Chapter 281: Evelyn Wants Her to Kneel?

Chapter 281: Evelyn Wants Her to Kneel?

Evelyn gave a cold laugh as she watched Scarlett confess.

What a devoted mother—willing to take the fall for anything to protect Elysia.

But still...

Scarlett, you're my biological mother.

Why do you hate me so much that you'd have me kidnapped?

Yet you shower all your love on Elysia, someone who shares no blood with you at all?

The crowd stared at Scarlett in shock. "It was you? Why would you do this? Evelyn is your own daughter!"

Isadora couldn't hold back her fury. "Scarlett, are you even human? If you hated Evelyn this much, you shouldn't have given birth to her in the first place. But since you did, how could you try to kill her? How can you be so vicious?"

Tears streamed down Scarlett's face as she looked at Evelyn.

"Evelyn, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. All of it."

Evelyn met her gaze with cold indifference. "Scarlett, do you really know you were wrong? Or are you just saying that because you got caught and can't hide anymore? Is this how you treat your own daughter? Thank God I left the Thomas family when I did—otherwise, I'd probably be dead by your hand by now."

Isadora jabbed a finger at Scarlett's face. "Evelyn treated you all like real family! She always considered your feelings! And this is how you repay her? Calling you a bitch would be an insult to bitches!"

The murmurs around them grew louder:

"This is absolutely despicable."

"How could anyone treat their own daughter like this?"

"If you're going to have a child, don't. But if you do, you have a responsibility to raise them. People who abuse their own children deserve to rot in hell."

Listening to the condemnation, Scarlett seethed inside.

But to protect Elysia, she couldn't say a word. She could only silently bear all the blame.

Watching this whole performance, Evelyn took the USB drive from Michael's hand with a smile. "Did you really think there was evidence on this?"

Elysia and Scarlett both turned to her. "Evelyn, what do you mean?"

"Nothing much. You two were actually pretty careful—finding real evidence wasn't easy. So I used this drive to bait you. Truth is, it's empty. There's nothing on it."

"What?"

Elysia and Scarlett nearly choked with rage.

Evelyn glanced at Michael. "Those men from the abandoned warehouse are in Mr. Johnson's custody now, right? He must have investigated, but Elysia and Scarlett were so meticulous that he couldn't find anything right away. So I had no choice but to work with Mr. Johnson to set this trap."

"Michael, you knew this USB drive was empty all along?"

Elysia stared at him in disbelief.

"Yes," Michael admitted it directly.

Elysia swayed on her feet, nearly collapsing. "Michael, whose side are you even on? How could you team up with Evelyn to deceive me?"

"Elysia," Evelyn cut in coldly, "what deception? He just stayed silent during all this. If you truly had a clear conscience, would you be afraid? Besides, wasn't all of this Scarlett's doing? Why are you so defensive? Anyone watching would think Scarlett is deliberately taking the blame for you."

Isadora chimed in. "Exactly, Elysia. Your reaction makes people wonder—did you really not know about the kidnapping?"

The crowd's eyes turned cold as they looked at Elysia:

"It's obvious—they planned the kidnapping together. Scarlett only stepped forward to take all the blame to protect Elysia."

"Thank God Evelyn was resourceful enough to escape death so many times. Otherwise, who knows how many times she'd have been killed?"

"This Elysia has no shame. She stole her sister's mother, then teamed up with that mother to harm her own sister. She's truly evil."

"I've never seen such a vicious woman."

Elysia had no defense.

Michael looked at her, disappointment flooding his eyes. "Elysia, why would you do this? I already divorced Evelyn. I promised I'd be with you forever. Why couldn't you just leave Evelyn alone? Why did you have to try to kill her? Elysia, you've let me down so badly."

Looking at Elysia now, Michael truly wondered—was this really the same person who saved him in the woods all those years ago?

Why did she feel like such a stranger?

"Michael, I..."

Elysia tried to explain, but Evelyn cut her off:

"Elysia, I'm a doctor. Saving lives is my duty. But when it comes to someone like you, I really don't want to help. I'm afraid that saving you would just enable you to hurt more people. Especially since the person you want to harm is me. You tried to kill me, yet you still expect me to save you? Elysia, do you think I'm some kind of saint?"

Evelyn turned to Michael. "Mr. Johnson, you should be clear now that Elysia wants me dead, right? Are you still going to ask me to save her?"

Michael remained silent.

The facts were right in front of him. He truly had no grounds to demand that Evelyn save Elysia.

If he forced Evelyn to save her, and then Elysia found a way to kill Evelyn afterward—even after he died, he'd have no face to see Evelyn again.

Panic rose in Elysia.

She reached out to grab Michael's sleeve. "Michael, don't be like this. I know I was wrong. I'll never do anything like this again. Please just ask Evelyn to save me, okay? Michael, I'm still young. I don't want to die."

Michael's jaw tightened.

Evelyn looked at Elysia. "You really want to live that badly?"

Elysia nodded.

"How about this—you kneel before me, kowtow, and apologize. Promise you'll never do anything like this again, and I'll 'consider' whether or not to save you. I also want you to swear that after I save you, you won't seek revenge. Otherwise, you'll get hit by a car the moment you step outside."

Scarlett's expression changed. "Evelyn, how can you say such things? Are you actually cursing your own sister to die? Are you even human?"

"You and Elysia plotted to kill me—are 'you' even human?" Evelyn shot back.

"I'm a doctor. Saving lives is my duty, and I'm giving you one chance. But Elysia, you only get this one chance. If you pass it up, don't ever try to guilt-trip me with a doctor's responsibilities again. You'd be the one giving up on your own life first—you can't blame me for that."

Elysia clenched her fists.

Evelyn wanted her to kneel?

No way!

She looked desperately at Michael, hoping he'd say something on her behalf.

"Michael, she's going too far. She knows I have severe heart disease, yet she's forcing me to kneel. She's trying to kill me."