Chapter 6
Averie instinctively turned to walk away, but then she remembered she was pretending to be deaf, so she forced herself to stay still.
Darren rushed up to her, panic clear in his eyes.
"Averie, are you leaving me? We're about to get married. Where are you going?" he signed to ask.
When she didn't respond, Darren realized something was off and quickly signed the question again.
Averie kept her face calm.
"A friend of mine is leaving," she said.
Darren studied her expression, and when he saw that she looked sincere with no hint of dishonesty, he sighed with relief.
"That's good to hear. You have no idea how scared I was just now. I honestly can't imagine what I would do if you left me," he signed to say.
Darren pulled her into a tight hug, still looking shaken.
But Averie felt nothing from his heartfelt words.
She thought, 'If he's so afraid of losing me, then why did he betray my trust?
'Does he think I can't hear him, so he can do whatever he wants?
'Well, he's in for a surprise.'
Darren, still afraid, wrapped his arm around her waist, ready to leave.
"Averie, let's go home. I can't let you out of my sight for a second," he signed to say.
Averie said, "What about your assistant?"
"She wasn't feeling well, so she left early," Darren signed to respond.
Averie couldn't help but notice how easily he lied.
*****
As soon as they entered the parking lot, Averie spotted Lucy caught in a struggle with a guy.
The guy had a tight grip on Lucy's wrist, refusing to let her go.
His other hand was about to slide around her waist when Lucy pulled away and slapped him hard across the face.
Furious, the guy grabbed a beer bottle from the ground and lunged at her.
At the last moment, Averie felt Darren pull his arm away from her waist.
Darren jumped in front of Lucy, wrapping her in a protective embrace.
The beer bottle smashed against his shoulder, sharp shards cutting into his skin, and blood soaking his shirt right away.
Darren's face turned dark. After ensuring Lucy was safe, he grabbed the guy by the collar and started delivering powerful punches to his face.
"How dare you put your hands on someone who's with me? You must have a death wish!" he growled.
When the guy realized who Darren was, he went pale and began begging for mercy, not even trying to fight back.
Meanwhile, Averie stood still, a thin stream of blood trickling down her cheek from a shard of glass, but she didn't react. She watched Darren calmly, unfazed by his outburst.
The scene reminded her of five years ago, when she and Darren had just started dating at a business event.
It was her first time publicly appearing as his girlfriend, and he hadn't yet established himself as a devoted boyfriend.
Once they realized she was deaf, she felt scorn in people's looks.
When a business partner pulled Darren away, a few guys with bad intentions started closing in on her, thinking she was just a passing fancy for Darren.
Even though Averie couldn't hear them, their mocking and sleazy expressions were clear.
She wanted to ask for help but was scared of causing trouble for Darren. All she could do was warn them to back off, but that only made their taunts worse.
Just as one of the guys reached out to touch her cheek, Darren suddenly appeared and kicked the guy across the room. With a fiery glare, he tackled the guy to the ground and pounded him. Afterward, he instructed his secretary to sever all ties with those men and blacklist them from doing business with Harper Group again.
From that moment on, everyone knew Averie was Darren's off-limits, and no one dared mess with her.
But now, that scene was repeating itself, and this time, the person Darren was protecting wasn't her.