CHAPTER 124: SECOND CHANCES

Damien was driving back to the Ashford mansion after work. The road ahead stretched into darkness, flanked by skeletal trees and the kind of silence only emptiness could breed, no headlights, no voices, just the quiet before a storm.

His phone started ringing. Seeing ’Clara Reeve’ on the screen, he answered casually, perhaps hoping Scarlett would agree to work for him against Aveline.

[Director Ashford...] Her voice was soft, stripped of its usual spark.

Damien waited for her to continue, but she stayed quiet longer than necessary. "What’s up, Reeve?"

[It’s over. We’re caught. I...I lost my license.]

Damien whirled the wheel aside to park the car and demanded, "What are you talking about?"

There was a long sigh over the call. [Before we wiped the evidence, Scarlett Fournier got her hands on the original records. Someone was keeping an eye on me, maybe you too. Prestige Associates was seized today. Lost its license, too. Everyone involved is caught. You’re next.]

Damien: "..."

His mind went blank. For a beat, he couldn’t hear the engine’s hum or feel the leather steering wheel in his grip.

Clara continued after a pause. [Prepare a backup for yourself.] Then the call ended.

Cold beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He wasn’t directly involved with any forgery or falsification. He could still get out of it, couldn’t he?

The firm was closing right after the acquisition? He could already imagine the shareholders going berserk.

And worse, if the media got wind of this, the Ashford name wouldn’t just take a hit, it would collapse. The board would vote him out before sunrise. His empire, his pride, everything he’d built with hard work and manipulation was crumbling like sand under a storm.

Was this what powerlessness felt like? The thought alone made his chest tighten.

Just as he gathered himself to find a way out, his eyes were blinded by headlights.

’Screech.’

A car came to an abrupt halt in front of him. When the headlights turned off, his eyes didn’t light up, but widened when he identified Aveline’s car. He saw her get out, her expression carrying an anger he had never seen.

He unconsciously got out of his car and faced her, not noticing a person getting out from the passenger seat.

"Nina..." It flowed smoothly from his lips.

’Pak.’ Aveline struck him right across the face.

Damien’s head was thrown aside by the impact. Faint redness began appearing on his cheek.

The silence that followed was eerily chill.

Disbelief and fury coated his nerves. He said through his teeth, "Aveline Laurent..." He took a step and grabbed her by the hair.

Aveline gritted her teeth. She kneed him between the legs without mercy.

Damien growled in pain as he clutched his groin.

Then she raised her leg and kicked him in the face.

Damien fell to the ground with another groan of pain, his hands pressed between his legs while his face turned bright red.

Aveline had wanted to keep it clean and disappear from his sight. But she was barely holding on after learning he’d risked Scarlett’s entire career and life just to get to her.

Aveline ruffled her hair, still feeling the prickly sensation at her roots. Honestly, she’d been terrified for a moment, but her body had reacted on its own to protect herself. And it felt good after venting and watching him lying on the road, bearing the pain.

Scarlett, who had run over at the sight of Damien grabbing Aveline’s hair, began kicking and stepping on him. "You bastard, how dare you touch Linnie? We haven’t even started listing your crimes, and a slap hurts your pride? Then be ready, my brother and boyfriend are ready to tear you apart, piece by piece."

Aveline didn’t stop Scarlett. She knew how her friend had spent a whole week at Prestige.

Instead of giving in to the pressure, Scarlet had stood strong, trusting her brother and protecting Aveline from Damien. She needed to vent, too.

After a few seconds, Scarlett turned around and sighed, "Linnie, you should stop me. You don’t like violence, remember? What if I end up killing him?"

Aveline: "..."

She still didn’t like violence, but today, her heart was stone.

Scarlett shrugged and kicked Damien again. She distracted herself before she accidentally spilled that Aveline had planned Damien’s downfall and knew about the affair.

Damien clenched his teeth. The kicks were just scratches on the surface. The pain between his legs was unbearable. He looked at the two slender women. Just a slap or a punch should be enough to take them down. How dare they attack him?

"Aveline Laurent, you’ll pay for this," he said through his teeth.

Aveline narrowed her eyes at Damien. "Damien Ashford, after what you did to Scarlett, it’s clear you never loved me. So tell me, did you ask the housekeeper to poison me?"

Damien just gritted his teeth, glaring at Aveline. He wasn’t an idiot, he wouldn’t provoke her now. So he stayed quiet.

Meanwhile, Scarlett got into Damien’s car, grabbed his mobile and car keys. She threw the keys into the darkness and smashed the mobile on the road while he was busy glaring at Aveline.

Aveline didn’t look away from Damien. Rather, her voice dropped to cold steel, "Red, help me meet Walter. Looks like I need to reopen the case while he deals with interrogation tomorrow."

Scarlett stood beside Aveline and snorted, "He should forget the world while rotting in prison."

A bike came to a halt between the cars. Nate opened his helmet and breathed a sigh of relief that the ladies were safe. "Didn’t I tell you girls? It’s not safe." Then he instructed, stern and unyielding, "Get back to your car."

Aveline walked back to her car, grabbed her bag, returned to Damien, and threw it at him. "Compensation for the damage caused."

Scarlett kissed her boyfriend before getting in the car with Aveline. "Bye, bye..." She hollered in happiness, knowing they were stranding Damien in the middle of nowhere without car keys or a mobile. The deserted road had few vehicles after ten, the city was far, and Ashford mansion was even further away.

"Feeling good?" Aveline asked, glancing at the grinning Scarlett.

"Yeah, we take a back seat and watch these men take care of Damien," Scarlett said in relief.

Then she sat up straight, "Linnie, now I’m jobless. I’ll help you with Grace and Bloom until I get a new one."

Aveline didn’t refuse. "Then..." She trailed off, thinking about what Scarlett could do for her, "Help me find the first client." The two brands had met with her, but they were planning to use her to get her father to attend their event. So she’d declined them.

"Okay..." Scarlett agreed excitedly and began talking about it instantly.

Aveline just smiled. She was happy to meet and go out with Scarlett like before, without worrying that Damien was going to hurt her anymore.

However, her smile slowly cracked. She had suffered before her regression; she just hoped this happiness wouldn’t be jinxed.

Though she was trying to be her past self, it still felt foreign. Whenever she had to make a major decision, it always worried her, was she making the right one? Not the wrong one like marrying Damien.

Aveline stopped in front of a building and took Scarlett upstairs to the 19th floor. She leaned against the door frame as Scarlett ran around the huge flat, taking in the night view of Velmora.

After checking out the unfurnished flat, Scarlett stood in front of Aveline, "Did you buy this place?"

Aveline smiled, looking at Scarlett, so bright and energetic. This was the day Scarlett had gotten into an accident before her regression. She hoped they had overcome that misfortune.

"Rented it," she responded and asked seriously, "Would you like to be my roommate?"

For a moment, Scarlett’s eyes lit up, but then they dimmed. She looked away from Aveline and shrugged, "I could come and hang out with you."

She couldn’t afford to share the rent. Though she knew Aveline would never mention expenses, she didn’t want to live for free.

Aveline grabbed Scarlett’s jacket and pulled her closer. "I won’t let you live here for free. You should cook for me. And feed me well."

It was tempting, but still, Scarlett didn’t want to take advantage of her friend. She turned around and challenged, "What will you do when you hear carnal noises from my bedroom?" She made it sound scary.

Aveline: "..."

She had forgotten that part. Nate often stayed with Scarlett. "Err... I’ll make your room soundproof."

Scarlett chuckled but shook her head anyway, "I’ll come whenever I need you, when you need me."

Aveline could only sigh and nod, not wanting to pressure her. "I’ll get you a spare key once I change the locks. Come here to rest or whenever you’re around."

"Of course, this will be my second home." Scarlett hugged her friend and giggled.

Then her voice softened, "You’ve got a second shot at life now, Linnie. Don’t live it pleasing anybody who says it’s the right thing. Do what feels right to you. No more guilt, no more cages."

Aveline blinked. If only she could tell her friend she truly had gotten a second chance at life. She didn’t answer. She only hugged her tighter.