Chapter 6: Stranded

Noah arrived with the sun setting. He walked out of his car and went inside the huge villa. He found no one welcoming him. It was oddly quiet. He wrinkled his nose and looked at his phone. It's a weekday, so helpers should be around by this time.

He walked around the place and finally found an old woman carrying a tray of cookies. She recognized him immediately and greeted him. "What are you doing here, sir? If you would let me ask,"

"Where is that woman?" he hurriedly asked.

"That woman? Oh, you mean your wife, sir?" She laughed awkwardly. She was confused for a moment but smiled at Noah. 

'My wife? Hah! She's going around announcing that absurd thing?'

"Forget it. Lead me to her," she simply nodded and led Noah to the garden where Averill was staying. They are meters away from it, but Noah can visibly hear the laughter from the place. He felt light in his heart, and surprisingly, it catches his attention.

At the sight, the woman who caused him so much dilemma is laughing with all the other employees he thought was on leave. They were having fun under the golden ray of sunset, with all the flowers that filled the air with redolence.

"You're kidding, right? He couldn't possibly be-- Oh, N-noah," when their eyes met— Noah felt an uncanny familiarity with her golden eyes.

Her eyes that was already golden were even more beautiful with the sun beaming on it. Her hair gently flying with the warm breeze of air, she stood up, and before Noah could even realize it— she was already standing in front of him.

"Noah?" he was back to his senses upon hearing her soft voice. He faked a cough and stepped back. Averill noticed his uneasiness but remained silent on that matter. 

'Why did he come here? Did his mother tell him to visit me?' she thought to herself, but fantasies aren't really great when you're an adult. Noah made a glare and dragged her in the wrist.

She flinched, it hurt her, but Averill remained silent. She let him drag her inside the villa. When they reached a place where no eyes were around– Noah let go of her wrist. His brows furrowed upon seeing the red mark his hands left on the already thin, pale wrist of Averill.

But Noah remembered his agenda. The annoyance in him resurfaced when he saw her face calmly looking at him. 'Why are you her twin?' he thought.

"Why did you take it?" he coldly asked her, trying to calm himself. He remembered Karl mentioning that her pregnancy was sensitive. He can't risk his child with this small matter.

Averill did not answer him. She simply stared at Noah, waiting for another word out of his mouth. Noah's patience grew thin. Averill was just staring at her. She even tilted her head to one side, looking at him confused.

"Averill, my time is precious. Just answer my question," he tried staying calm, but there was already a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Really clueless as to what the man is asking him. Did she make another mistake? Did she take something she didn't has to? What could possibly make the man drive all the way here to ask her something?

Noah sighed sharply, massaging the bridge of his nose. He placed his other hand on his waist and shifted his weight before finally facing the woman he was starting to hate again.

"The modeling contract. I heard you signed to agree to model for my company. Why did you do that? Aren't you aware that Yanna should have had it?" he helplessly asked her again. Averill was stunned. She had no idea that her twin was supposed to sign the contract offered to her a few days ago.

She outrightly agreed to it upon hearing that the wedding issue caused an uproar in Noah's company, and it got a hit from it. She just wanted to help since her reputation rose even higher after a month, even without showing much in public.

She stayed silent and stared at him. Averill doesn't know whether to tell him the truth or just receive his criticism because no matter how much she explains herself, she knows she'll never get good feedback from this man.

Noah clenched his jaw. He sighed and turned his back from Averill. "Forget it," he walked upstairs, leaving Averill dumbfounded.

'Why did I even rush here to ask that wench? Of course, she'll want to snatch everything from Yanna. Damn it.' he let himself drown in sleep in his room to let his mind rest even for a moment.

Noah woke up with darkness filling the room. The thunder and harsh sound of rain are also filling the place. He stared out the window for a while. He never likes the rain.

He used to like it when he was young, but after that tragic incident, he hated it.

Noah reached for his phone and saw numerous missed calls from Yanna. He tried calling her back, but the poor service did not let him do so. There's no connection at all. He went downstairs, but it was chaos down there.

All the staff is running around, doing stuff from here to there. Noah grabbed a man's arm to ask him.

"Oh sir, you woke up. The huge tree in front of our yard fell because of the lightning and blocked the gate. The wires are all tangled, and the electricity was cut off earlier. We just happen to have a generator ready. That is why we do have electricity as of the moment," he explained. Noah nodded and looked outside the huge glass wall.

The gate could be seen from there, and there was indeed a huge tree blocking the path. 'How can I go home tonight? I'd be staying in this place at this rate,' he let his body fall to the couch as he looked at his phone.

Still, no service, Even the internet connection isn't working at all. The storm continued raging that night. Loud bangs of thunder could be heard inside the villa. 

"S-sir," a young maid approached him. He simply looked at him, but the young woman instantly froze. His obsidian eyes scared the hell out of her and made her back down. But upon remembering why she approached the scary billionaire, she gulped and bravely looked at him again.

"S-sir, y-your wife," she stuttered. Noah stayed looking at her with disinterest, especially when he heard the word 'wife,'

He loathes the fact that they knew he was married to that cunning woman. What an outrageous maid to approach him, for that matter. He fixed his posture and put his phone on the table near him.

"What about her?" he coldly asked. The maid stared at him and swallowed a huge amount of saliva before regaining her courage. "She's been staying inside her room since the storm started. It has been three hours, and she needs to eat her dinner now, but no one's answering when we knock on the door."

"Why did you not open it instead?"

"T-the master key was given to her by the madam last time, and we do not have any copy of it. Another maid tried earlier and what she heard from the inside was silent screams and cries alone. We're worried about Ms. Averill. I think she really needs you right now,"

Noah remained silent. He couldn't think of something about the matter. He stood up, "Lead the way,"

When they arrived in front of the room. The maid left to help others who were busy because of the storm. Noah faced the huge block of wood in front of him and finally tried knocking.

No one answered. Noah knocked again, but it had been a minute, and still, no one was answering. 

"Averill, open the door," he switched his approach. He tried calling her name, but still, minutes passed, and no one answered. The rain was too loud, and the thunder was all he could hear. Noah placed his ears on the door— closed his eyes— carefully trying to hear what Averill must be doing.

He gritted his teeth when he heard a woman crying inside. There are occasional screams along with the loud thunder. 'Shit. What the hell is wrong with you now? Acting? Will you go on to this extent just to get my attention?'

"Averill! Averill! Open the door, Averill!" he knocked harshly, but still, Averill wasn't responding.

"Shit. AVI!! AVERILL!! Answer me!" he looked around. There could be something he could do. Noah cursed under his breath before finally tried kicking the door.

"Averill!!" He tried kicking it again, but the engineer did a great job in their villa. It was a hard one to take down.

Nonetheless, he kicked and kicked and kicked the door while shouting Averill's name. And after minutes, he finally took down the door, and with his aching feet that he didn't even notice, he took huge strides inside the dark room. 

There, he saw Averill curled up in one corner, covering her ears while crying. She looked like a child who was scared of something.

"Come on, Averill. Stand up," he told her when he stood in front of her. Averill did not respond and continued covering her ears. "You're really testing my patience. Enough with this childish play. You need to eat for the baby," he reached for her arm and forced her to stand up.

Contrary to what he expects, Averill didn't go against him. It was dark inside, and he could not really see her face. He sighed sharply and helped her stand up straight. Averill remained silent, crying. 'She's continuing the act?' he annoyingly looked at her, but his expression changed when the lightning lit the room up, showing Averill's face.

Her eyes were blood red, her lips were chapped, and her hair was tangled. Averill looked like a mess, but a mess that was pitiable. Like a child crying for help, she couldn't even look at his eyes straight.

She's still inside her nightmares, and when the thunder roared once more, along with the lightning. Noah witnessed her scared face, trying to hide from something.

'Is this acting?'

"Averill?" he called her, but she did not respond. "Avi? Hey! Avi, you hear me?!" he shouts at her. Averill flinched and stared at his obsidian eyes. Tears fell from her eyes as she remembered something warm inside her.

All the nightmares subsided, the loud noises inside her head went silent, she... Averill could only see Noah's worried face. She then made a small smile, "N-Noah, y-you c-came," her voice was hoarse.

Noah's brows furrowed upon seeing her calm stature. 'So was it acting to get my attention? Tsk,' he let go of her and turned around, but before he could walk away, she held the hem of his shirt.

"D-don't g-go. I'm s-scared," she whispered. Noah sighed. He faced her again and stared at her weak stature. He gently carried her like a bride. Averill couldn't even refute it. She was too tired and she... she felt really warm inside his arms.

Averill rested her head on his chest. She did not even notice how Noah froze at the sudden gesture. 

'I guess I'm stranded here tonight,'