Chapter 74
Hearing this news, Susan stood frozen in place for a long time.
Though she'd had vague suspicions in her heart, having the truth laid bare before her still left her so shocked she couldn't speak.
She felt somewhat joyful, yet also uncertain and bewildered.
She thought of yesterday's conversation with Evelyn.
Evelyn had said if she were Emily's daughter, she would never want any connection with them.
A thread of fear rose in Susan's heart.
She didn't know how to interact with Evelyn anymore.
After dismissing the investigator, she sat in her chair and didn't move for a very long time.
On the other side, by the time Evelyn returned to the hotel, it was already evening.
She'd just gotten out of the car and said goodbye to Ronald when she turned and unexpectedly saw someone else.
Matthew stood at the hotel entrance, his gaze fixed on her.
Evelyn inexplicably felt like she'd been caught cheating.
She hurried over and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Matthew's expression was dark as he looked past her toward Ronald's departing direction. "Why were you with him?"
Evelyn felt a headache coming on. The wind was strong outside, so she pulled Matthew upstairs.
"We just had a meal together," she explained. "I also went to the hospital with that fake uncle from yesterday to do a test. That's all."
Matthew looked her up and down with some suspicion.
She met his gaze with complete candor.
His doubts lessened somewhat, and he felt even more glad he'd come to Seaside City—from now on, he'd be the one accompanying Evelyn through everything.
He gave her a big hug.
"You worked hard today..." he said. "These past few days have been tough on you."
Evelyn hugged him back tightly.
Listening to each other's heartbeats, they both felt somewhat at ease.
Early the next morning, Evelyn was eager to go to the hospital to see the test results, so she got up early.
Matthew woke up as well and accompanied her downstairs for breakfast.
The two walked hand in hand to the restaurant.
Susan was already there. Evelyn greeted her coolly, then went to get utensils.
Susan looked at their tightly clasped hands with some surprise.
When had Matthew come to Seaside City? The two of them seemed to have an even better relationship than before.
But she didn't know how to break the ice with Evelyn, so she didn't join their table.
The three of them peacefully finished breakfast. Evelyn and Matthew left the hotel first.
Arriving at the hospital at the appointed time, Paxton was already waiting there.
Seeing that Evelyn had yet another different person beside her, he looked him up and down with a very disdainful gaze.
"You really know how to flaunt yourself," he muttered.
Matthew's cold eyes swept over him, his aura intimidating.
Paxton stepped back two paces, not daring to speak again.
They went to the lab together.
The doctor held the test report and announced the results. "After testing, you two have no blood relationship."
"What?" Paxton's face filled with shock. "How is that possible? How could I have no blood relationship with her?"
He was about to make a scene when Matthew signaled the bodyguards to escort him out the door.
"Any random person can show up in front of our Eve," Matthew complained. "So annoying."
Evelyn looked at him with some amusement.
The two left together.
"What are you planning to do today?" Matthew asked.
Evelyn thought for a moment. "How about we take a walk in Seaside City's park?"
"I used to go there often with Mom, Grandma, and the others."
"I'm also very familiar with the street food there. I'll take you to eat later."
Matthew's gaze softened as he nodded.
The car headed toward Seaside City's park.
Halfway there, Matthew's phone rang.
He answered, listened for a few moments, and his expression became serious.
"Okay. Okay." He responded twice and hung up.
Evelyn knew he probably couldn't accompany her on the walk.
Sure enough, Matthew spoke apologetically. "There's an emergency I need to handle. I have to go back. I'll have the bodyguards accompany you on your walk. I'll go with you next time."
Evelyn nodded understandingly.
Matthew got out of the car and switched to another vehicle to leave.
On the other side, Paxton left the hospital looking indignant.
His heart was unsettled. He'd thought inheriting the estate was a done deal, but this mishap had occurred.
His eyes darted around as he came up with an idea.
Maybe he could solve the problem by smearing Evelyn—for instance, spreading rumors that she wasn't the Arden family's biological child.
He immediately called his five or six lackeys back together.
Several people sat on the street corner, each with a phone, registering social media accounts to make posts.
Titles like "Property seized by non-biological niece, Arden family's eldest son wronged but speechless."
But strangely, as soon as they posted something, it showed "review failed" in less than a second.
They posted another one, and the account showed as blacklisted.
Paxton refused to believe it and posted another, which directly showed the account as banned.
The group looked at each other in confusion.
"Just livestream it!" Paxton said through gritted teeth.
He'd just set up his phone and dabbed some water on his face to fake tears, about to start the broadcast, when he saw patrol officers walking toward them.
Without a word, the officers hauled them to the police station, saying someone had reported them for suspected malicious rumor-mongering.
No matter how Paxton explained, the police didn't believe him. Just like that, he was locked up in detention.
Matthew saw the message from his PR department subordinates and let out a cold laugh.
When leaving the hospital, he'd been cautious and told the PR department to monitor public opinion in Seaside City related to Evelyn and Paxton.
As expected...
He casually told Thomas to find a way to deal with these people so this situation wouldn't happen again.
Thomas nodded repeatedly.
On the other side, Evelyn was completely unaware of all this.
She arrived at Seaside City's park and walked slowly under the shade of trees.
Evelyn felt the babies in her belly were also happy—the fetal movement was more noticeable than before.
She thought, these really were the best days.
After buying some snacks at Seaside City park, Evelyn returned to the hotel and saw Susan waiting in the lobby.