Unbreak Me (rewritten)

Chapter Three

Avery's peaceful Sunday afternoon was interrupted by Alissa, one of the maids in the house.

"Avery, Mr and Mrs Adley would like to speak to you downstairs." Her delicate French accent caressed Avery's ears. Alissa shot her a worried, yet sympathetic smile before leaving to attend to her other chores.

With a small groan, Avery set her book down and rushed downstairs to see what Marie wanted.

"You asked to speak with me?" She found her adoptive parents in the living room, Marie and Leah both giggling with excitement.

Leah was much like her mother; they were both beautiful and they knew it. They showed off their figures in clothes that left little to the imagination. Leah's strawberry blonde locks were always silky smooth and her make up was done to perfection. Despite the sometimes-inappropriate clothes she wore and her ugly attitude, Avery occasionally found herself jealous of her long legs, model like figure and confidence.

However, she always felt she dressed the way she did for the wrong reasons. It was always to attract men and attention; it wasn't because that's what she necessarily liked. Sometimes Avery caught her shifting uncomfortably, scowling at the blisters caused by her high heels and struggling to pull her skirts down when they rode up. It was rare, but Avery got the impression that she didn't always like it the way her mother did and encouraged. Every now and again she would glance at Avery's loose and ripped boyfriend jeans she wore together with her fuzzy sock. Leah would quickly look away with pursed lips. It would be followed by some cold and awful remark, of course.

Marie's style wasn't much different to Leah's. One would think that at her age she would be past wearing clothes that revealed that much, but she was able to pull it off, no doubt with the help of a little cosmetic surgery, which wasn't an unusual thing among those who could afford it.

Avery was very much opposite; she wasn't the tallest of them all and any weight she happened to put on showed easily. One thing she didn't get from the Adley's gene pool was height. It made it easier for people to underestimate her, pick on her and literally talk down to her. The only thing Leah and Avery shared was their surname and hair that belonged to the red head family.

Jeremiah motioned for Avery to sit. Leah wore a sparkling and triumphant smile on her face, green eyes glinted with pure happiness. Avery moved to the single armchair and waited for someone to speak up.

"Your sister is getting married," Jeremiah smiled fondly at his happy daughter.

Leah giggled in response.

"Congratulations, Leah," Avery tried to sound sincere when she just didn't care.

"I've made a deal with the Blacks," this got Avery's attention, "Oliver will marry an Adley. That way our project will be more secure and a promise for future investments and projects. It will be a very profitable match."

Avery nodded. She looked back at Leah who looked truly happy to be marrying someone she didn't even know. Marie and Leah started talking amongst themselves about the wedding and how big and expensive the engagement ring was going to be.

"Mr and Mrs Black will be coming over for dinner tonight. Make yourself presentable." Marie pursed her lips, "I know it's hard for you, dear."

"Yes, Mother." Avery nodded, her voice robotic in response. "Do you need me for anything else?"

Marie pursed her lips and shook her head. "You may leave," she stated with a dismissive flick of her wrist.

Avery trudged up the stairs, she wasn't looking forward to swapping her jeans and shirt for a dress and heels. She dug through her closet and found a long sleeve dark blue dress. It was nice enough for dinner with business associates.