Chapter 4

• Ava’s POV
• Dr. Charles cleared his throat and said, "Miss Ava, I better be going now. Take care."
• I nodded, watching Dr. Charles enter his van and drive away from the villa. Then I looked at Caspian, who was glaring at me. God knows what he was thinking. He probably couldn't understand why I was doing this.
• Cecille and three other maids and two bodyguards had already packed up and were waiting for me to say something.
• "Take everything to the van," I told them, and they did.
• Caspian grabbed my arm and pulled me close. "What are you doing? Are you leaving?"
• My lawyer, Jonathan, stepped in. "Miss Ava, here's the document file you asked for." He gave it to me.
• I pulled my arm away from Caspian and handed him the file. "Here, you need to sign this."
• He scoffed, "You'll regret this, Ava! Who's going to protect you now that you're divorcing me? Nobody!"
• I smiled at him and said, "I have someone who can protect me."
• His eyes widened in shock. "Who? Who can protect you better than me? I'm the underboss of the Ironclad Organization!"
• "Fabio Moretti." I said calmly.
• His mouth dropped open. "That's impossible! He wouldn't dare go against me!"
• "He already did when he agreed to my request to divorce you." I said, still smiling.
• He looked at me in disbelief, then at Jonathan, then back at me. "You… you went to him? You told him about this?!"
• I nodded. "Yes, I did. And he agreed to help me."
• Caspian's face turned red with rage. He grabbed the divorce papers and ripped them in half. "You think you can just leave me like this? You think you can just go running to Moretti?! I won't let you!"
• Jonathan stepped forward. "Sir, I must advise you that destroying legal documents is a serious offense."
• "Shut the hell up, you bastard!" Caspian snarled at my lawyer, yanking his gun up, the metal glinting menacingly.
• I stepped between them, my voice steady despite my heart hammering. "Caspian, you're sounding pathetic. This is what you wanted, isn't it? I'm giving you and Erica your freedom. So you can marry her, make her your 'one and only' wife!”
• I turned to my lawyer. "Jonathan, please prepare another set of documents. And let's go."
• And he said, “You’re only making things worse! Don’t ruin my reputation, Ava!”
• I walked towards the van, my head held high, leaving a furious Caspian behind. I knew this was just the beginning, but I felt a touch of hope for the first time in a long time.
• I sat in the van with a soft sigh; damn, six people depending on me. Time to put on a harder face." My phone rang, and it was an unknown number. I was hesitant, but I answered it anyway.
• "Ava Romanov, speaking. Who is this?"
• A soft sigh echoed through the line, a breath of something like relief. Then, his voice, a familiar, husky rumble, cut through the static. "Ava…"
• My lower lip trembled, caught between my teeth. Why does this nervous flutter every time he says my name?
• "You are not going to the hotel," he stated, his tone flat, devoid of inflection.
• My heart plummeted. He changed his mind. "W-What?"
• "You are going to your home, the Romanov Residence. Ten of my men are already there, to ensure your… well-being." His voice remained calm, "I trust you made the correct decision in leaving your husband."
• Why is he doing all this? Is it guilt since his family now runs the Ironclad Organization after the Romanovs? It might be. But that doesn't erase the fact that he favors those who betrayed me. If it weren't for my family's reputation, he wouldn't help me.
• Oh gosh, I'm starting to hate men now.
• I clicked the phone shut. The driver, who'd already gotten new directions, changed course. I let out a real sigh of relief. Looked over at Cecille. She gave me this soft smile, and I squeezed her hand back.
• "I've missed home, Miss Ava," she said quietly.
• "Yeah, me too," I said, and it was the absolute truth.
• Pulling up to my old place, my actual home, felt… right. And damn, it was spotless. Like someone had been keeping it that way for ages. Then, this woman, who looked to be in her fifties, walked up. She looked familiar, and then it hit me – she was Don's secretary from his building!
• "Miss Ava, welcome back. I'm Josephine. I'll be running things here now," she said, smiling real warmly. "It's a real honor."
• This was… a lot. All this because my dad saved his life fifteen years back?
• "Hi, Josephine. Thanks," I said.
• "Well, after dealing with the boss's schedule, this feels like a vacation," she chuckled as we headed down the hall.
• "Yeah, must've been a headache," I said.
• "You know, he was up all night making sure this place was perfect for you," she said, and then she laughed, a little surprised. "I haven't seen him do anything like this for a woman in… ever."
• "Seriously? He did all that?"
• Josephine nodded and smiled, "He was hands-on, Miss Ava. Dusting, arranging furniture, the works. I even saw him fussing over the flower arrangements in the foyer. It was… unexpected."
• We stopped in front of a grand, sweeping staircase. "He said he wanted it to be perfect, like you never left. Wanted it to feel like… home."
• I felt a strange warmth spread through me, a mix of disbelief and something else I couldn't quite name. "That's… a lot."
• "He's always been a man of his word," Josephine said, her voice softening. "Especially when it comes to debts. And… well, he's always been a little… different with you."
• "Different?" I asked underneath my breath.
• She just smiled, a gentle, knowing smile. "You'll see, Miss Ava. You'll see."
• He did all this? For me?