The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 245

**Chasing Light, Finding Peace by Rohan Verma**
**Chapter 245**

Ava Henderson felt her composure teetering on the brink of collapse.

With a fierce glare, she directed her frustration towards Autumn Lopez, mentally cursing her a thousand times over.

*This is deliberate! Autumn is absolutely doing this on purpose!*

The moment Ava had declared her ignorance about Halley’s relentless gossip, Autumn had turned around and echoed her words with a mocking precision that made Ava’s blood boil.

*How could she claim she didn’t know?*

It was painfully evident that Owen was orchestrating all this chaos as a means to retaliate against them for Autumn’s sake. So why was Autumn pretending to be oblivious?

“Ms. Lopez… must you really take this to such an extreme?” Ava spat through clenched teeth, her voice barely above a whisper yet laden with venom.

Her gaze remained fixated on Autumn, scrutinizing her every flicker of expression, determined not to miss a single nuance.

“I’m afraid I don’t grasp your meaning, Ms. Henderson. You came to apologize, and I merely stated that you haven’t offended me. Am I misunderstanding something? Did you, in fact, do something to wrong me?” Autumn responded, her tone dripping with feigned innocence.

“You-!”

Ava felt the familiar, helpless frustration that comes from wanting to punch a pillow. Her initial plan had been to smooth over the situation, to brush the entire incident aside, banking on the belief that Autumn wouldn’t dare retaliate. Yet, she had grossly underestimated Autumn’s ability to play the fool. Now, Ava felt completely stripped of her advantage.

If she pressed Autumn to accept her apology, it would undoubtedly leave a sour impression on Owen once he learned the truth.

But if she failed to achieve her goal, hadn’t she just wasted her time coming here?

“I’ve heard of people being coerced into apologizing, but I’ve never witnessed someone trying to force another to accept an apology,” she muttered, frustration lacing her voice.

“The world just keeps getting weirder and weirder, doesn’t it?” Nina chimed in, her remarks laced with sarcasm from the sidelines.

Ava’s cheeks flushed with humiliation, her face burning hotter than before.

Desperately biting her lip, she tried to formulate a new plan when a clear voice suddenly called from outside, “Sir is home.”

A surge of hope ignited in Ava’s chest.

*Owen is back?*

She instinctively straightened her hair and adjusted her clothes, the urge to check her makeup flickering through her mind like a beacon of desperation.

But as she reached into her purse, her eyes met a pair of amused, knowing ones.

Ava froze, the realization crashing down on her that she was not alone in this moment.

“Ahem.” She quickly averted her gaze from Autumn, mumbling an excuse. “I was merely searching for something.”

Autumn’s calm, knowing smile only fueled Ava’s irritation. “Would you like me to have someone fetch you a chair so you can take your time looking?”

With each jab from Autumn, Ava felt her patience wearing thin, fraying at the edges like an old cloth.

But instead of exploding, her eyes stung with unshed tears.

The sound of firm, steady footsteps approached from behind, and Ava’s voice quivered as she choked out, “Ms. Lopez, I know you’re upset about the rumors Hailey spread about you, but I am innocent in all of this. I came here today specifically to apologize. If my presence bothers you, I can leave. There’s really no need for this passive-aggressive behavior.”

Just as Owen stepped into the living room, a solitary tear slipped down Ava’s cheek.

She tilted her head slightly, offering Owen a front-row seat to her perfectly staged, tear-streaked performance.

*Bravo, Ava,* she mentally congratulated herself, feeling a surge of pride.

*What a brilliant way to salvage this situation.* Moments ago, she had contemplated storming out in indignation, but then Owen’s unexpected arrival had shifted the dynamics entirely.

Ava refused to accept that after hearing her heartfelt plea, Owen could possibly hold a favorable view of Autumn. No man would appreciate a woman who targeted others without reason, especially not someone as exceptional as Owen.

He would surely see through Autumn’s façade, recognizing her for the classless individual her background suggested—someone who, upon gaining a little power, looked down on everyone else. How utterly pathetic.

The more Ava ruminated on this, the more clever her improvisation seemed. She fought to suppress a smirk, pretending to just notice Owen as she let out a soft gasp.

Her voice was delicate and sweet, laced with faux innocence. “Mr. Bennett, you’re back.”

*Why was he so cold towards her?* This was not how she had envisioned their meeting unfolding!

But Ava understood that if Owen did indeed call her father today, an unprecedented storm of consequences would await her.

“I’m truly sorry for the intrusion today.”

Things had spiraled into chaos. If she pressed any further, she would only dig herself deeper into humiliation.

Ava offered Owen a slight bow, not daring to glance at Autumn or Nina, and turned to make her swift exit. Her retreating figure resembled that of someone fleeing in disgrace.

Nina let out an exasperated hiss of air. “And here I thought she was a master manipulator. A few sentences from Owen, and she was sent packing. With skills like that, how did she muster the audacity to confront my sister-in-law?”

Owen shot her a look, annoyance etched across his face. “If you could see through her, why did you let her in?”

Nina felt even more wronged but didn’t want to throw Autumn under the bus. So, she chose to remain silent.

In response, Autumn stepped forward. “I let her in.”

“I wanted to gauge her intentions.”

Owen’s expression shifted in an instant. “Ava Henderson is a nobody. If you’re still unsatisfied, I can call Mr. Henderson Sr. and have him apologize to you.”

Nina was left speechless, her mind racing.

*Holy crap, this guy is completely two-faced!*

With her, he was as cold as ice, filled with disdain.

But with his sister-in-law, he was warm and gentle, like a spring breeze.

*Was this the power of love?*

“That won’t be necessary,” Autumn replied, taken aback by his offer. Quickly, she changed the subject. “How is Hailey’s case progressing?”