When the thought of the bills she would pay for the cancelled wedding failed to keep her calm, Avery thoughts began to stray in a direction she wanted to avoid.
"The accident couldn't be a planned one. No one would dare to," she muttered beneath her breath. However, the suspicions continued to grow the more she tried to suppress it. Her grandfather's words from the last time she met him kept echoing in her ears,
"I won't stop you from doing as you wish, Avery! But your cards and bank account will be frozen from now on until you come back to your senses. Keep it in mind that I will do whatever it takes to call off that sham of a wedding!"
Avery shook her head vigorously to get the voice out of her head. She trusted him. He might have frozen her cards and bank account just as he promised, but he was still the man who singlehandedly raised her together with her brother and sister. He was still her beloved grandfather.
She tried thinking of her most recent happy memories to keep herself occupied. Any memory with Brian in it was immediately expelled from her mind as it would only make her more nervous and paranoid. That left her to think about the McCallum family.
There was her older brother, Arthur, who had relinquished his status as heir of the McCallum Group to her just a few months ago. A smile curved Avery's lips as the events of their meeting that day played through her mind.
"Why don't you take my position, Avery? You will be getting married soon and I don't want those damned Walkers to look down on you," he had proposed without the slightest bit of humor in his voice.
"And who told you I will be looked down on in that family? I am already a president of our group here and it's not like my position is ordinary." she had argued, teasing him thereafter. "Besides, don't you need to flaunt your status as an heir to attract ladies?" Avery could vividly remember how she had laughed then, almost teary eyed at how doting he was.
Arthur was completely serious when he promised, "Who cares about those ladies as long as my little sister is satisfied? If you promise you won't abandon me halfway, I will gladly grant you my shares before the next shareholders meeting so you can have enough power."
She remembered the glint of excitement in his eyes when he turned to their sister and continued, "Emma, you also have something to say to Avery, don't you?"
"Of course, I do. I can't let you score more points with my baby sister by giving her your shares alone. I am also giving you mine, Avery."
Shocked was an understatement compared to what Avery had felt at that moment.
"Not you too, Emma. Big brother has investments in other companies so I'm sure he won't starve even if I abandon him now but that is not the case for you. You need your shares," she had tried to refuse. But her efforts went null as Emma forced it upon her just as Arthur had done earlier.
"Seems like you forgot, Avery, but your big sister is one of the top models in this country. My star isn't waning anytime soon so rest assured that even if you lead the company to bankruptcy, I won't go hungry."
And that was how she became the heiress of the McCallum family even though she was the youngest of the direct descendants. Till this day, she still felt a sudden surge of emotions when she thought about those who had selflessly relinquished that position to her. It was why she was reluctant to associate this accident to any of them, even her grandfather.
Hearing the doors of the theatre slide open, she leapt to her feet and approached the team of doctors who were walking out. All five of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw her, probably shocked by her peculiar appearance. It wasn't common to see a woman wearing a wedding dress in the hospital.
"You are the patient's guardian?" one of them asked before she could introduce herself. The rest gave her curt nods before continuing on their way down the hallway.
"Yes, I am. Avery McCallum here," she gave a respectful bow and extended her hand for a shake.
"Doctor Brown," he responded, taking her hand. "The patient is back in a stable condition so you don't have to worry. He will be transported to the general ward when the assistant surgeon is done."
Avery frowned.
"The general ward? Isn't there a vacant VIP room?" she asked.
"Uh...there is one. But you would have to pay for that before he can be moved."
Avery shrugged nonchalantly, "No problem with that. Where am I to make payments?"
"Any of the nurses in their station will guide you. I will give instructions for the patient to be transported to the VIP room instead," the doctor responded. With one last respectful bow, he walked away from her towards the same direction his colleagues had left.
Pulling her gown up so she could move faster, it suddenly dawned on Avery that she was not wearing any footwear. She had discarded her stilettos since she took the wheels of the car and had totally forgotten about it since then. Not like she would have worn it even if she remembered earlier.
With slightly relieved heart, she sauntered down the hallway to the nurse's station where she settled the bills.
Her phone pinged with the credit notification and she sighed.
"There it goes, Brian. We are officially broke," she said within herself. The nurse in charge gave her directions to the VIP room where Brian had been taken to so she made her way there immediately, her steps quickening as she neared the door.
Without reading the name tag placed on the door, she pushed it open and stepped into the room. From the entrance, she could clearly see the face of the man lying in bed and that…
That was not Brian.