Chapter 48: Leonie is Disappointed

Avery is standing in the center of the room covered in blood. Dried blood is smeared across her face and all over her clothes. She clenches something tightly in her fist and stares determinedly at Lucky, who is growling in the corner.

"Mrs. Howel," a servant screams.

She looks seriously injured, and they wonder how she's still standing. Leonie is stunned; she can't believe that Avery is still alive.

Evan feels a twitching in his heart. He crosses the room and pulls Avery to him, firmly wrapping his arms around her. Terrified and exhausted, Avery's strength gives out and she collapses in Evan's arms. Evan frowns deeply and hurries to check her for wounds.

"Are you hurt?" he asks.

Avery feels dizzy and Evan's upset and worried voice seems to come from very far away.

"Is he worried for me?" she wonders.

Avery doesn't reply.

Desperately, Evan raises his voice, "I asked are you hurt?"

The servants think he sounds like an insane man; he whirls on them and screams, "What the hell are you all doing standing there? Call a doctor. Now!"

Avery slowly pulls herself from her trance.

"It's okay. He didn't hurt me," she whispers.

Lucky didn't attack her; he came for the beef. Afterward, he backed away from her. Shaken by his attack, she grabbed a lighter from her pocket and waved the flame in his face to discourage him from approaching her again. She knows that animals fear fire, but she had no idea Evan's lighter would save her life.

"You're not hurt?" Evan asks again.

"You sound disappointed," she murmurs.

"Don't even joke about that," he growls.

Dr. Walters appears by the door, carrying his kit. Several trained nurses follow him. David knows that Evan doesn't want him touching Avery, so he orders a nurse to examine her for injuries. The nurse checks Avery quickly and thoroughly and whispers something in David's ear.

David heaves a sigh of relief. Though Avery is covered in blood, she's mostly unharmed.

David turns to Evan, "She wasn't seriously hurt. She has some scrapes, I'll see that they're attended to and I'll give her a rabies vaccination just in case."

"Are you sure?" Evan asks, still worried, "She's covered in blood."

"Mrs. Howel doesn't have any serious visible wounds," the nurse reassures Evan, "I believe it's cow's blood."

Evan is puzzled, "How did you get covered in cow's blood?"

Avery tightens her hand around the metal lighter. The metallic stench of blood fills her nose and makes her feel faint.

She turns and points at Leonie, "I think we'll have to ask Miss Summers."

Leonie freezes for a second but she quickly regains her composure, "How should I know? I'm not holding the tray."

Leonie glances meaningfully at the maid who was carrying the tray. The maid is shocked and confused. She has no idea why she fell so suddenly, but she has the distinct impression that she tripped on something.

"Did Leonie trip me?" the maid wonders, "But who would believe my word against hers? Leonie is a beloved guest invited by Evan's grandmother, and I don't have a shred of evidence against her."

The maid drops to her knees before Evan and Avery, "I'm so sorry Mr. and Mrs. Howel, please forgive me."

Avery closes her eyes.

She looks at Leonie who stares back as if she's challenging her. Avery recognizes Leonie's gloating smirk, but she knows there's no evidence against the other woman. The maid will take the blame for Leonie's actions.

"Get her out of here. You know what to do," Evan orders ruthlessly.

The bodyguards drag the maid from the room.

The smell of blood is making Avery feel ill, and she isn't interested in accusing Leonie of harming her. She just wants to take a long, hot shower.

Evan addresses the other maids severely, "Haven't I told you that no one is allowed in this room?"

The maids pale and lower their heads.

"We couldn't stop her," they whisper.

"They had nothing to do with it," Avery says, "I insisted."

"Lucky wasn't hostile to Mrs. Howel," one maid explains, "Actually, it seemed like he liked her. It's just—well, I don't know if I should say."

The maid hesitates. She doesn't want to betray Avery, but she knows Evan will have her punished severely if he thinks she's withholding information.

"Just say it," Evan orders.

The maid glances at Avery guiltily, then says, "We saw Mrs. Howel burning Lucky's hair when we ran in. Lucky was sitting on the ground and he wasn't attacking her."

"What?" Evan roars.

He kneels to check Lucky and finds a small singed patch of fur under the dog's neck. The patch is only visible when Lucky lifts his head.

Evan feels himself slipping into a rage, "Were you burning my dog?"

"Yes," Avery admits, "And the maid was right. He wasn't attacking me while I did it."

"Is this about the divorce again?" Evan asks, furious.

Avery has already threatened to cheat on him with every man she can find and irritate his family until he allows the divorce. Now she's torturing his dog?

Evan's expression turns frightfully icy. He admits that he'd felt the urge to kill Lucky when he saw Avery covered in blood. He immediately felt guilty for thinking that way when she told him she was okay. Now he feels ready to kill her. He's never felt so unstable in his life.

"It seems like Avery will go to any lengths to get away from me," he thinks sourly.

Avery remains quiet. She didn't burn Lucky to upset Evan, but if he believes she did it might help her get the divorce.

Her silence incites his anger, "I think you need discipline badly."

A chill seems to enter the room. The servants feel terrified for Avery. Usually, Evan can control his feelings, but he feels dangerously out of control. He's afraid he might hurt her if she stays near him a second longer.

He lowers his voice, "Don't ever come to this place again. Now get lost."

Avery wouldn't dream to stay after being ordered not to. She walks past Leonie and fights the urge to smack the gloating look off her face.

"Evan is really mad at me—it's the first time he's ordered me away like this in days," Avery thinks, "But this is a wake-up call. I've been getting careless and I've almost let myself believe that he genuinely cares for me. That's dangerous."

She tries to strengthen the iron wall she put around her heart, but she finds that it's still rather weak. Evan's eyes darken as she walks away.

Lucky slowly trots up to Evan and rubs against his leg. Evan orders the vet to carefully inspect the wound, and with his master present, the dog allows the vet to approach him.

"Aside from the slight burn around the neck, he's totally fine," the vet says, "He's caught a virus and we've given him a shot, but it seems his appetite has already returned."

Evan orders the vet and servants to leave the room and kneels to rub the dog's head.

"Why wouldn't you let the vet take a look at you before, boy?" he asks the dog.

"Sir, I have the video ready," Robert says.

Robert finds it odd that the dog would behave so gently around Avery.

"Is this the same dog that growls and snaps at everyone but Evan?" Robert thinks, "He doesn't even allow me to get close to him."

Evan opens an app on his phone and plays the surveillance footage. He watches Lucky spring at Avery, but he doesn't seem to hurt her. He only wants the meat off her body. Lucky presses her to the ground and seems to inadvertently scratch her arms in his frenzy for the meat. After he finishes snapping up the slices of beef, he gets off and licks his chops.

It's the first time that Lucky hasn't been hostile to a stranger. Then Avery gets up, picks up the lighter, and burns Lucky.