Chapter 36 Burned By Jealousy
Evelyn’s POV
Fear clawed across Lorenzo’s face, raw and desperate, like something wild had just been ripped out of him.
He rushed over to Kim before I could even move. One second she was standing, and the next, she was falling into his arms. He caught her, hard, quick, and urgent as if her body was something fragile he couldn’t afford to lose.
“What’s wrong?” he barked, his voice cutting through the dark hall, sharp and trembling at the same time.
Kim’s fingers pressed into her stomach, the way someone grips onto pain that isn’t real but feels like it should be. Her breaths came shallow, trembling in the air.
“Lo…..renzo…..” she gasped, barely forming the words. “I think I’m unwell.”
Lorenzo’s brows furrowed, his hands tightening around her shoulders before she could drop completely. “Unwell?” he echoed, his tone a strange mix of panic and anger. “How….? When did it start?”
Kim shook her head weakly, eyes half closed, voice breaking in uneven threads. “Just now…. I don’t know…. it feels like something’s….”
“Enough,” he said quickly, his tone fierce but his touch soft. “You’re not fine. Stay still.”
My heart hammered.
Not just because of what was happening, but because of the way it happened.
The way his voice broke slightly when she winced.
The way his focus snapped to her and never once returned to me.
I stood there, frozen. My feet barely holding to the ground. It was like I didn’t even exist anymore. Like I had vanished somewhere between his panic and her performance.
He looked down at her again, jaw locked, the muscles in his face twitching with a control that felt forced. “Tell me exactly what you felt,” he demanded.
Kim’s lashes fluttered, her lips parting with a quiet tremor. “Cold,” she whispered. “Then burning…… right after.”
He hissed under his breath, low but urgent. “It’s fine. I’m here now.”
The softness in his voice hit me like a slap. It wasn’t even what he said, but how, like he meant it. Like she was the only thing that mattered right then.
Then, finally, he turned his head slowly, like he just remembered that I was still standing there. “Eve,” he said, voice steady but distant. “You can go to bed now. I’ll join you later.”
Something inside me cracked.
He didn’t even look at me when he said it.
Just gave an order, polite enough to hide the fact that I was dismissed.
I wanted to say something, anything. But the words were trapped behind pride. Behind everything I had swallowed just to stand close to him.
I stayed silent. Because silence hurts less than begging to be seen.
For the first time, he wasn’t the monster, or the arrogant man who toyed with control. He was just a man scared out of his mind. Human. And somehow that made everything worse.
I wanted to tell myself it didn’t matter. That this wasn’t my place. But watching him like that, watching the way his fingers trembled on Kim's arm, something sharp twisted in my chest.
Maybe it was jealousy.
Maybe it was guilt. She was sick, yet all I could think about was how she had ruined the moment we were just about to share.
Or maybe it was just the truth I’d been running from, that I’m beginning to care for a man who only saw me when it served his own comfort.
I forced myself to breathe. “No, I’ll love to help,” I said finally, even though part of me wanted to walk away.
He lifted his gaze, briefly, like he was searching for something in my face. “Are you sure about that?”
I nodded faintly. “Yeah, sure.”
His eyes lingered on me for a heartbeat too long, a flicker of something unreadable passing through. Then he said, “Fine.”
Without hesitation, he lifted Kim off the ground, her head resting against his chest. I followed quietly, though every step felt heavier than the one before.
I didn’t know why I agreed. Maybe I wanted to prove something that I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to see how far I could go before I broke.
Kim’s room was dim with soft colors, delicate perfumes, frames modeling portraits hanging neatly on the wall. Everything about the space was light, gentle, almost too perfect.
Lorenzo laid her gently on the bed. His movements were precise, careful, almost reverent.
He pulled the covers over her, his knuckles brushing against her skin. For a second, his expression softened again, that same fear swimming behind his eyes.
He turned, about to walk toward me, when Kim’s hand caught his wrist.
“Enzo…..don’t leave me, please,” she whimpered, coiling in fear. “I’m scared.”
The sound of his name on her lips was soft, practiced, like it wasn’t the first time she’d said it that way.
Lorenzo stood still.
Unflinching for a moment.
Then he turned back, his face unreadable, too composed for the tension in the air.
He exhaled slowly, a sound that broke through the quiet room. “It’s fine, Kim,” he said, voice low and controlled. “I’ll be here with you.”
And just like that, I was invisible again.
I leaned against the doorframe, my chest tightening with something that didn’t have a name.
It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t sadness. It was something that I shouldn’t be feeling, at least not for Lorenzo Scofield.
I could hear the faint hitch of Kim’s breathing, too careful to be real. The way her eyes fluttered open for a second when Lorenzo wasn’t looking, then quickly shut again when he turned.
It's clear she was acting.
And he was falling for it.
I wanted to tell him.
To scream it out .“She’s lying, Lorenzo. She’s fine.”
But I didn’t. Because I didn’t want to sound like the jealous woman I already knew I was. So I just stood there, trapped between pride and heartbreak.
He pulled a chair closer to her bed and sat down. His hand hovered for a second before resting on hers.
“She’ll be fine,” he murmured to himself. Maybe to her. Maybe to convince the guilt clawing his insides.
I could almost see his thoughts, the flicker of memory behind his eyes, something about losing control, losing someone. Maybe that’s why he looked scared. Maybe she reminded him of someone he couldn’t save once.
But that didn’t make it easier to watch.
I stepped closer. “Do you…… want me to get anything? Water, maybe?”
He looked up, blinking as if he’d forgotten I was still there. “No,” he said softly, too soft for the Arrogant man that I have known for days. “Just…. stay out of the cold. You don’t look fine yourself.”
The irony made me smile, bitterly. “I’m fine.”
He didn’t respond. Just turned back to Kim. His fingers brushed a strand of hair off her forehead, slow and deliberate.
Something burned inside me.
I hated that I still found him beautiful even when he made me feel small. I hated that every soft word he spoke to her felt like a wound I couldn’t close.
In the silence that followed, I thought of earlier, his promise to give me what my body needed tonight, how he carried me, leaning me to his chest while I listened to the fascinating sound of his heartbeat before she interrupted. How his breath had brushed against my cheek, how he gave me the best kiss of my life, and how the space between us had felt like a question we were finally ready to answer.
And now it is gone.
Stolen by Kim.
Or maybe by fate, which had a cruel way of reminding me that nothing good ever stayed.
I stepped back, quietly. “I’ll leave you both,” I said, though my voice cracked on the last word.
He glanced up again, confusion flickering briefly before it vanished. “Eve…..”
“It’s fine,” I interrupted. “You don’t have to explain.”
He hesitated, the kind of pause that means everything and nothing. His lips parted, but no words came. Then he simply nodded, a small gesture that cut deeper than a refusal.
As I turned away, I heard Kim’s faint sigh. Too fragile, too tender. But in all, I can still sense the act of presence in them.
And I hated myself for noticing.
In the hallway, the walls felt too close, the air too thick. I pressed my palm against my chest, trying to calm the beating that wouldn’t stop. My reflection on the glass door looked pale, unfamiliar.
Maybe that was what heartbreak really did, it made you unrecognizable, even to yourself.
Behind me, I heard Lorenzo’s voice, low and tired. “It’s okay, Kim. I’ve got you.”
I closed my eyes. Trying to push off the ache building in my heart.