Chapter 251: Chapter 251

"Where did Shelby go, and why is Ian so concerned about that?" Ava asked herself as she headed towards the ladies’ room as quickly as she could.

"Ava, what you should be concerned about is how it is humanly possible that he talked to you like that!"

She whispered and then stopped suddenly.

"Yh, that was truly weird! Anyway, whatever the reason, it’s not like Ian would hurt me in any way. If Shelby is okay with him, then I should be okay. Shelby has never raised any concerns whatsoever, so yh... whatever!"

Ava was not one to dwell on things for long, especially stuff that she had little comprehension of. She saw no need to keep thinking about this, but she did keep a small thought to prompt herself to investigate about whatever that was.

It was not as if she could even ask Shelby why her husband was able to communicate with other people in that peculiar manner. Ava sped up and finally peeked into the washroom.

"Huh? Shelby? Where are you?"

She had expected to see Shelby’s familiar figure there, but there was no one in the room.

Ava entered and then walked up to the stalls, still calling out Shelby’s name. Ava knocked and opened all the stalls in the ladies’ room, but found that they were totally empty.

"She did say that she was coming here, right? Or did I forget anything?"

Ava frowned, honestly puzzled.

"Ah! Let me call her instead." She tapped her pockets for her phone to call Shelby, but realized that she did not have her phone.

"Wait! Where did I leave my phone this time?" Ava gave up the phone idea and then stepped out. She walked along a small corridor and back into the lobby.

"Hi, there... Did you see...."

Ava decided to use the old-fashioned method and asked around, and soon was able to re-trace Shelby’s steps from someone who had coincidentally seen them. Ava followed quickly, especially after learning that Shelby had left with two other women whose descriptions made Ava’s heart lurch.

’What would Shelby be doing with Brianna and Avril? This doesn’t make any sense!’

Ava stepped out of the offices and through the side door to where she had been told the older warehouses and wine distilleries were hosted.

It was already dark outside, and there was no one around. This made Ava feel a bit uneasy.

She only hesitated slightly before she quickly went back into the confines of the main building. Ava hurried back to the event room.

"Oh, where is everybody?"

"Ava dear, you’re back already? Where is Shelby... It seems like she’s been gone for a while."

Geneva had spotted Ava as soon as she had stepped back into the room.

Most of the executives had followed Ian’s team for the facility tour, but the wives and some of the older gentlemen had opted to stay back.

"Eeerrrrrmmm... Mum, I wanted to pass a message along to Currey. That’s why I came back."

Ava conveniently did not address the second part of Geneva’s question, and Geneva did not press on it. This was because Ava had no answers herself!

"You missed him." Geneva added, "Currey left right after Ian and the main group did."

Ava dashed out before Geneva could say anything. For some strange reason, Ava was also starting to feel apprehensive. Ava had never told Shelby of Brianna’s attempt to send some thugs after her; however, at that time, Ava was beginning to regret it. She believed strongly that if Shelby had known that fact, maybe she would have stayed away from Brianna.

Ava sometimes could not understand Shelby’s thinking. To Ava, the world was either black or white, and there were no grey areas in between. Ava judged this from a person’s intentions.

Brianna had been their friend for years. Initially, Ava had thought that the money and pampering were what had gone straight into Brianna’s mind for her to act the way she did. However, the fact that Brianna had made a move on Shelby’s husband right underneath their noses, in Shelby’s own home, and the fact that she had sent thugs to do whatever they wanted to her second friend, had placed Brianna on Ava’s permanent blacklist.

Nonetheless, Ava knew. She knew that there might be a remote possibility that Shelby might forgive Brianna even if Shelby had said otherwise. From the reports she had gotten from the people she had talked to, Ava was thinking along those lines. Ava thought so because she knew that Shelby had nothing to do with Brianna anymore, so if they were together, then all that Ava saw was danger! Especially since the second person was also untrustworthy.

’Maybe Shelby would have kept her guard down if I had told her about what Brianna was willing to do in order to get what she wants!’

Ava’s chaotic thoughts were a mess! She spotted Currey soon enough and rushed up to him. Ava was unsure why she was feeling apprehensive, but she wished her worries were unfounded.

"Currey! Assistant Currey!"

Currey halted and turned to see his mistress’s best friend practically running to him.

"How may I help you, Miss Ava?"

Ava was panting, but she froze, pointing to herself.

Currey maintained her gaze as if to say, ’Who else is here but you?’ He kept a courteous demeanour with Ava, knowing how much his mistress valued this friend of his.

"Oh, ok," Ava felt her cheeks get warm. ’It’ll take some getting used to how he addresses me.’

Then she shook her head, knowing perfectly well that there were other pressing matters at hand.

"So, it’s ...." Ava began.

Avril took out her phone and checked the message, "Did you give it to her?"

Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she typed in her response.

"Everything going as planned?"

"Ok, keep me posted!"

Avril turned to Brianna, "So, what next?"

"I’ll get back to my parents. I don’t care what happens to her. You even let her off too easily!"

Avril just smiled and looked back briefly at the massive doors that had been closed firmly behind them.

"Don’t worry! No one ever comes here, and I’ve already taken care of the CCTVs as well. No one would know if you don’t talk."

"I’m the best at keeping secrets, so don’t you worry because if you go down, it affects us both, and I’d like to keep my reputation."

"Well, let’s get back there together then."

The two people who had seemed like strangers a few minutes prior walked together harmoniously through some of the vines, then straight into the front entrance of the building this time.

Shelby shouted in the growing darkness. The outside of the place she was in did not have any lights, and it was at the very back of all the refinery houses.

According to what Avril had said, the place was rarely used, and she had wanted to use that to explain the wine-making processes informally to them. Avril had also told them that there were a few last batches of wines in fermentation processes, but after those were taken out, that particular structure may be torn down.

"Why did they leave me behind?"

Shelby asked herself as she walked up to the huge door and hit it hard.

"AVRIL!!!!! BRIANNANA!!!!"

The door was so large and thick that her hand hitting it made little sound. However, Shelby did not relent. She kept banging until she could no longer.

Suddenly, Shelby felt a little lightheaded, and another headache started to form. She rubbed her temples, trying to ease the tension.

"I don’t feel so good," Shelby whispered, trying to get in more air as her chest also started to get stuffy.

She took one step back and felt her world tilt. The symptoms of whatever was going on were too much for her, especially as there was no air inlet into the place. Shelby opened her eyes tiredly because she also felt so sleepy, but her heart rate seemed to have sped up.

"All the windows are closed. Why would they leave me here?"

Shelby turned to the side and retched heavily, emptying the contents of her stomach.

"Ian? Can you hear me?" She tried to mind-link him.

Even though Shelby had only been there for a few minutes, she noticed that something was seriously wrong, but she could not see or find the cause for that.

Her whole body felt weak. Shelby leaned against the large door for support, thumping it weakly, "Help me!"

Her voice came out in just a whisper. She tapped around for her purse, but her hands felt like lead. It was as if they did not belong to her at all. Finally, Shelby brought out her phone.

’Oh no!’ She thought, as that was the signal for a low battery.

Shelby summoned all the strength she could, but as she was about to dial a number, her phone buzzed.

Shelby’s relief was immense. Without checking who it was, she slid her hands across the green slider with difficulty.

"You ungrateful child!"

Shelby’s strength was all but zapped away.

"Mu-m, pl-ease, help!" Shelby’s voice did not sound like hers. It was weak and very raspy.

"Why did I even give birth to you? You had this dinner or wine-tasting or whatever with all the important people around, and you did not think of letting me know?"

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