's side." Her blood ran cold as she spoke, "That's not Jed. He would never side with Ruby! He is my friend, and if he—""Calm down, Avery. Dreams are not real. He was not a bad person; if he was, he wouldn't have been killed." Elliot helped her back to the bed. "What do you feel like eating? I'll go buy it for you.""I said I don't want you to.""I don't want you to starve." He looked at her sternly. "I have ju

"Elliot, what are you thinking about?" She walked toward him and planted a kiss on his cheek, before continuing in a hoarse voice, "It seems like you are unhappy."Elliot beamed and smiled at the kiss."The snow outside reminds me of a lot of things." He turned back to look outside the window. "The snow remains the same but we aren't who we used to be.""What do you mean?" She scowled as she could not figure out what he was thinking."We will grow old someday, but the snow will always look the same," he explained. "I get emotional every year during birthdays and New Year's.""Hahaha! I'm not your age yet so during birthdays and New Year's, I will only be happy, and I won't think about these kinds of things." She pulled him out of bed and said, "I made breakfast. It doesn't taste that good, though. Do overlook it.""What did you make?" he asked."I fried two eggs and made some pasta." She shrugged. "There aren't any other ingredients at home. The weather is too harsh to get food

Did she add you on social media?" Avery asked. "No," Elliot replied without any hesitation. The second time Ruby went looking for him was through text messages. She did not add him on social media. "If she does add you on social media, you should know what to do, right?" Avery reminded him. "Ignore her." Elliot gave her the answer she wanted to hear. At the same time, he asked, "How does it taste?" "I'm not exaggerating, but your skills are as good as a great chef." Avery had a few bites and gave him her raving reviews. "You must have not eaten much at the Hutchinsons." Elliot had eaten dinner. He knew where his standard of cooking was. His cooking could barely be compared to a professional chef. It was at most slightly better than hers. "No. I came home full." Avery took a bite of food. "Although I'm a little biased, you really did well. At least this is qualified home food." Elliot was silent for a while before asking, "Do you want to get a checkup? I think that Jed d