When His Eyes Opened novel by Simple Silence
Chapter 115

Chapter 115 Cole's previous run-in with loan sharks had forced Henry to cough up a huge sum of money.

"Since Elliot's offering, just accept it!" Henry's wife, Olivia, chimed in. "We're all family here. There's no need to be so formal with Elliot."

Henry's face turned crimson. He picked up the check and said, "You don't need to do this again, Elliot."

"I'm done eating," Elliot said. "I'll leave now."

Rosalie got up and sent him off.

Once they were out of the house, Cole's fork fell heavily onto the floor.

"Dad! Why did you take his money?!"

He felt humiliated.

He hated being treated like charity.

"How dare you, you spineless piece of sh*t?!" Henry roared furiously. "Return to me all the money that I had spent to discharge your loans if you can!"

Olivia joined her husband in chastising her son and said, "Your uncle may look down on us, but there's no reason why we shouldn't accept free money! Do you know how much he just gave us? Eight hundred thousand dollars! Your dad's company wouldn't even be able to make that much in a year!"

"Are our finances really that bad?" Cole asked with bloodshot eyes.

"What did you expect? Most of our customers only work with us as a favor to your uncle. They stopped working with us during the second half of the year..." Olivia sighed. "It's a good thing for you that Cassandra has no clue as to our situation. I'm afraid she won't be rushing to take care of you if she replaces out we're barely getting by."

This was a huge blow to Cole.

His injured hand clenched into a tight fist, but he felt no pain.

He had been living in his own fantasy the entire time.

Now that the walls of that dream world were crumbling, he had no choice but to face the cruel reality.

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of Elliot's birthday party.

Avery woke up early in the morning, checked on the gift she prepared, then began to get ready

for the day.

On the other side of the city, Elliot was taking out a t-shirt from his closet.

It would not be convenient to wear a sweater over a button-down shirt.

What if the sweater Avery made was fitted?

Elliot and Avery arrived at the restaurant at ten in the morning.

They were there early because Ben had called them individually beforehand.

He had told them to hurry as the other party had arrived.

It was not until they had arrived did they realize that they were the only ones there. Avery secretly gave Elliot a once-over.

The bruises on his face had already healed, and he looked rather handsome.

She could not tell how his legs were doing since he was in his wheelchair.

He was dressed in nothing but a t-shirt and a light jacket.

As Avery was examining him, Elliot was also inspecting her.

She was wearing makeup, but it did not cover the dark circles under her eyes.

It appeared that she had truly dedicated herself to knitting the sweater.

"I knitted a sweater for you... I wasn't sure about your measurements so I made it a little bigger..." Avery said as she passed him the paper bag she was holding. Elliot lowered his gaze, took the bag from her, and pulled out the sweater.

It was a cream-colored sweater made from thick yarn, so it felt slightly heavy in his hands.

It would probably feel extra warm on him.

He took off his jacket and put the sweater on in front of her.

Avery's cheeks flushed slightly.

Not only did Elliot not replace her gift lame, but he had also chosen to wear it the moment she gave it to him. "Happy birthday, Elliot Foster."