Chapter 84
Both people in the room froze at his words.
Ronald frowned, instinctively standing up to block Matthew's view of Evelyn's bed.
He looked Matthew in the eyes, his heart sinking. He could clearly sense something was wrong with Matthew's state.
"What do you mean?" Ronald spoke, keeping his voice as steady as possible.
Matthew couldn't be bothered with him.
He raised his hand, and two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, seizing Ronald from both sides. "Break both his hands. Make sure he never appears in front of Evelyn again!"
"Matthew!" Evelyn shot upright. "What are you doing?"
Ronald was dragged away. He struggled violently, but how could he be a match for trained bodyguards?
He was quickly dragged to the corner of the room, both arms twisted high behind his back.
"Let him go! Matthew, have you lost your mind!" Evelyn threw off the blanket to get out of bed, only to be shoved back by Matthew, pinned to the mattress.
"Let go of me! Release Ron!" She struggled desperately, tears flooding her eyes, blurring her vision.
Matthew looked down at her.
That face was filled with panic—all of it for that man.
"Ron?" He spoke through gritted teeth, the fire inside him burning hotter. "How familiar."
Evelyn froze.
She looked at him, looked at the churning fury, hurt, and suspicion in his eyes, along with a thread of despair she couldn't understand.
She suddenly realized something.
"Matthew, you've got it wrong..." she explained incoherently. "There's nothing between Ron and me, he came to see me, and besides Monica—"
"Nothing between you?" Matthew cut her off, laughing from sheer fury. "You're having his child and came for a prenatal checkup today. Did you think I wouldn't know?"
"What are you talking about?" Evelyn looked at Matthew furiously.
But Matthew ignored her and just signaled the bodyguards to act.
Evelyn struggled violently, trying to pull the bodyguards away, but Matthew blocked her path and pulled her against his chest.
"After all this, you're still trying to protect him? Have you ever considered my feelings?" Matthew's voice, barely suppressing its fury, came from above her head.
"Let Ron go—if you hurt him, I will never forgive you!" Evelyn watched the bodyguards about to twist Ronald's hands, her voice trembling with fear.
Her tears soaked Matthew's shoulder.
Matthew's grip around her faltered, though Evelyn didn't notice, still struggling and crying desperately.
Matthew's heart contracted sharply.
He signaled the bodyguards to stop and had Ronald dragged out of the room. "Fine. I won't touch him."
"As long as you get rid of the child, I can pretend none of this happened."
"What did you say? You want me to abort my baby?" Evelyn looked at Matthew in disbelief.
He... actually knew she was pregnant?
But he actually thought it wasn't his child?
Who had given him this information?
Thinking of everything that had happened today, a chilling feeling rose in Evelyn's heart.
She understood. She'd been framed.
"Matthew, listen to me—this is a setup! Someone deliberately sent Ron to City A today, and Monica was hurt too, she's right next door..." Evelyn's words tumbled out in anxious disorder. "Yes, I'm pregnant, but it's your baby!"
Grief mixed with anger surged through Matthew's heart as he tossed the report onto her bed.
Evelyn picked it up and saw it was the prenatal report from that day in Seaside City.
But the months of pregnancy had been changed from four months to two.
"This report is fake..." she murmured, her trembling fingers gripping the paper. "This is a setup! The baby inside me is yours—conceived before you left on your business trip..."
"Enough." Matthew cut her off.
His voice was exhausted and cold, as if he'd spent every last bit of his energy. "We were so careful with contraception before. How could there be a child?"
"And the prenatal record shows two months pregnant. Two months ago, we were in the middle of a cold war—we never slept together."
He took a deep breath, pressing down the emotions churning inside him. "Evelyn, I even have photos of you and Ronald going to the prenatal checkup together. How much longer are you going to lie to me?"
Evelyn opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound.
She suddenly felt cold all over.
He didn't believe her.
She'd said so much, yet he didn't believe a single word.
"Get rid of the child," Matthew's voice came from above, carrying an absolute finality. "I can act as if nothing happened. Eve, we'll have our own children someday."
"What did you say?" Evelyn jerked her head up.
"You want to abort our baby?" Her voice was shaking like a dead leaf in the wind.
Matthew didn't answer. His expression was dark, and he looked utterly exhausted.
No matter how magnanimous he was, he absolutely could not tolerate Evelyn carrying another man's child.
Offering to forgive Evelyn entirely was already the limit of what he could do.
He looked away, refusing to meet her eyes.
Evelyn's heart felt like someone had seized it in a cruel fist, squeezing until she couldn't breathe.
He knew she was pregnant.
But he thought it was someone else's.
He wanted to kill his own child with his own hands.
"Matthew..." her voice scraped out of her throat, hoarse beyond recognition. "This baby is yours. It really is yours. Believe me just once, just once..."
Matthew closed his eyes.
He thought of those photos.
Ronald and her standing together, so close.
He thought of the report—black ink on white paper, clear as day.
He thought of Ronald just now, holding the bowl, about to feed her, and she hadn't even refused.
He wanted to believe her. But how could he?
"Eve," he spoke, his voice terrifyingly calm. "I've already arranged a top medical team. It won't damage your body—just a minor procedure."
"Once you've recovered, we'll have our own children."
Matthew lifted Evelyn from the bed and walked out with decisive strides.
She struggled desperately, pounding his chest, her nails raking bloody lines across his neck.
But he didn't stop, only tightened his arms, each step carrying absolute resolve.
"Matthew, I hate you! I hate you!" Her voice echoed through the corridor, each cry more desperate than the last.
The operating room door closed behind them.
Matthew stood at the door, listening to those desperate cries, feeling like someone was carving at his heart with a dull blade, stroke by agonizing stroke.
He slammed his fist into the wall.
Blood seeped from his knuckles and dripped to the floor. He felt no pain.
Why had it come to this between him and Evelyn?
Inside the operating room, Evelyn instinctively shielded her lower abdomen with both hands, staring at the approaching doctors in terror.
"Miss Arden, don't be afraid. We won't touch your baby."
Evelyn froze.
Those doctors didn't pick up surgical tools, and didn't prepare anesthetics.
They simply stood to the side respectfully, stepping back to clear a path.
She followed their gaze.
Kevin pushed open a hidden door inside the operating room and smiled at her apologetically. "Made it just in time."
"I noticed something was off with Matthew this afternoon and followed to check. Good thing I came when I did."
"Knowing someone was trying to frame you, I made emergency use of the Graves family's resources to arrange these doctors."
"Don't worry. They won't touch you or the baby."
Evelyn covered her face and broke down sobbing. "Thank you... thank you..."