Echoes of Vengeance: The Sweet Wife's Perfect Revenge-Chapter 45: The Silent Wife

The next day, at the hospital,

Aveline had done her best to keep Scarlett away from the news, but rumors about Damien and Vivienne had made her jittery. Vivienne’s disappearance had tipped her over. Nate had no choice but to tell her that Aveline was in the hospital.

Charles, who stayed overnight with Aveline, left the room to fetch something delicious for his sister and her best friend.

The second he closed the door, Scarlett stormed in, arms crossed and fire burning in her eyes. "I feel like choking you. Linnie, you were supposed to keep me in the loop. I nearly had a heart attack hearing you were hospitalized."

She took a long breath, then eyed Aveline suspiciously. "Tell me this is all an act." Because Aveline was sitting at ease.

Aveline wanted to lie, to stop Scarlett from panicking, but it would be a bloodbath if she got caught. So she simply pointed at the cupboard where there was a copy of her reports.

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed. She hesitated a bit, then moved toward the cupboard. Her voice dropped. "Linne, that body check last week... it was for this, wasn’t it?" free𝑤ebnovel.com

Aveline bit her lip and nodded.

Scarlett froze for a moment, then yanked the reports from the cupboard. She didn’t get through all of it before the papers slipped from her hands. She trembled, stuck between fury and heartbreak. She wanted to scream at Aveline, kill Damien, and cry, all at once.

Her voice cracked. "Linnie, please tell me this is curable." Her eyes moistened.

Aveline got off the bed and hugged her tightly. "It is. Three weeks, Red. I’ll be fine."

Scarlett exhaled slowly, then she gathered herself and exploded, "You b*tch. How dare you hide this from me?"

Aveline laughed awkwardly and backed onto the bed quickly.

"Till yesterday, you didn’t know what to do, how to do it, and now you have grown up to suffer alone? You couldn’t call me? Was it that hard? Should I teach you how to use a mobile now? Or did Damien the devil eat your brain? Definitely, that lead collected in your brain is making you stupid."

Scarlett’s rant didn’t stop. Aveline could only smile as she endured her friend’s fury until a loud commotion erupted outside the door.

"She is my wife. How dare you stop me from seeing her? Don’t lay a finger on me. Move!"

It was Damien’s furious voice cutting through the corridor and the door.

Scarlett immediately sobered. She glanced at Aveline, who had closed her eyes, focusing on her breath. Her fingers trembled slightly. She was forcing calm over the rising dread.

Aveline opened her eyes, the storm in them gone. "Red, don’t be angry at Damien. Right now, the housekeeper is the culprit. Just play along, if needed."

Scarlett nodded quickly, watching Aveline holding her calm, despite the tension in her body.

Aveline opened the door, "Let him in," she said softly. Her voice barely reached across the guards.

Without waiting for a response, she returned to the couch. Scarlett followed closely, her eyes burning at the sight of Damien.

"Nina..." Damien stepped in. He still wore yesterday’s suit. His blazer slung over his arm, sleeves rolled up, hair unkempt. He looked sleepless, exhausted, and incensed.

He didn’t glance at Scarlett. His eyes brushed over the papers scattered across the floor. He stormed to the coffee table and slammed the lawyer’s notice down. "You can’t do this."

Aveline looked at the words on the envelope, ’Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.’ She had requested a mutual separation. Since he refused, she was taking the hard route.

"My lawyer’s finding the earliest court date. You can play a ghost and refuse to show up in court, but the court will rule anyway," she said quietly. Her voice was tired, her expression heartbreakingly blank.

Scarlett lit up with joy when she realized it was a divorce petition. But her joy vanished just as fast when she saw Damien wasn’t budging.

His jaw ticked. Half his patience had been drained outside when the guards blocked him. The rest of it was fraying under Scarlett’s eyes.

He wanted to yell. His fingers twitched to act, to lash out. But he caught himself. Any of his violent actions could be used against him to get a divorce approved.

He looked at Aveline and softened his tone, masking his boiling irritation. "Nina, why are you doing this? I’m sorry for what I said. I was under stress all night at the station. I didn’t mean to doubt you."

Aveline remained quiet for a long moment. "But having a criminal wife will affect your accession to the CEO position. Damien, why don’t you ever understand me?" Her voice cracked slightly.

Scarlett failed to hold back and jumped into the conversation, "How are you a criminal? You are a victim, Linnie."

Aveline squeezed her hand. "I’ll explain later."

Damien’s expression twitched. If Scarlett didn’t know anything meant Aveline wasn’t in contact with Scarlett much. That was good because the Fournier family wasn’t easy to deal with.

He ignored Scarlett, he responded, "Nina, you are not a criminal. I believe you. I get that you don’t want to cause me trouble, but..." He pointed at the envelope. "This is what’s troubling me."

Aveline dug her nails into her thigh. She needed the pain to stay composed and to act in pain. "I don’t know." Her voice wavered, and her eyes held back her tears. "I don’t know how else to handle this. I don’t know how to prove the housekeeper lied."

Damien immediately cut in. "I’ll talk to Walter. I’ll handle it."

Aveline nodded, but said nothing more.

He waited, but she didn’t offer to withdraw the petition. So he tried again, "Tell me what I need to do to earn your trust, Nina." He sounded earnest

Aveline shook her head, "No, I was just thinking... if I have been poisoned for a while, why did last week’s body check show everything normal?"

Scarlett picked up the cue. "Exactly. Every test was clean." She pointed at the scattered papers on the floor, "And these reports tell a completely different story."

Damien’s fists curled into a tight fist. As if he didn’t have enough on his plate already, he still had to act like a husband, "I will come back after handling everything." And he grabbed his blazer and stood, "And when I do... Stop talking about divorce."

He turned to go, then paused. "Nina," He said, his voice suddenly sharp.

Aveline flinched. It was just a second, but it was there.

He caught her reaction and in a blink, his expression changed to calm. He said nothing more and walked out.

Only after the door shut did Aveline finally breathe.

Every second with Damien felt like walking barefoot through broken glass. Now that he was retaliating, she feared him more than she feared dying cold.

Scarlett waited for a beat, then burst into laughter. "Oh my god, Linne, did you just use him to clean up the mess?"

Aveline didn’t respond.

Damien was dangerous. She already got a taste of his smooth, precise, and terrifying retaliation. She couldn’t afford to provoke him.

She would play the docile, silent wife till the end.

This was her quiet, careful, and invisible war.

Damien wouldn’t see it coming.