Billionaire Defiant Wife

Chapter 114: Brief Moments

Evan vaguely feels something's not right; he finds it odd that Avery is being so timid. He suddenly pulls her face up from his arms and is shocked to see Janetta. He feels his eyes narrowing and the passion and tenderness evaporate in an instant. When Janetta meets his gaze, she sees an angry and horrible look.

"It's you!" he hisses.

"Ye...yes, Mr. Howel," she stammers.

For a brief moment, Evan wonders if he's drunk. He closes his eyes and rubbed his temples before looking at the woman in his arms. When he opens his eyes, it's still Janetta, wearing Avery's dress and jewelry.

"What the hell are you doing in Avery's dressing room?" Evan's voice is as cold and dark as if it's coming from the depths of the ocean.

"I'm... er... changing clothes..." Janetta says, stumbling backward away from Evan.

Suddenly Evan grabs her pearl necklace. He pulls her back toward him, and the pearls dig into the tender skin of her neck. She wants to scream at the terrifying look on Evan's face.

"Who told you you could wear this dress?" he growls.

"It was Avery," Janetta chokes out, "She put me up to it, I swear."

Avery's name has an instant effect on Evan. He lets go of the necklace and she falls to the floor, coughing fiercely. Janetta's face is as gray and ashen as dust.

"It was her," she chokes out, "Really."

"Did she just tell me that Avery gave this dress to her?" Evan thinks, outraged, "Did Avery give her sister the dress I personally designed for her?"

Evan looks at the pearls on the dress' neckline and feels a pain sting his heart.

"Take it off," Evan commands coldly.

Janetta freezes, "You mean the dress?"

"Now!" Evan snaps.

Janetta feels hope and joy rising in her chest. Evan just asked her to take her clothes off and that could only mean one thing: he thinks that she is beautiful after all. Janetta takes the dress off shyly. She's nervous and her hands are shaking too much to move the delicate zipper. Since she's slightly bigger than Avery, it's difficult to move the zipper—it took a lot of effort to put the dress on, and taking it off is proving to be almost impossible.

Evan reaches out and rips the dress. Janetta hears the seams popping, and feels the cool air touching her suddenly bare skin. Gradually, Evan reveals her sensuous body. Although she has often imagined showing her body to Evan, she never imagined it would happen so soon. She blushes with a mixture of joy and shyness—she's never shown her body to a man before.

Finally, the tearing stops and the dress falls to the floor in shreds. Janetta doesn't know how to feel about Evan's eager roughness, she feels her face flaming. Nervously, she reaches out and touches Evan's chest.

"Wait a minute," she whispers, "I want you to know that you're my first, Evan, and I'll try my best for you."

Evan frowns, repulsed by her touch and her voice. Without thinking, he pushes her away and she slams roughly into the wall. She blinks and before she realizes what's happening, he slaps her across the face. The slap is hard enough to make her lose her balance and she falls to the floor, slamming heavily against the wall. Some of the dolls fall from the shelves and broken limbs and cracked faces litter the floor around her.

Janetta hears a ringing in her ears, and she tries to make sense of the situation.

"What is going on? Why did Evan suddenly slap me?" she wonders, "Didn't he tell me to take the dress off?"

Evan's cold and patronizing voice descends on her like a hammer, "Fuck off."

Janetta looks a mess. Her hair is in disarray and her face is puffy from the slap She doesn't understand where she went wrong, but she knows enough to flee from the dressing room.

Evan massages his temples after Janetta leaves the room. He feels awful as if his head will burst with pressure. He opens his eyes and looks at the shreds of the dress on the ground. He can't help but feel that his heart must look the same. The dress was designed specifically for Avery, and he doesn't want to see it on any other woman.

Janetta exits the changing room in nothing but her thong and bra. Tears streak her face and her makeup runs. The maid's party guests are almost too astonished by the sight of her to speak.

Avery exits Gabrielle's bedroom in time to see Janetta's half-naked, retreating figure. She grabs one of the maids and demands an explanation.

"Miss Peters wore the dress Mr. Howel gave you without his permission," the maid explains, "That really pissed him off, and he slapped her and ordered her out of your dressing room. I overheard it all."

"Evan's back?" Avery asks.

In his absence, she has been staying in Gabrielle's room, and no one notified her of his return. She rushes upstairs, passing Janetta sobbing in Katherine's arms. Katherine's sharp eyes lock onto Avery.

"Avery, stop!" she orders.

Avery approaches the women and sees Janetta's puffy face and red eyes. She's wearing a matching white lace bra and thong, and she's cowering in Katherine's arms. Maids have gone for a towel for Janetta to cover herself with. Before Avery can ask any questions, Anthony rushes over to the women.

"What's going on?" he demands.

Upon seeing Avery, Janetta jumps away from her mother and lunges toward her half-sister, ready to get her revenge. Vanessa steps in front of her to stop her from striking Avery.

"Avery Peters, you vicious woman!" Vanessa shrieks, "You know Evan designed the dress for you, and you gave it to her deliberately to upset him and hurt her!"

"Anthony, '' do something!" Katherine pleads, "Evan is pissed off, and he just sent a servant to tell us that he doesn't want Janetta to wear any clothes at the party. She's still a virgin. She'll never attract a suitable man if she exposes herself like this!"

"Mom, I won't go out like this," Janetta moans, "I'd rather die."

"Avery, can you put in a few words for Janetta?" Anthony asks, "She's your sister after all, and she can't go out in front of all these important people without clothes. Remember, any shame and scandal on the Peters reflect on you as well."

Avery looks at Janetta's puffy face in shock. Though Evan has often been cruel, she can't believe he'd hit a woman over a dress like this. She takes a deep breath and looks from face to face.

"Calm down, you all," she said evenly, "I'll take care of it."

"How do you plan to do that?" Janetta snaps, "I'm already beaten up, and I don't want him to punish me more if you make him angrier.

"Fine then," Avery says, "I'm married to a Howel, and I carry the Howel name. The Peters' name means nothing to me."

Avery pretends to leave. She walks with deliberate slowness as she waits for someone to stop her.

"Shush, Janetta, don't say anything," Anthony commands, "Avery, say something nice to Evan and smooth this whole thing over."

Janetta stops talking. She wonders what could possibly be worse than exposing herself in public. Even though Evan has hit her and insulted her, she hopes the situation can be fixed. In spite of his behavior, she still has a soft spot in her heart for him.

"He seemed so genuine when he complimented my beauty," she thinks, "Maybe he's just mad that I wore the dress without asking his permission. Maybe this can all be fixed."

"Go inside and put something on," Avery advises her sister.

Janetta refuses on the ground that it might make Evan angrier, but she does wrap the bath towel around herself. Avery sighs and climbs the stairs to the third floor. The door to the dressing room is closed, but she can almost sense Evan's anger through the wood.

She raises her hand to knock, but there is no answer. She takes a deep breath walks in. The thick smell of alcohol fills her nose.