Chapter 2

Avery felt parched after sleeping for a while. She climbed out of the tent, feeling like her limbs had been filled with lead.

Suddenly, a pair of men's sports shoes appeared before her. Her gaze trailed up the long legs.

The sun filtered through the clouds, illuminating Eason's handsome face as he looked down at her. It almost made her faint on the spot. "M-Mr. Lavigne?"

Hadn't he gone hiking?

He crouched before Avery and took in her face, which was red from the fever. He said seriously, "I have a question for you."

Avery's heart sank. She licked her dry lips as her heart pounded. "W-What is it?"

"Did you see anyone enter my tent last night?" Eason looked her in the eyes as he asked this. The dominance he exuded made Avery feel like a hand had clamped around her heart and started squeezing it.

Her gaze darted around shiftily as she said, "N-No. I didn't see anything."

"Why are you trembling?" He noticed how oddly she was acting.

Not only was her voice shaky, but she was also trembling all over. Avery was already too skinny. Eason wondered whether her bones would shatter from how violently she was trembling.

There were several secretaries in Lavigne Corp.'s secretarial department, and they each handled different areas of work.

Avery was a new intern; the only reason Eason had a slight impression of her was because she was particularly cowardly.

He could remember that she'd been so nervous during her interview with him that she hadn't even dared to look him in the eye. She'd kept her head bowed throughout the whole thing.

"I… I'm cold." Avery's trembling intensified.

"Cold?" Eason frowned. "Aren't you having a fever? Why would you feel cold?"

He reached out to press his fingers to her forehead. The next second, his frown deepened. "What's going on? You're practically on fire!"

"I'm fine, Mr. Lavigne…" Avery continued trembling, feeling horrible.

She wanted to stand but found that she couldn't muster even the slightest bit of strength. All she could do was curl up on the grass as she slowly faded out of consciousness.

"Avery?" Eason tried to wake her up when he noticed that something was wrong. At first, Avery could mumble in response, but she eventually lost consciousness.

Eason didn't hesitate to lift her into his arms. Not only did she look skinny, but she also didn't weigh a thing as he carried her.

He looked down at her and inadvertently caught sight of a hickey on her neck. He narrowed his eyes.

"Mr. Lavigne!" A voice ripped through the silence.

Summer had run all the way back to the campsite. Her hair was windswept, and she panted as she tried to catch her breath.

Eason asked, "What are you doing back here?"

Summer glanced at Avery in his arms and panted a few more times before saying, "I… I was worried about Avery, so I wanted to come back to care for her. What's wrong with her?"

"She fainted from her fever. It's much too high." Eason put Avery in the back seat of his car as he spoke. "I'm going to take her to the hospital now."

He made a move to get into the car. Summer anxiously held the door and asked, "Can I come along, Mr. Lavigne?"

Eason gave her an appraising look. She explained, "I'm Avery's colleague, and we're both women. I should be able to help with certain things if you take me along."

It made sense. Eason agreed to let her tag along.

…

After arriving at the hospital, Eason and Summer arranged for Avery to be admitted and hooked up to an IV drip.

Summer left for a short while to get some water. When she returned, she saw Eason standing at the foot of the bed with his gaze fixed on Avery. She couldn't tell what he was thinking.

She poured him a glass of water. "Have some water, Mr. Lavigne."

"Thanks." He accepted the glass but set it aside. "What's your name?"

Summer was taken aback. Then, she remembered that Xavier was the only one who was with him 24/7, even though he had several other secretaries.

She wasn't an outstanding employee and rarely had the chance to show herself before Eason. It wasn't surprising that he didn't remember her name.

"Summer Hall, sir."

"I need you to help me verify something, Ms. Hall."

A trace of disappointment flitted past Summer's eyes, but she kept her smile in place. "What is it?"

Eason instructed her on a few things before leaving the hospital room.

Summer bit her lip as she approached the hospital bed. She looked down at the unconscious Avery with a complicated gaze.

At the thought of Eason's instructions, she pursed her lips and reached out to undo Avery's buttons.

One button, two buttons… As all the buttons came undone, Summer saw the marks littered across Avery's fair skin. She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.

…

"Where are you, Mr. Lavigne?" Xavier called Eason anxiously when he returned to the campsite and realized the latter was no longer around.

Eason answered, "Avery fainted, so I brought her to the hospital."

"Avery? The intern?" Xavier was surprised, not because Eason had personally taken Avery to the hospital, but because Eason could actually remember an intern's name.

After all, there were several employees in the secretarial department, but Eason couldn't remember any one of them aside from Xavier. The fact that he could remember Avery was a huge surprise.

"Yeah." Eason checked the time. "You guys enjoy yourselves. All the bonuses will be paid out once the camping trip is over."

He hung up after instructing Xavier on a few more matters. Just then, the hospital room's door opened. Summer walked out. He looked at her and asked, "So?"

She met his gaze, looking at ease. "I checked Avery—there's nothing on her body. The hickey that you saw on her neck… I'm guessing her boyfriend's the one who left it there."

"Her boyfriend?" Eason frowned but didn't say anything else.

"Do you want to check on her? She should be awake soon," Summer said.

"No, it's fine." Eason's expression returned to normal. "I have something to do, so I'll get going. Remember to call her family once she's awake."

"Yes, sir. You can leave it to me." Summer headed back into the hospital room after watching Eason leave.

Avery was awake. Her eyes were open, but she was out of strength. Summer approached her and sat by the bed. "Are you awake now? How do you feel? Do you feel a little better?"

Avery nodded. "Am I at the hospital?"

"Yeah." Summer poured her a glass of water. "Mr. Lavigne brought you here. He even carried you, you know."

Avery choked on her water and coughed violently. "Mr. Lavigne?"

"Yeah." Summer teased, "Do you think he's interested in you? I've been working at Lavigne Corp. for more than a year now, but this was my first time seeing him carry a woman."

Avery's face turned crimson. "No, that's impossible."

"But why? You're pretty and young, and you have a good figure. A lot of bosses like the innocent and naïve type. If you don't have a boyfriend, you can consider Mr. Lavigne. I mean, he's a pretty excellent candidate—"

"I have a boyfriend," Avery interrupted.

Only then did Summer stop. "Really?"

Avery bit her lip. "Yeah."