Chapter 5 Five.

Ava, who was oblivious of her mother in law's spy on her, smiled wryly at Noah's stunned expression after hearing her say that she was married.

Impulsively, Noah flicked her forehead with his fingers, "Ava, are you kidding me? Are you a child that you went on to marry a man you just met?"

"Ow!" Ava slapped his hand away from her face, "why'd you do that?"

"You deserve a smack on your bottom, but I'll wait for Piper to do that since I'm no woman beater.

"What did Piper say when you told her? I bet she gave you a good scolding!"

Ava knew that her decision to marry Ethan instantly was irrational, but her stance remained that she had no other choice.

"I had no choice, Noah! It was either that or I sleep here in the shop."

Noah quickly retorted, "Why didn't you call me, Ava? Don't you consider me as a friend? I'd have arranged a place for you to spend the night since I know you'd not be comfortable crashing at mine!

"But you didn't even inform us before making such a huge decision!"

Noah scoffed before continuing, "Who am I kidding, you didn't even tell us, your so called friends, about your rent issue."

Noah's reaction stemmed from his past traumatic experience with his family.

To Noah, Ava treated him the same way his family did. He was unreliable, useless, and that was why she didn't think of calling him for help.

Ava opened her mouth to defend herself, but no words came out.

Noah chuckled drily, "Now I know what this friendship means to you, Ava." With that, he turned on his heel, stormed out of Ava Bakies, and slammed the door shut.

Noah nearly crashed into Piper on his way out. She was making her way into Ava Bakies too when he stormed out of the shop.

Noah walked past Piper without greeting. Ava's decision almost forced a tear out of his eyes.

While he was here being worried about why they weren't at work yesterday, Ava was busy tying the knot with some stranger.

Piper guessed that Ava told Noah about the impulsive decision she made to get married yesterday.

Piper stared at Noah's back as he walked briskly to his shop. She saw the redness in his eyes, and greatly pitied Noah.

She pushed open the door to Ava Bakies, and stood many feet away from Ava who was at the counter.

"Piper..." Ava stood up to welcome her best friend.

With a hand raised, Piper shushed her best friend from speaking further.

"I can explain, Piper. Why is everyone turning against me? It's not like I had any other choice," Ava's lips quivered as she spoke. "I called my mother for help, but she blocked my number from calling her. You have to understand me."

"You had a choice, Ava!" Piper's voice cracked with hurt, her tone laced with disappointment.

"Do you really think we don't get the fact that business has been bad for you?

"Day in day out we see how no one comes in here except that Liam guy who always orders from you.

"Do you really think we don't understand how your father's illness greatly affected Ava Bakies?

"We're upset because you chose to go through all of this alone!

"You pretended everything was fine, flashing your perfect smile in our faces. I asked you to tell me if you needed anything, but you don't consider me as a trusted friend so you didn't tell me anything.

"Yesterday, I even offered to pay for a hotel for you, yet you refused! Then you trusted a stranger, got married to him, and you now live in his house!

"That's really unfair to us your friends."

Just like Noah, Piper turned on her heel, and left Ava's shop after giving her a piece of her mind.

Their voices resounded loudly in Ava's head, even though the shop was quiet.

Ava's eyes dropped, her shoulders sagged under the weight of her friends' disapproval.

It wasn't like there was anything she could do now.

The fact still remained that she was now a married woman, and they had to accept that fact.

While Ava faced the heat of her impulsive decision from her friends at the shop, Ethan faced a starkly different reaction to his sudden marriage at the office.

Liam Flynn sat across from his boss to get some interesting information about his new status as a married man.

Leaning back on the chair with a hand underneath his chin, Liam asked, "So, what's it like? Does your wife suspect anything about you being the heir of this great establishment?"

Ethan had his head buried in work, and felt like Liam's presence was merely a disturbance to him.

"Mr. Flynn, don't you have any important work to attend to at your office? It's the start of the day, and you're here looking for cheap gossip.

"Do I pay you to sit around all day doing nothing?"

Liam smiled before saying, "what's wrong with me asking about your new status? You could just tell me so I'll leave to go face my work right now.

"Tell me," Liam poked his head forward, and lowered his voice, "Did you fulfill your bedroom duties to your wife last n..."

Without waiting for Liam to complete his sentence, Ethan slammed his desk, and thundered, "Get out of my office, now!"

Having gotten a reaction from his boss, Liam's lips curled upwards in a smile. Ethan's reaction was more than enough to help him go by today's work.

Liam got up to leave with a smile plastered on his cheek, "See you at lunch, or is your wife bringing you lunch?"

Ethan hurled a pen at Liam who was quicker and dodged the pen.

Picking up the pen he had dodged, Liam gently placed it back on Ethan's table and said, "I'll order some pastries to support your wife's business, and bring you some."

He left Ethan's office a fulfilled man.

Once he was out of Ethan's office, he called Ava Bakies to place an order for a box of Danish pastries, and a box of cinnamon rolls.

"How much would that cost?" Liam asked as he strode into his office.

"Do you want the box of six or twelve?" Ava inquired as she took out a notepad to jot down his order. Ava would not let the fallout she had with her buddies at work stop her from collecting new orders.

Liam thought for a moment before saying, "Mmm, twelve."

Liam and Ethan could not obviously finish the box of 12 all by themselves.

Liam never knew that Ava had lost all her clients. Now that he knew, he would recommend her business more often to his colleagues and family so that they would patronize her.

Ava's pastries were too good to be ignored.

"Okay. A box of Danish pastries, and a box of cinnamon rolls cost $40."

"I'll pay double. Just send the dispatch once it's ready."

Ava sensed that Liam was being overly nice to her because she married his friend yesterday.

Piper and Noah did not understand that she made the hasty decision to marry a stranger with Ava Bakies in mind all along.

"You're very kind, Mr. Flynn. I'll start the order now." Ava smiled, and waited for Liam to hang up. Afterwards, she sprang up to her feet to begin work.

Stuffing her phone in her pocket, Ava rolled up her sleeves to take out the flour from the store.

It was a productive Tuesday morning, and within two hours, the pastries were done, boxed, and ready to be sent out.

The aroma of freshly baked pastries filled the air.

The delivery man arrived a few minutes after Ava had called him to deliver the order.

When he got the address and other necessary information from Ava, he headed straight for Atticus Corporation.

Liam Flynn received a call from the receptionist downstairs saying that he had an order. Liam asked for the box of pastries to be brought up to the executive lounge.

There, he would sit and eat with Ethan during lunchtime.

Ava's mood was greatly uplifted.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Ava began writing the list of groceries she would buy for her and Ethan.

The list was a reflection of her simple taste. Since she basically wasn't a picky eater, her favorites could be Ethan's favorites too.

Ava's only surviving customer just placed an order, so she wasn't expecting any other orders for the day. She thought of closing up the shop.

However, it was only a few minutes past 11am.

Since she now had a place to stay, Ava could focus on reviving her business without thinking so much about her unpaid rent.

She brought out a note pad, and began drafting new strategies to improve her business.

She would start off with a bake sale.

Ava glanced around her shop. It needed to be renovated as the designs were never changed since she first rented the place.

She put that down too. She could collect a loan from the bank to get that done later, but it would come after the bake sale.

While Ava still ransacked her brain for more ideas to grow her business, her phone rang.

Ring, ring, ring.

Ava looked at the caller's name. It was her mother who blocked her from calling her yesterday.

Ava declined the call.

Her mother called two more times before Ava received the call, and said sharply, "What?"

Taken aback by Ava's rude response, Mrs Waverly spat, "What do you mean by what? Didn't you see that I've been calling you? Why weren't you picking up the phone?"

Ava could spend some time on her mother today, "Mom... I don't even think I should call you mom, but you always leave me when I need you the most in my life.

"I called you yesterday to ask for your help, and what did you do about that? You went on to block my number from calling you again.

"You never called me back to ask how I got that issue sorted out, and you're only calling me today. I don't want to speak to you, or see you anywhere near my shop again."

Mrs Waverly cackled, obviously not fazed by Ava's words. "Like you're getting any business in that dilapidated shop of yours.

"I need some money, Ava. That's why I'm calling you. As your mother, you're supposed to pay me a certain amount monthly for my living expenses.

"I took care of you when you were a child, up until when you were 18. I only left because your father no longer took care of me. Now it's your turn to repay me. You're old enough and capable as a twenty five year old woman."

Ava's mind reeled. Her mouth hung open, as she fought back the urge to just say vile things to her mother.

How can Mrs Waverly ask her for money right after trolling her small business?

"If I owe anyone anything, it's dad, not you. So please hang up before you ruin the rest of my day."

Mrs Waverly barked at her daughter, "Ava, you must think I'm playing around with you! What do you mean you don't owe me anything? I've been considerate, and never brought this up because I know you were dealing with your father's illness.

"I'm only asking for this now that he's gone to a place of no return, and you dare say this to my face? You owe me $5,000 monthly. Just know that. I'm just across the street from your shop so I'm coming in now."

Ava stood up to look outside through the window to see if Mrs Waverly was truly there.

The woman was indeed walking towards Ava Bakies.

Mrs Waverly could come in and talk all she wanted, but Ava would not drop a dime out of her pocket.

The only money she had was made from Liam's order, so she didn't even have five thousand to give to her mother.

Even if she did have the money, her mother has proven over the years, that she did not want to be a part of Ava's life. So Ava would not give her any money.

The door creaked open as Mrs Waverly stepped into the shop.

Ava stood tall, her eyes locked in her mother's as a spark of defiance ignited within her. Afterwards, she continued her brainstorming for Ava Bakies.

"You vile child. You can't even say hello to your own mother," Mrs Waverly said after she got into the shop and Ava continued scribbling in her notepad like there was no one around.

Just then, Piper walked into the shop, pushed past Mrs Waverly, and stood beside Ava. She had seen Mrs Waverly walking down to Ava Bakies from her own shop.

She knew Mrs Waverly was a big bag of trouble, so she came in to help Ava deal with her.

"Mrs Waverly, what brings you to Ava Bakies? Would you like to place an order?" Piper asked professionally.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have your own business to attend to? I'm here to see my daughter, so get out!" Mrs Waverly sensed that Piper was here to shield Ava, so she wanted her out.

Piper lips curled upwards, "This is a work environment, ma'am. We know you're a little bit psych, but please try to act normal around here."

Ava chuckled at Piper's comment.

Mrs Waverly's face contorted into a deep frown. Her deep grumbles could be heard as she stomped towards the counter.

With the intent of striking Piper, Mrs Waverly's hand descended from high above her head.

However, her hand was caught by Ava who would not sit and watch her mother strike Piper.

Ava forcefully pushed Mrs Waverly's hands away, pointing an accusing finger at her, "Don't you dare try to do that, mom."

Mrs Waverly seethed with rage.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of the list Ava penned down for shopping later.

What caught her attention was the estimated total written down there.

Mrs Waverly swiftly grabbed the piece of paper, and glanced through what was written down. It was a shopping list, and the total was a few thousand bucks.

Didn't Ava call her to ask for rent money yesterday?

Mrs Waverly's frown disappeared, her lips curled upwards when Ava snatched the paper from her. Since she already saw what was in it, she didn't fight to get it back.

"So you called me, and tried to fool me into thinking you were stranded. Thank God I paid you no heed! Here you are, writing down a list that's almost the same amount you asked me for."

Piper jumped in, her voice firm, "Yes! Because you're just so heartless to your own daughter, your actions forced her to get married yesterday!"

The words slipped out of Piper's mouth before Ava could stop her. Ava didn't want her mother to know that she was married lest the woman would stir up trouble for her husband.

"What?! Ava's married? Why didn't no one ever tell me?" Mrs Waverly asked, surprised.

"Because having a mother like you is equivalent to having no mother. Now leave my shop or I'll chase you out myself."

Mrs Waverly glanced at the two girls who stood against her, a small smile formed on her lips, "Whatever you two think you're doing is none of my business.

"You think you can cheat me and not give me out of the bride price money you were given? Try me, and see how I'll embarrass you in front of your in laws. They'll ask their son to divorce you in no time."