Chapter 1
Averie was absolutely thrilled about her upcoming wedding to Darren.
Wanting to surprise him, she took a major risk and flew abroad to undergo surgery to regain her hearing, dreaming of the moment she would finally hear him say, "I do."
However, when Averie finally regained her hearing, the very first sound she heard was Darren brazenly flirting with his female assistant.
It turned out that Darren had been cheating on her all along, using her deafness as a cover for his betrayal.
On the day of the wedding, she orchestrated an elaborate scheme involving a lookalike corpse to fake her own death, disappearing from Darren's life without a trace. From that moment on, Darren lost his mind.
*****
"Ms. Levine, we've prepared a body that matches your specifications, as you requested. We'll deliver it to your wedding with Mr. Harper in ten days," a staff member informed Averie.
Hearing the reply, Averie felt some of her tension lift after days of waiting. "Thank you for your help."
"Anytime, it's what we're here for. You can relax. No one will notice a thing," the staff assured her.
With that reassurance, Averie exhaled slowly. After double-checking the delivery details, she hung up and opened the door to the private room.
The lounge had been filled with chatter, but as soon as Averie stepped inside, it fell silent.
Darren Harper, sitting in the middle, immediately stood and took her hand. His eyes were filled with worry as his fingers moved quickly in sign language. "Averie, you've been gone for a while. Are you okay? Let me take you home to rest."
He reached out, ready to guide her outside.
Seeing his concern, Averie pushed aside the tightness in her chest and shook her head.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Enjoy yourselves," she said.
After she reassured him again, Darren finally took her hand and led her back to their seats.
The room buzzed back to life again.
Suddenly, a guy asked, "Darren, you and Averie are about to get married, so what's going to happen with that assistant you've been seeing on the side?"
At that, Averie felt her nails dig into her palms as her face turned pale.
Someone next to the guy nudged him. "Hey, Averie's right here. Be careful with what you say."
But the guy just shrugged, not bothered at all. "What's the issue? Averie can't hear us anyway. I'm just curious about how Darren plans to deal with his little fling."
Everyone immediately turned to look at Darren.
"I'll keep her around," Darren said, carefully peeling a shrimp before dropping it onto Averie's plate. "She's just a distraction, nothing more. The only one who matters to me is Averie."
"But if Averie ever finds out, she'd walk away for sure. That's why I have to keep this under wraps. She'll never find out, not even after we're married.
"So you all better stay out of it. If anyone slips up in front of Averie, don't say I didn't warn you about the consequences."
Darren swept the room with a cold, warning glare.
Everyone in the room was well aware of the typical pattern: wealthy men had their wives at home and mistresses on the side. But when Darren made that remark, they all whistled and shook their heads in disbelief.
"Wow, Darren, that's rough. You can't even let your side chick be discovered? My wife knows all about my flings," one guy said.
"Do you think Darren is like you? He's all about true love, man," another chimed in.
Someone's eyes lit up with curiosity. "So, Darren, since Averie can't hear, when your assistant went to your home, did you two—"
He let the question hang, letting everyone's imaginations run wild.
Darren chuckled, spinning his engagement ring on his finger. "Yeah, it's super exciting," he replied casually.
The whole room erupted in applause, with everyone giving him a thumbs-up.
"Man, Darren, you really know how to play the field!" someone exclaimed.
"Looks like marrying Averie isn't going to stop you from having fun with your assistant," another guy joked.
The place was filled with cheers and compliments, but no one noticed how tightly Averie was gripping her fork.
Nobody had a clue that she had long regained her hearing.
And no one knew she had decided to leave. There was no way she was marrying Darren.
On the wedding day, all that would be waiting for Darren at the altar would be a dead body that looked like her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Darren saw that Averie hadn't even touched the shrimp on her plate. He quickly signed to ask her. "Averie, why aren't you eating?"
Noticing the worry in his eyes, Averie forced a weak smile. "What were you guys talking about? You all looked excited."
Darren smiled and gently kissed the back of her hand.
"They're jealous of how deeply we love each other, saying we'll be the happiest couple ever." He signed, ending with an "I love you" gesture.
Everyone in the room exchanged playful glances, and Averie could see the smirks on their faces clearly.
She felt that her heart had dropped into a bucket of ice, completely frozen.
They had been whispering about Darren's mistress, yet now they were feigning envy over the affection shared between Darren and Averie.
'Darren,' Averie couldn't help but think with disdain, 'I never realized you were such a good liar.'