Chapter 6

Thea nearly turned away but caught herself, remembering her hearing hadn't "returned" yet. She froze in place. Terrence rushed over and stopped before her, his eyes wide with alarm. When she didn't react, it dawned on him, and he quickly repeated himself in sign language, "Thea, are you leaving me? We're about to get married. Where are you going?" Thea's expression remained calm. "It's my friend who's leaving." Terrence studied her face, looking for any hint of a lie. Finding none, he let out a relieved breath. "I'm so glad to hear that, Thea. You have no idea how terrified I was. I don't know what I'd do if you left me." He pulled her into a tight hug, his face still shadowed with fear. Thea heard his emotional words but felt nothing. If he was so afraid of losing her, then why had he cheated? Did he think her deafness meant she'd never find out? Too bad for him—she knew everything. Terrence, still shaken, slipped an arm around her waist to steer her away. "Thea, let's go home. I'm not letting you out of my sight, not even for a second." "Oh? What about Alyssa?" "She wasn't feeling well and left already." The ease of his lie made Thea's stomach turn with irony. They had just stepped into the parking lot when Thea spotted Alyssa in a violent struggle with a man. He gripped her wrist tightly, trapping her in place. When his free hand started moving toward her waist, she wrenched herself loose and slapped him hard across the face. Enraged, the man snatched up an empty beer bottle and hurled it at her. In an instant, Thea felt Terrence's arm slip from around her waist. He lunged forward, yanking Alyssa against his chest. The bottle shattered against his shoulder, glass shards slicing into flesh. Blood welled up, spreading a red stain across his shirt. Terrence's face darkened with lethal rage. After making sure Alyssa was safe in his arms, he seized the man by his collar and rained down brutal, merciless punches on his face. "How dare you lay hands on someone I protect? You must have a death wish!" When the man finally saw Terrence's face clearly, he instantly collapsed into terrified pleas, putting up no fight. Meanwhile, a flying shard of glass had grazed Thea's cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. Yet, she remained perfectly still, apparently unaffected by the pain, her eyes locked on Terrence, who was unleashing his fury. The scene before her blurred with memories from five years ago, when she and Terrence were newly dating and attended a corporate cocktail party together. It had been her first public appearance as his girlfriend, back before his image as a devoted partner became common knowledge. The instant people realized she was deaf, she'd seen the contempt and ridicule in their eyes as plainly as daylight. When Terrence got pulled into a business conversation, men with bad intentions began closing in. They all assumed Thea was just another disposable fling of Terrence's. Though she couldn't hear their words, she recognized their lecherous gazes and crude stares. She wanted to scream for help, but the last thing she needed was to cause trouble for Terrence. She could only repeat her warnings, but each one deepened their sneers. When one of the men reached for her face, Terrence appeared out of nowhere. He sent the man stumbling back with a vicious kick, then beat him senseless in a blind fury. Later, he had his assistant blacklist every one of them from Hatcher Group's dealings, ensuring they'd never work in the industry again. After that day, everyone knew Thea was Terrence's line in the sand. Now, history was repeating itself. Except this time, the woman he shielded in his arms wasn't her.