Chapter 282: Chapter 282
Shelby furrowed her beautiful brows in the hospital room, still not quite believing her ears after Ava said that.
"Wait.... H-ow d-o you know this?" She could not afford to lose a friend if they came to be in the known Ian’s little world, but then something else occurred to her.
Shelby tilted her head slightly as Murray appeared right in the middle of the room, but the puzzling thing was that Ava did not flinch. It was like a daily occurrence to her.
"What is going on here?"
Shelby studied Ava’s face intently, searching for any clue. Her eyes widened, and her heart raced with looming fear. Thankfully, her monitors had been unhooked, which did not alert any other people in the room.
’Am I still in that dreamland?’
Shelby adjusted her hands and pinched herself as hard as she could. This was the only thing that calmed her down as a sigh of relief left her.
’I am really back here with them!’
"I-" Ava looked like she was struggling to say something, and then Murray stepped forward and went on one knee,
"I’m sorry, Milady," He bowed, "I was negligent of my duties; I-"
"OMG! Shelby! You didn’t tell me you were living a real-life fairy tale!"
Murray and Shelby exchanged surprised glances at Ava, each taken aback for different reasons, while Murray found himself at a loss for words. Suzie just shook her head and went about her minor tasks. Over the few days, Suzie had come to know this little fact, too, and she was more than used to Ava then. Besides, they had been partners in crime a while back when Brianna had ’misbehaved’.
Ava continued, almost gushing and as if she had not seen the reactions around her, "That night was soooooo exhilarating! .... and then Ian carried you in his arms... and then there was a flash of bright light, and he suddenly disappeared! Can you imagine?!! It was like I was watching my favourite TV show. My heart wanted to jump out of my chest .... And...."
Ava kept talking enthusiastically while Shelby struggled to piece together her statement, only managing a vague summary of Ava’s explanation.
Shelby turned to Murray for more explanation since that was what he had been about to do before Ava had interrupted.
"She knows!" Murray paused momentarily, then added, "Milady."
Shelby’s eyes opened really wide, and then she said, "Ava is trustworthy; there is no need to-"
"Of course! You have the final say in that, my Elfin,"
Ian strode in just about that time, and Ava scrambled out of the way. Ian walked directly to Shelby, sat next to her on the bed, causing the mattress to dip slightly under his weight.. He kissed her cheeks and pulled her close, taking care not to rouse the children.
"We did make a good choice with Murray as your personal guard because that was exactly what he also said about Ava."
"Really? Thanks, Murray."
"It’s my duty to know what my mistress wants!"
Shelby chuckled. The smiley face drew all those around into her. In the span of a few hours, her cheeks had grown very rosy, and she did not look like someone who had just awoken from a coma.
Ava raised her hand and placed it on her chest, "I will never betray your trust, Shelby! I take this knowledge to my grave!"
’Keep it from Rocky too.’ Ava found herself nodding to Ian’s voice, which appeared in her head. She showed no other signs on this to anyone. She was so used to Ian’s way of doing things that she did not even want to question how and why he had asked her to do that. The man had a way of knowing almost everything around them.
"Milady, if I may, this knowledge is too risky. We can still consider wiping Miss Ava’s memory-"
"Shelby, please, don’t do that. Brother-in-law? Please?" Before either Ian or Shelby could respond to that, Murray continued,
"Alternatively, I can add her to the training regime for Suzie-"
At her name, Suzie paused in her tasks and then sent a sympathetic gaze to Ava and then continued her tasks.
"She will need to be able to defend herself at a minimum so as not to drag us down," Murray concluded, still on his knees and never once making eye contact with his superiors.
Ava’s heart skipped a beat. She could detect that Murray was dead serious. She was getting that eerier Currey danger from his brother, and Ava did not like it, but she knew that her fate would be decided with the next words.
Ava had thought about what it meant for the people around Shelby to be able to do things that were not human-like, but she so wanted to still be a part of the world even though there might be an inherent danger, as Murray had pointed out.
Ava was unsure of what danger that was, but she was prepared to still be a part of it if it meant that she would still stay close to her friend, whom she considered a sister. Ava was also smart enough to realize that this may have been the sole reason that Shelby had become a little closed off from her.
It was only subtle, but it had been a very long while since the friend had that heart-to-heart talk, as Ava had rightly pointed out.
Frankly, Ava was unsure if she would have believed Shelby if she had just up and told her. Ava was somewhat glad that she had witnessed that herself. Still like previous thoughts, she was not overly surprised at the thought. Her best friend had been living with that out of the world phenomenon where men could not touch her so thinking hard about it, this result was really not that surprising.
"Before that," Ian started, interrupting Ava’s train of thought, "why did act on Elfin’s behalf earlier?"
Ava already knew that Ian referred to Shelby by that name, and even without Clarification, she knew what she was being asked.
"Shelby asked me to do that."
"I did?" Shelby asked, obviously very surprised,
Ian turned to Suzie, "... and you?"
Shelby straightened from them and then looked from one girl to the other. They did not seem to be lying, but how did she remember the case differently?
"Well, not really.... I mean, she did not really tell me to do that, but Miss wanted to ’smack those lies off Avril’s lips’.... So, I helped her do that."
".... But I never said that to you? I mean, I did think of doing that as she was irritating me-"
Ava turned to look at Suzie in surprise, "Me too! I just felt the overwhelming need to slap the nonsense out of her lips!"
"How?" Shelby asked, and then Murray replied,
"If I may, Milady, I think you formed some sort of a link with them."
"How?" Shelby frowned,
"We may need more time to understand what this is but that will be the only explanation as to why the two of them reacted at the same time to your inner sentiments."
Shelby looked from Ava to Suzie and then back, as did Ian.
"She stays then as we had initially planned. I’ll leave her training and all others in your hands,"
Murray bowed and accepted the command and Ava let out a sigh of relief as a thrill rocked her body as well. ’I am linked in a way to Shelby! How awesome is that!’
"Can you also hear my thoughts?" Ava asked and that question made Suzie pause. She had not thought far to what this connection to her mistress meant.
Shelby was quiet for a while and then shook her head.
Ava and Suzie let out a sigh of relief. This made Ian smirk, but he did not give them away.
"If that is all then you may all leave." Ian’s commanding voice forced them to start heading towards the door, but Murray remained in his position until Shelby gave him the go-ahead.
"Milady, it is all done!"
Shelby nodded, not even asking for updates or an explanation of what that meant. Just then, Ava stopped just before the door and asked,
"Are you really letting that Avril person go?"
The question drew Ian’s attention as he had been asked once that day.
"Why do you think that we are letting her go? She is in the law’s claws already." Shelby said, her voice turning frigid at the thought of Avril.
"I somehow feel that she will get probation or even just a few years at most because it was attempted Murder, but you healed quickly, so her defence can use that, and the charge might change to something ’smaller’...."
Shelby’s eyes glinted as she added, "Ava, you have known me long enough. I know your doubts, and no one will ever take advantage of me again. A wise man once said his life got better when he realized that he did not have to be ’nice’.
I give as many chances as possible and it’s only now that I understand what he meant then. Don’t get me wrong as I change for no one. That aside, I will not a nice person, but I am good. There is a difference: You don’t have to be nice to be good. I will take care of myself from now on and set clear boundaries without compromising myself. Do not worry, my friend; everyone will get what they are due."
"Avril’s true nature will lead her down her designated path in life. As it stands now, she is not in custody."
Ava could not understand the words even though the language was clear. She caught herself looking Shelby directly in the eyes, her face sharing all her uncertainties,
Shelby smiled. This was the first time Ava had seen such a confident and cold smile on her friend. Murray turned on the TV,
"We have breaking news: the culprit of the T-Vino Winery Co2 accident who was apprehended earlier today had escaped. There was one sighting...."
Ava turned from the screen, "D-id you have a hand in this? I- Don’t get me wrong. I feel like something is not right here...."
"I just gave her an opportunity... a choice to do the right thing. As I said, her true nature will guide her path to where she wants to be and judging from what we have witnessed so far, it will not be a good place."
Ava stared dumbstruck, ’Who is this person, and have they done with my sweet, docile friend?’
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