---- Chapter 15 No.15 Ava looked up and smiled faintly. "Ava Miller, from Boston." 3 Julian smiled. "I've heard a lot about you. Your father is very proud." He pulled out his wallet and showed her a small, folded piece of paper. "He gave me this, a list of emergency contacts for a project. His handwriting is very distinctive." The familiar, neat script was indeed her father's. Julian was a good conversationalist. They exchanged social media information, and Ava paid him back for the hospital fees. She felt a sense of relief. Just as she sat down, her father called, asking how she was settling in and if she needed anything Ava answered his questions one by one. Her father then mentioned that the person living across from her was an acquaintance of his, and that she could ask him for help if she needed anything, but that he wasn't there often, so she should still be careful. Since her arrival in New York, her father seemed determined to make up for all the years of lost care. She hadn't expected Julian to know her father. She ---- remembered the handwriting on his phone, which was identical to the notes in her father's books. The mystery was solved. Julian and her father were connected. Her worries dissipated. Her father must have asked Julian to look out for her. She chatted with her father for a while, then went to wash up. She had slept too much in the afternoon and couldn't sleep at night. Her phone suddenly rang with an unfamiliar number. She hung up without thinking. A message immediately followed. "Ava Miller?!" She instantly guessed it was Ethan, but then thought he wouldn't actively contact her. She decided to change her number. She blocked the unfamiliar number. Her mother's call came through. Her furious voice demanded to know where Ava was, berating her for being restless. | should never have had you, her mother said. Ava held the phone away from her ear, a puzzled look on her face. She wondered when her mother had become like this, so fearful and anxious. She took a breath and put the phone back to her ear, interrupting her mother. "What do you want?" ---- She calmly informed her mother that she was in New York with her father, that she wouldn't be going back, and that she wouldn't be a bother to her anymore. Her mother's tone was sharp. "You've grown up, you've gotten bold. You'd better keep your word and never come back." The line went dead. Ava felt all her strength drain away.