The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 95

"I thought we could co-parent. I genuinely believed we were past all the drama and that we were going forward." She clenched her fists, trying not to blow up on Damon as he walked towards them. "What’s the meaning of this?"

He looked defeated. "Can we talk about it inside?"

"No. I am not letting your family into my house and if you don’t send them off, you are not welcome either."

To support her, Mina and Chloé blocked the entrance, and Angel diligently followed suit to protect his mother.

She smiled at them and whispered her thanks.

"What are they doing here?" She demanded an explanation.

Damon pinched the space between his brows and lowered his voice as he reached to hold her shoulders. "Do you trust me?"

"No I don’t." She recoiled. There could never be a good reason to explain the presence of her worst enemies. Mabella’s scream pulled her out of her trance, just in time for her to see Gabriel rain punches on Chris.

"Gabe, stop!" Mina shrieked.

"Just what I need." She sighed at all the drama that had begun long before dinner. "Gabriel!"

He stopped at the yell of his name, but only for long enough to face her. "It’s him!"

She rushed towards them but Damon stopped her. "Let me."

Once the fighting duo was separated, she pulled Gabriel aside. "What’s come over you? And what do you mean it’s him?"

She impatiently confronted Chris. "What are you doing here?"

"You know him?" Gabriel was puzzled.

"Yes I do. He was Angel’s pediatrician before Mabella. You better have a good explanation for acting the way you just did."

"He has a good explanation. I know this is not the best time to bring them here but could you trust me for a minute? My dear family will explain everything."

She would have dismissed him if she didn’t notice the sarcasm in his tone. He didn’t want them here either. Why did he bring them? Mumbling to him that his reason better have nothing to do with him accepting his parents since they were his family, she led the way back into the house.

"Hold on." She stopped the D’Abovilles and glanced at Gabriel and Mina, who knew to step forward to pat them down.

"What kind of humiliation is this?" Constance was the first to complain.

"The kind you deserve. If you are not willing to comply, you can get the fuck out." Avery didn’t flinch. It was already good enough that she was not calling 911 on Constance for not staying three meters away from Angel.

They were unhappy but they let Gabe and Mina do as they pleased, which was even more suspicious. She raised a questioning brow at Damon. What was going on?

He came up beside her and held her shoulders. "Can dinner be delayed for ten minutes?"

She nodded. She didn’t want to celebrate with the family she hated the most and she was sure, neither did Angel. At the thought of her son, she glanced over at him, just in time to see him sinking into his aunt’s arms for protection.

"This better be fast." She warned him, then went over to Angel and gently took him. "Baby, do you want to watch The Boss Baby? I’ll pick you up for dinner in ten minutes."

He was happy to leave and it broke her heart. As soon as she settled him in his room, her smile faded as she returned.

"Why are you here? And you, Chris, since when do you know the D’Aboville family?" She asked for answers and was annoyed when everyone stared at her wordlessly. "Speak, will you?"

Gabriel was furious as he explained his part. "Do you remember what I told you about the day Angel was born? I mentioned encountering a fake nurse who then disappeared."

Her stomach sunk. "Don’t tell me..."

"He has been working for my family all these years." Damon added, making her head nearly explode.

"Are you telling me, the man I thought was a pediatrician helping my son, is the same man who was hired to kill him years ago?"

"He was also behind everything our family knew." Mabella added, making Avery realize why Constance seemed to know everything about Angel before, and why she no longer had a clue of anything now. When she dashed forward, Chloe held her back before she could launch an attack.

"Slow punishment is sweeter." She whispered in her ear, and although she was still going crazy with fury, she took a deep breath to stop herself from grabbing a knife from the kitchen and stabbing it right into Chris’s cold heart.

She felt even worse when he came over to her remorsefully. "I’m sorry I hid the truth about how I met you."

"Were you sent by the D’Aboville family to get information about my son?" She asked to hear it from the horse’s mouth. His expression answered her even before he opened his mouth. Why was he feigning guilt? He had all the time in the world to tell her about it earlier but he didn’t. He had waited until the truth was revealed before he pretended to be sorry.

"What about trying to kill my son?" She demanded. "Are you going to claim to be sorry for that too?"

"Will you believe me if I told you I became his psychologist to make up for my horrible decisions in the past?"

She didn’t believe him. Why would a man who had agreed to murder an innocent baby feel guilt? Besides, if he became Angel’s psychologist for this reason, wouldn’t that mean he had stalked her for at least three years? Not to mention, wasn’t the nurse paid off by Bryce?

She saw the answer on the faces of Damon’s family before she could ask. They were all in cahoots. No wonder they executed it so perfectly. It also made sense why they knew things only Bryce should have known.

"I don’t know how to deal with any of this." She checked her wrist even though she was not wearing a watch on it. "Why exactly are they here? You have five minutes left and I’m not going to delay my son’s dinner any longer for you."

"We are here to apologize." Dorthe finally spoke up. She then glanced at her family and they all nodded.

Where were the D’Abovilles and who were these robots following orders before her?

She analyzed them one at a time. "The woman whose family broke apart because of my mother, and who thinks nothing good could ever come out of my family is apologizing to me? I have not forgotten the fact that has just been revealed—that you collaborated with my father who is supposed to be your enemy so no, apology not accepted."

"I guess we deserve that." Dorthe smiled, rendering her even more confused. What were they high on?

"I have been investigating what happened six years ago and I’ve been uncovering one truth after another. When I found Chris’s involvement and their deal with Bryce, I decided to bring them here so you would decide how they should be dealt with." Damon finally explained.

That made sense. If he had let them off after uncovering all their secret deals, it would be impossible to get them in the same frame as they would flee. She had always thought she would go on a killing spree if she ever found evidence that the D’Abovilles had a hand in how difficult her life had turned out to be but surprisingly, she didn’t feel that way.

"I don’t care what happens to them as long as they don’t appear before me ever again." She shrugged them off.

"Understood." Gabe must have been waiting for her to say that because he rolled his sleeves, ready for battle. "Hey, save some food for me, will you?" He winked at Mina and led the way to his car, ordering the D’Abovilles and Chris into theirs.

"What just happened?" Mina broke the silence when they were gone.

"Gabe just led away a bunch of my enemies. Apaprently, Damon’s family." She peeked over at him. "Don’t you care?"

"Why would I? They tried to harm my family."

His seriousness rendered her speechless. If by ’my family’ he meant her and Angel, they had something in common—families that were so toxic that they didn’t care about them. How unfortunate.

"Can we resume our dinner? Let’s not let the food get cold." She nudged Mina towards the dining room and Mabella and Chloe followed them while Damon went to get Angel.

As they sat at the table waiting for the father and son, a thought crossed Avery’s mind. "Is Angel even autistic? Chris ran the diagnosis after all."

"Unfortunately, yes." Mabella shattered what should have been a ray of hope. "I suspected as much when I found out who he was before becoming Angel’s pediatrician. On the bright side, he has been losing one symptom after another and there is a chance he could recover."

She didn’t care much about that. It just made her feel horrible that she had focused so much on protecting Angel, yet she had missed the signs when the man she had thought was doing his job posed the most danger to her son. How could she live with this fact?