In the evening, Avery Jane sat in the garden.

The winter wind was already quite strong, but she just wanted to calm down here for a while. How could she stay composed and undetectable until everything was arranged, and only then leave without any worries?

These plans were already discreetly underway, very secretive and careful. Without any mistakes, she could soon disappear without a trace. Avery Jane’s lips curled into a faint smile. She would always gain her freedom; she was determined to leave.

"What are you thinking about?"

A man’s voice sounded lightly, startling Avery Jane. How did everyone in this household manage to appear so unpredictably?

Nanny Collins was like that, the bodyguards who appeared suddenly during the day were the same, and now when did he return, how did he appear unnoticed, he was already behind her without her even realizing.

Just how deep were this man’s thoughts?

Even now she was still guessing, but one thing she was sure of was, this man was very confident, extremely confident.

Perhaps it was a sense of superiority from childhood to adulthood, he seemed to believe everything was under his control, all the women were eager to get involved with him, and thus his confidence became his flaw, believing she didn’t dare to leave.

But on the contrary, she was definitely going to leave; her surrender was only temporary.

If not for Nora Thompson, perhaps none of this would be possible because he had seized what she couldn’t bear to let go of – Wenyard’s business and Wenyard’s mother – and held them tightly, thinking he had grasped her pulse. He underestimated the wisdom of women and her courage and determination to leave, especially after knowing Evelyn Yates was pregnant; she wanted to leave even more.

How dirty this man really was, it made her nauseous just thinking about it. From her soul to her body, she was a person with a cleanliness obsession, whereas his lifestyle was reckless to the extreme, she felt it was unbearably tragic.

A complex expression emerged on her face, although the changes were subtle, Joshua Hughes’ eagle-like sharp eyes captured each one.

His gaze was like X-ray vision, slowly scanning her entire body as if seeing through everything instantly. Such a look seemed to almost collapse the strong mental fortitude she had painstakingly built, precariously close to breaking.

"Nothing much."

Avery Jane didn’t dare to meet his eyes, as if looking one more time would reveal her inner thoughts.

His tall figure always loomed over her, like a huge dark cloud.

He was very tall, and though Wenyard was 1.8 meters, this man was at least over 1.85 meters, such height always gave her enough sense of pressure.

Avery Jane tried to calm her heartbeat and appear a bit more peaceful. Heaven knows how terrifying it was to plan an escape under this man’s nose. She truly admired those underground agents who infiltrated the enemy, but whenever she thought of fleeing, her heart pounded fiercely.

He seemed to see through her thoughts, casually saying, "Don’t keep thinking about deceiving me. Someday I won’t guess anymore, and you guess what I will do?"

Avery Jane’s eyes shrank; his words inexplicably made her feel scared.

"I will dig out your heart, engrave it with my name, then let a doctor put it back in, so every beat will remind you of me."

His tone was light, yet like a vow.

Yet it emanated a bloody scent, inexplicably causing Avery Jane to shiver, the wind in the garden roared louder, making a hooting sound, as if empathizing with her fear and pain.

Seeing the terror flash through her eyes, Joshua Hughes curled his lips, "As long as you behave, I will treat you well, whatever you want, I will give it to you, as long as you don’t leave."

Satisfied, he patted her head, as if comforting a pet.

"Join me in the hot spring..." He was a bit tired, his voice slightly hoarse.

Just dealing with those stubborn old folks today had consumed much of his mental energy.

Arthur Yates and a few old guys had tied up interests, which was utterly ridiculous.

His affair with Evelyn Yates hadn’t even begun, yet that old fox moved everywhere, promising various benefits just to pressure him to marry soon.

But he didn’t consider whose hands Hughes Clan was in. Even if those stubborn family elders were forcing him, they wouldn’t dare to press hard.

Who let them receive dividends every year enough to make people jealous, who was making money for the entire Hughes Clan, so under his insistence, they had to wait until the child was born.

But such struggle was truly exhausting.

"I’ll get you a towel." Avery Jane really couldn’t stand him always lingering in front of her, making her feel feverish.

Her fleeing figure was like a little rabbit scampering away in panic, afraid the predator chasing from behind might be ready to bite.

Was he really that frightening?

Joshua Hughes lightly mocked himself, his tall and muscular body immersed in the warm spring water.

He slightly closed his eyes, he liked this warm feeling, as if such warmth was something Avery Jane could also bring to him.

The man was really, really unbearable. She would never soak in the hot spring in the garden.

Since earlier in the morning when Nanny Collins clapped her hands and opened the door from the back garden, letting in a group of bodyguards, she felt as though she was going to collapse.

During the day, she actually didn’t dare to soak, but at night sometimes she would sneak a soak, especially on days when the temperature dropped incredibly low, a hot spring always gave her an extraordinary feeling, but she didn’t know a group of bodyguards lived behind the garden, it was truly terrifying, would she be seen completely naked?

Had anyone secretly watched her and Joshua Hughes in the garden?

Just thinking of this gave Avery Jane a feeling like she was going to cry.

Holding his robe, she walked down, thinking that she certainly had to keep a distance from him, so it wouldn’t be dangerous, but keeping too far might also provoke him, it was really difficult.

The clean and smooth stone pool, naturally formed in shape, like this spring was natural and not man-made.

She placed his robe on the smooth and clean stone, not daring to look at him, even if she didn’t look, she knew the warm water contained a vigorously strong man’s body.

"Come down..." His voice hoarse, as the light slowly dimmed, in such a serene garden, it sounded like something was pulling at one’s heartstrings, involuntarily quickening the pace at which it beat.