Chapter 18: He Wants to Destroy Her Home
Damian looked down at Evelyn. His handsome face now held nothing but cold cruelty.
“What, can’t keep up the act? You think finding some pretty boy to back you up means you can escape from the palm of my hand?”
Evelyn looked up, cold sweat tracing her temples. The spasms in her abdomen came in waves, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
She forced herself to meet his gaze: “Damian, you are truly insane.”
“I am insane?”
Damian acted as if he had heard the most hilarious joke. He leaned down, close to her ear, and spoke in a volume only they could hear, “You forced my hand, Evelyn.”
“You forgot your place, and who your husband is. You think those few scraps of paper will let you leave my side? Dream on!”
His breath hit her face, carrying a nauseating smell of alcohol and the perfume of another woman.
“Our business has nothing to do with him.” Evelyn pushed him away, shielding Ethan behind her. “Come at me.”
“Come at you?” Damian’s gaze swept back and forth between her and Ethan, finally settling on Ethan’s pale and angry face. “Fine. I will let you see the consequences of betraying me.”
He stepped closer. “Your name is Ethan, correct? A doctor. Tell me, if a hospital discovers one of its doctors has questionable ethics, specifically seducing married women, how would they handle it?”
Ethan’s face instantly darkened further. “You are despicable!”
“I can be more shameless.” Damian chuckled. “I can ensure you will not be able to work in any hospital in New York. Do you believe me?”
A threat.
A blatant, undisguised threat.
Evelyn’s heart sank.
The pain in her abdomen intertwined with the chill in her heart, making her tremble all over.
She knew Damian meant what he said, and he would follow through.
“Enough, Damian!” she shouted, using every ounce of strength she had. “You ruined my defense, and now you want to ruin someone else’s life too?”
“So what?” Damian finally turned, facing her again. “This is all your own doing. If you had obediently stayed home and been my Mrs. Green, none of this would have happened.”
He adjusted the collar of his expensive suit, acting as if he had merely been dealing with a piece of insignificant trash.
“Remember my words, Evelyn,” he said finally. “Do not challenge my bottom line again. You cannot afford to play this game.”
With that, he turned and walked away without looking back.
The moment he left, Evelyn’s strained nerves snapped. She could no longer support herself, her body going limp and sliding down the wall to the floor.
“Evelyn!” Ethan exclaimed, immediately squatting down to help her, but he saw her pale face covered in cold sweat, one hand pressed tightly against her lower abdomen.
“My stomach... it hurts so much...” She finally could not hold it in, groaning in pain.
Ethan’s worried eyes fixed on her. He reached out his hand, gently, as if she were a piece of porcelain that might break upon touch.
“I am taking you to the hospital.”
“No...” Evelyn shook her head, biting her lower lip, trying to fight the even more terrifying spasm in her abdomen. “I cannot go... Damian will find out...”
She could not let Damian know about this child.
Never.
Especially not under these circumstances.
“But in your condition...”
“I am fine,” Evelyn held onto the cold wall, slowly rising. With every inch she moved, her abdomen felt as if it were being stirred by a rusty knife. “It... it was just a bump. I will be fine after some rest.”
After saying that, Evelyn’s vision went black, and she passed out.
When she regained consciousness, the air was not filled with the monotonous scent of hospital disinfectant, but a fresh aroma mixed with coffee and clean soap.
Evelyn slowly opened her eyes. The unfamiliar ceiling and a simple, warm yellow chandelier came into view.
She was lying on a soft, large bed, covered by a pleasant gray cotton quilt.
This was not a hospital.
She abruptly sat up. A sharp, pulling pain shot through her lower abdomen, making her gasp and weakly flop back onto the pillow.
“Do not move!”
A familiar, anxious voice called out.
Ethan hurried into the room with a glass of water. “Evelyn, you are finally awake. You absolutely terrified me.”
He placed the glass on the nightstand and helped her slowly sit up, propping a soft pillow behind her back.
“Where... where is this?” Evelyn’s voice was still hoarse as she looked around the simple, masculine bedroom.
“My apartment,” Ethan explained. “You passed out, so I brought you back here.”
His eyes were mixed with distress and deep self-reproach.
“I called in my colleague, Dr. Anna, an obstetrician, to examine you.”
Ethan paused, seeming to choose his words carefully, but ultimately decided to be direct: “Evelyn, you have signs of a threatened miscarriage.”
“Anna said your emotions have been too volatile, and you are too weak. You must have strict bed rest and absolutely no more stress.”
Evelyn’s head spun, and she instinctively placed her hand over her lower abdomen.
The pulling sensation there seemed to confirm Ethan’s words.
Ethan looked at her pale face. “I am sorry, Evelyn. I should not have let you face all that alone... if I had only come back sooner...”
“It is not your fault, Ethan.” Evelyn interrupted him, her voice quiet but firm. “You have helped me enough already.”
She lowered her eyes. If it were not for Ethan, she might already have died in Damian’s gilded cage.
Silence fell over the room, broken only by the faint sound of traffic outside the window.
To ease the tension, Ethan turned on the wall mounted television, keeping the volume low.
“The Omni Group announced today its plan for a large scale acquisition of land surrounding St. Jude’s Orphanage in the west of the city, for commercial real estate development...”
The voice of the commercial news anchor came through clearly.
Evelyn’s head snapped up.
On the television screen, a planning map was magnified, and a bold red circle marked the core development area.
St. Jude’s Orphanage.
It was the place where she grew up, the place where Director Eleanor Wors had poured her life’s work.
Was Damian insane?
He was going to destroy her home!
No, he was not insane. He was forcing her, forcing her to recognize reality, forcing her to obediently return to his side.
He knew Director Wors was her soft spot. He knew the orphanage was her home.