Chapter 187 Provocation

Avery came towards Nicole as soon as she saw her friend. Since she knew that Nicole would be there,
she agreed reluctantly to attend the party with her brother who was not related by blood.

"Avery! I didn't expect to see you around here. I thought that you didn't like this kind of banquet."

Avery walked up to Nicole. "Is it just me that I haven't seen your beloved today yet?

I never thought that Kerr could let his woman be alone like this."

"He had to go abroad for business matters." Again, Nicole had been lying to others.

"By the way, you haven't told me why you are here." As Nicole noticed Avery's curiosity, she tried to
change the subject.

On hearing that, Avery‘s smile disappeared. "I forced myself to come here because of that monster."
Sighing helplessly, Avery turned around and saw the man that was drinking and talking to others.

Following Avery’s gaze, Nicole saw the so-called monster and smiled faintly. There was only one
person in the world that could give Avery the worst headache, and his name was Zachary Lin.

He was the adopted son of the Lin family and he was also the CEO of the Lin Group. And for Avery's
bad luck, he was her so-called brother.

Feeling the attentive gazes, Zachary turned around to greet the people around him and then walked
towards the two women.

Weirdly, Nicole thought of Kerr as she looked at Zachary's eyes.

He looked back at Nicole who was in a daze and greeted her. "Hi Nicole! Long time no see." It was not
until then that Nicole came to her senses.



Zachary smiled gently and looked like a real gentleman. But when Nicole looked at him, she seemed to
have some mixed feelings.

She just greeted him with a smirk. " Hey Zachary! When did you come back? And yes, it's really been a
long time since we last met." She remembered that the last time they met was at middle school.

Eventually, they went abroad for further education and they never contacted each other again.

As far as she could recall, Zachary had always been a gentle elder brother. However, he had turned
into a sophisticated and mature man now.

And for her surprise, he looked a bit like Kerr. Maybe it was because she missed Kerr too much that
she just made a wrong judgment. She could only lower her head to hide her noticeable disappointment.

With a faint smile in the eyes of Zachary, he looked at her. "I came back a month ago. I haven't seen
you for a long time. Fortunately, I will have a lot of chances to see you in the future."

Avery rolled her eyes at him as she saw Zachary's polite behavior. With a scornful look, she took
Nicole's hand and brought her aside so as to avoid Zachary.

When Nicole saw the disdainful look on Avery‘s face, she couldn't help but laugh a bit. "What's wrong
with you two?" Nicole knew that Avery had been avoiding Zachary since the middle school times.

When she asked for the reason, Avery only said that she hated Zachary badly. She didn't say anything
else. Nevertheless, Nicole didn't expect that the two of them would still be throwing shade to each other
after so many years.

Avery shook her head slightly. "You know what, forget about it. How have you been recently? I heard
some news from the outside. How is your thing with Kerr?" Avery didn't want to talk about Zachary
anymore.



She was really worried about Nicole. Since Nicole was dismissed by the Gu Group, it was Avery’s first
time to meet her. Therefore, she was concerned about Nicole's state.

Nicole had a peaceful smile on her face as she thought of the baby in her belly. "Well, I need to tell you
a secret. I'm not alone anymore." As Nicole said that, she put her hand on her stomach.

Avery couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise. Avery looked down and saw Nicole‘s stomach. She
seemed to understand what Nicole meant.

"Oh my God! When did this happen? Wait, are Kerr and you getting married then?" Avery thought that
if Nicole gave birth to a child, the Gu family would naturally have to accept her. Therefore, Avery hoped
that Nicole and Kerr could get married as soon as possible.

However, Nicole's smile gradually faded away as Avery spoke. "As long as my baby and Kerr are safe,
I'll be satisfied," she replied.

"Honestly, anything else couldn't matter less." That was the only thing that Nicole could say to comfort
herself. In fact, she knew that once Kerr woke up and knew that she had had his baby, he would be
desperate to marry her.

As long as Kerr regarded her as his only wife, it was enough to make her feel quite pleased. As for the
other things, she didn't care much.

Seeing the disappointment on Nicole's face, Avery knew that the problem she had with the Gu family
was not easy to deal with, so she could only comfort Nicole by patting her on the shoulder.

"You should remember that we are still here for you as well. The Lin family can be your home whenever
you want. If Kerr dares to let you down, I will be the first one to teach him a lesson." Avery had already
considered Nicole as family since they grew up together.



As she knew that Nicole loved Kerr so much, she decided not to stop her. Avery would support every
decision that she made.

Nicole felt truly happy to have such a loyal friend. She just smiled and continued to talk to Avery.

At that time, Nicole didn't notice that someone with evil intentions had been observing her since the
moment she arrived.

At the other end of the party, Jeremy had been watching her. He had an understanding look in his eyes
when he saw Nicole touching her own stomach.

Since the party started, Nicole hadn't left Jared and Lily due to the safety of her pregnancy. She stood
beside them as an audience, but she was destined to be the focus.

When Jeremy was giving a speech on the stage, his eyes fixed on Nicole. After walking off the stage,
Jeremy went directly towards her and bent slightly as he reached out her hand.

"Miss Ning, would you like to dance with me? I can see that you're lonely right now." Jeremy looked
into Nicole's eyes with strong desire.

As Jeremy offered his hand to dance, all the guests looked at Nicole with expectation. But she knew
that she couldn't accept his invitation.

In the case that she accepted his invitation, it would cause a bad reputation for Kerr. But if she refused
his invitation, she would embarrass him in public.

Either of the choice that she made, it would put her in an awkward situation. She was in a bit of a
dilemma for a few seconds. But as Jeremy had reached out his hand, she didn't have much time to
think about it.



"I've heard that you are a good dancer, Mr. Chu. I would be so honored to accept your hand." Out of
nowhere, Avery walked up to Jeremy and put her hand on his.

Avery smiled at Nicole lightly as she turned to look at Jeremy who was standing opposite.

In such a public place, Avery knew that Jeremy was going to behave as a gentleman and would not
refuse a lady's hand.

As expected, Jeremy smiled faintly as he glanced at Nicole with a meaningful look. Then, he led Avery
to the dance floor.

Nicole finally breathed a sigh of relief. Standing next to her, Zachary involuntarily gripped the glass in
his hand and walked up to her with a serious look.

"May I ask you how Kerr is doing at the moment?" Zachary asked in a calm tone, as if he was talking
about the weather with Nicole. Meanwhile, his eyes had been staring at Avery and Jeremy who were
standing in the center of the dancing floor.

When Nicole heard Zachary's gentle voice, she was surprised. She asked back as she turned to look at
him with amazement. "Why are you asking about Kerr, Zachary? Did Avery tell you something that she
shouldn't have?"

Although Avery knew that Nicole and Kerr were together, Nicole clearly remembered that she hadn't
told Avery about Kerr's current condition.

She slowly realized that Zachary already knew that Kerr was in a coma. Therefore, she held herself
back and was careful with her words.

"Nicole, Avery isn't aware of many things and I don't want her to know about them either, but you don't
have to hide anything from me. When you were abroad, the explosion..."



Every word that Zachary had said shocked Nicole while his eyes were fixed on Avery.

Nicole looked at Zachary with her eyes wide open as she was trying to find the perfect words to use as
an answer.


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