Boom!

There was a loud noise from behind. Avery turned back. Under the moonlight, the altar mountain that she could see vaguely had numerous. She didn't know the boom came from the mountain or the sky.

Avery held her chest and said in her mind, sorry, mom.

Andrew seemed to read her mind. He grabbed her hand so tightly.

"It's not your fault. Blame the president for being too hasty."

Avery's look was grey and lifeless. She couldn't stop crying. Her tears fell down on Andrew's hand back.

"When a man is crazy "for a woman, that's what he does. He doesn't think of consequence at all. It has nothing to do with a man's age."

Andrew meant Logan and himself.

Andrew put his head out of the window and up in the sky.

"It's raining. We have to be faster. After everything is finished, I'll come back with you if you beg."

"Nonsense!" Avery pushed his hands away. She took a tissue to wipe her tears.

Avery smiled languishing.

"I don't know. Maybe the one with you at last..."

"Drive the car. If you don't want to, I'll."

They could only hear the engine and the rain stroking against the windshields. It was raining and kept raining heavier. There was thunder and lightning.

Andrew drove to the suburban area. Soon they arrived at an unknown town. It was raining too heavy, and they had to find a place to stay in.

The phone received signals. The first thing Avery did was opening her phone. A message she saw at first.

Diana texted her the rendezvous point. She searched for the place. It was not the hotel but a giant playground.

It was scheduled at 2 in the afternoon the next day.

Avery guessed they could barely make it from their location with the fastest speed. But before then, she would hurry to find Evan at the castle.

She wanted to give him a surprise.

The weather was better compared with the storm the day before.

Avery couldn't ask Andrew to drive her to the playground. She asked him to drop her off at a mall. She watched him drive off, stopped a taxi, and got to the playground.

There were plenty of people. They were mostly families.

Avery stood at the gate. She looked around. The playground was the last place she thought Diana would choose. She assumed Diana would want to meet somewhere private like a coffee.

Avery felt her sleeve grabbed. A child with vanilla icecream pulled her sleeve.

"Miss, your locker number is 1007."

Avery bent over. The kid had ice cream all over his mouth. Avery was about to take tissue out from her pocket when he wiped it clean with the back of his hand."What locker?"

He pointed at the locker by the gate and ran off.

There are hundreds of lockers. 1007 was on the right corner.

Avery took out the card she was given by the clown and had it swiped by the machine. It opened.

One card lay in the locker. On it was a long line with numbers and letters. It looked like the car registration number.

It was hard to track the car down in a crowded place with cars.

Avery came to the open garage. A driver came out from a black Cayenne. Avery lowered to check the registration number. It was the car.

"Miss Peters," the driver lowered his head to greet Avery, "Diana asked me to pick you up."

"Why should I trust you?" Avery took half a step back.

"There is a code if you don't believe me," the driver nodded and lowered his voice, "Zuri Hotel's cherry."

"There are a dozen cherry trees," Avery had to give it to Diana for her prudence. Was this because Mr. Howel was watching her?

Avery got in without hesitation.

The car drove on. Avery didn't know where it was headed. But they were still downtown.

It stopped at a big museum after a while.

Museum?

"Miss Peters," a bodyguard opened the door for Avery.

This was a dinosaur museum. There aren't many visitors. Inside was various fossils, dinosaur eggs, and skeletons shielded by glass tanks.

Avery followed the bodyguard insider. The longer they walked, the fewer people they saw.

They kept walking until the last exhibition hall. On the glass door was a "not open to public" sign with bodyguards outside.

The bodyguard opened the door and closed it after Avery went through.

In the middle were a few display cabinets with some plant fossils from the Jurassic period.

In front of her was a figure with his back at Avery. The person seemed to look into the ancient legacy.

But it was not a woman but a man.

The man slowly turned back.

"I understand Miss Peters just came back from Cambola City. Thank you for taking the trouble to meet me this soon."

His face was full of wrinkles. It looked grimly with his half-smiling look.

He stood with a walking stick with a Howel emblem carved on the head.

It was Evan's grandfather, Mr. Howel.

"Why are you here? Where is Diana?"

"Do you want to meet her so much? Tell me, why do you want to meet her? Isn't she Evan's old flame? You won't jump at her at the sight of her, will you?"

"Only people with filthy thoughts think of things of the worst," she should have known it was Mr. Howel that kept in touch via email. She used to think of this possibility.

But she totally fell for it when she was given the card.

If Mr. Howel wanted to see her, he could just force her to come. He didn't need to be so prudent. So she really thought she was meeting Diana that day.

But she was outwitted. Mr. Howel didn't have to force her. He tricked her into coming here.

He even knew she just got back from. Cambola City. So he knew her schedule.

She couldn't help shivering.

"That's how you think of me? Fine. There's only the strong and the weak in my world. I never consider whether my methods are dirty or not."

"What do you want?"