Billionaire Defiant Wife

Chapter 159: Letting her Go

"Evan was true to his word," Avery thinks ruefully, "I regretted our marriage countless times. But soon, I can put all that behind me; I can walk away from all the pain and hurt without regret."

She takes a deep breath but doesn't answer him. Instead, she takes a swift look around the room. Leonie isn't there, but the bed is rumpled, and the sheets lie twisted at the bottom of the mattress. Leonie's clothes are scattered across the floor. Avery knows Evan is deliberately manipulativehe's summoned her to the room so she can see the evidence of the passionate love-making.

Avery looks back at Evan. The evidence of their sex stabs her in the heart like an arrow. She takes a deep breath and imagines constructing a steel wall around her heart. She imagines the arrows breaking painlessly against the wall. She refuses to let him see her suffer, and she tries to force a neutral expression.

"What do you want?" Avery asks.

"Are you pregnant?"

"Yes," Avery answers curtly.

She doesn't want to say more. She already told him the baby is his. If he doesn't believe her, she can't do anything about it.

"Get rid of it," Evan says, his voice cold and flat.

As if his words are some sort of omen, a fierce gust of wind begins to blow. Clouds start to roll in, and thunder rumbles in the distance. A bolt of lightning suddenly illuminates Avery's face and then plunges the room into darkness. She twists her fingers and tries to find the right words.

"It's yours. I swear," she whispers.

Some of the tension seems to go out of Evan's body.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't know how," she continues.

This is the closest to the truth she can get without explaining about the poison.

"Where's the proof?" Evan asks, "How can you prove it's mine?"

"There are tests once the fetus is more developed," Avery replies, "I've only ever been with one man: you."

Though they've both calmed down, the room still feels stifling. Avery doesn't expect anything to change; she knows it's far too late to go back and start over with Evan. Nonetheless, she feels like he deserves the truth, and she wants to tell him as much as she can.

Robert knocks and enters with a white phone. Avery's look immediately changes for the worseshe recognizes the phone as the one Andrew gave to her. Evan studies Avery's expression and sighs. He feels like he's watching Avery an elaborate story in which she's both director and actor, and he's just a hapless extra.

He takes the phone from Robert and checks the texts. He sees Andrew's name and the promise to send men for Avery in five days. Evan sneers self-mockingly. He suddenly understands why Avery insisted on taking five days to make his gift.

"Are you satisfied you've made a fool of me?" he asks, "While you are pushing me to save Gabrielle, you and Andrew had already forged an alliance. Did you think you could play me like some violin?"

Avery opens her mouth to explain, but Evan cuts her off, "No more lies."

Avery knows Evan's trust in her is gone. No matter what she says, it's too late to regain his confidence. His injured look hurts her like a dagger. She feels like she can't breathe.

"Why are you so silent?" Evan asks, "Have you finally run out of lies?"

Avery stares back at him coldly. She doesn't know what she should sayno matter what, he'll assume she's lying.

"Do you really plan to leave?" Evan asks.

"Yes," she answers simply.

The single word crushes Evan. The veins on the back of his hand burst out as he clenches his fists. He suddenly gets up and knocks the chair over. His eyes go dark, and his look turns murderous. He slowly approaches Avery.

"So the child is Andrew's?" he asks.

Avery smiles coldly. There's clearly no hope of convincing him. He's a jealous and possessive man, and he's become convinced that she cheated on him.

"If you say so," Avery says with a shrug.

Her response only enrages him further, and his face becomes even more vicious. He clenches his fists as hard as he can and tries to suppress his pain.

"I've tried everything to make her stay, but all she wants is to leave," he thinks miserably, "Maybe I can try harder. But what's the point? She'll never actually fall for me."

"Can't you wait for six months?" he asks.

"I can't," she says, suppressing a small sigh.

"A clean break is the best," Avery thinks, "He assumes I have something with Andrew, and I'll never be able to ease that suspicion. He's such a hypocrite though for getting angry about Andrew when he blatantly cheated on me with Leonie."

"Fine," Evan hisses.

He hoped there was room for compromise, but apparently, she can't wait to go running to Andrew. Avery looks at him with wide eyes, unable to believe that he's really letting her go.

"If you want to leave so much, I'll let you go," Evan says with great difficulty.

Each word costs him more strength than the last. He wants nothing more than the next six months with her, but he's unwilling to force her to stay with him. Avery moves her lips, but no words come out. Instead, they stare at each other in silence. His look is so intense; she finds it difficult to breathe.

She then realizes she's been running from him for a while. Evan once rebuked her, saying that she would abandon him as soon as anything happens. She realizes it's come true, and she feels tears well in her eyes. She takes a deep breath to steady herself.

"When can I leave?" she asks.

"When do you want to leave?" Evan replies.

"Now," she whispers.

Evan clenches his fists, "I'm afraid that won't work."

Avery notices that his hand is bulky with gauze. She looks worriedly at the bandage.

"Were you hurt during the fight?" she asks, concerned.

Her concern cuts him, and he ignores the question. She looks at him in confusion and realizes he's trying to cut her out. He looks at her with indifference, but something simmers just below the surface.

"Okay, why can't I leave right now?" she asks.

"You owe me a gift," he says cooly.

Avery can't believe he remembers that, and she thinks it's very strange that something so trivial seems to be a deciding factor in her departure.

"Okay, I'll give it to you as fast as possible," she says.

"You're in such a hurry?" Evan asks, despair creeping into his voice, "Are you afraid I'll change my mind?"

Avery bites her lip but doesn't answer. His pain seems to go straight to her heart. It's agonizing to watch him suffer, and it hurts to know that she's the cause.

"You don't think a gift made in a hurry will be good enough, is that it?" she asks.

"The text message says five days. You still have three," Evan replies, "You have three days to make the gift now."

Avery is silent for a moment. Then she nods her head slowly in agreement. She takes another look at Evan's hand.

"What happened to your hand?" she asks again.

Robert begins to explain, but Evan abruptly cuts him off.

"The gauze is loose," Evan says, "Wrap it again."

Avery nods, and Robert gives her scissors and fresh gauze. Evan stands in front of her and gazes down at the top of her head as she inspects his injured palm. The fresh scent of her hair fills his nose, and overwhelms him.

Avery concentrates on her work. The old knot is loose, so she easily unties the gauze. After she inspects the wound, she sees that the ring she drew on his finger is still there. The color has faded, but the blue marker still stains his skin.