Chapter 87
Matthew sat on the apartment floor for a long time.
The entire world seemed to collapse inward with that letter as its center, crushing him until he couldn't breathe.
Another urgent phone ring came—Emma again.
"Matthew, why haven't you returned to the Perkins Estate yet? I told you it's urgent!"
"I'm coming now!" Matthew spoke each word deliberately, his tone so heavy it made Emma freeze.
"I... I didn't mean anything by it. Just come back soon." She added somewhat fearfully.
Matthew said nothing more and hung up directly.
His eyes were bloodshot, and only one thought in his mind.
Make those who spread false information and drove a wedge between him and Evelyn receive their due punishment.
Matthew forcibly suppressed his inner grief, composed his expression, and left the apartment without a word.
"To the Perkins Estate," he told the driver coldly.
The car started. Matthew opened his phone and saw the message Kevin had sent about the full story of Monica's injury.
Another layer of shock and pain added to his heart.
Just as he was processing this, Thomas's call came through.
"Mr. Perkins, I've confirmed it." Thomas seemed to be choosing his words carefully, each one cautious. "The child in Evelyn's belly is yours."
"She found out at a hospital in City A months ago. The Seaside City report also shows four months."
He paused and took a deep breath. "I discovered that... it was your mother's people who tampered with things."
Matthew's knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone.
Thomas didn't dare breathe on the other end. After a long while, Matthew's voice finally came: "I see."
Thomas's heart ached for both Matthew and Evelyn.
He couldn't imagine how much pain Evelyn must be in, much less imagine how Matthew felt having caused all this with his own hands.
Thomas shook his head, silently praying for them, hoping they could recover soon.
The black sedan screeched to a halt in front of the Perkins Estate, startling a flock of birds.
Emma was waiting at the entrance, a smile on her face. Seeing the car, she hurried forward.
"Matthew, well done!" Her face bore a satisfied smile, her eyes full of smugness. "That cheap woman and that bastard child deserved to be punished like this!"
"Now that you've seen her true colors, why not reconsider the marriage alliance with the Quinn family?"
"I know Mary still has feelings for you. I specially invited City A's most influential society ladies today to help make the connection."
"Cheap woman? Bastard child?" Matthew cut her off, his voice as cold as if pulled from an ice cellar. "Do you know what you're saying?"
Emma froze.
"Isn't it true?" She spoke righteously. "Being with you was one thing, but then she's loose and gets pregnant with someone else's child."
"If that's not a cheap woman and bastard child, what is?"
"The child's already been aborted—surely you're not still pining for her?"
Matthew stared at her, his gaze completely devoid of warmth. "The prenatal report from Seaside City hospital—you forged it, didn't you?"
Emma's expression changed.
"So what if I did?" She stuck out her neck defiantly. "I just had them make a small adjustment, changed the timing, that's all. But she wasn't carrying your child anyway—"
Matthew laughed coldly in fury. He pulled out the ultrasound image from his pocket and threw it in Emma's face.
The paper flipped in the air and fell to the ground.
"Evelyn was carrying my child! Already four months along. The ultrasound shows it clearly—you can see their outlines."
Emma scrambled to pick it up. Looking down, she froze.
How could this be?
When Marigold had come to her, she'd spoken with certainty about discovering evidence of Evelyn's affair.
She'd had people investigate, and the report they brought back also showed two months.
How had it become four months?
Emma panicked inside, her fingers trembling, but her mouth kept up a brave front.
"Well, it's gone now anyway." She lifted her head, trying to maintain that bit of pride. "That kind of lowly woman doesn't deserve to bear the Perkins family's children. Your marriage alliance with Mary is what matters!"
Matthew looked at her coldly.
From head to toe, as if looking at a stranger.
This person was his mother, the person he'd called "Mom" for decades. "I've always respected and honored you."
"You planted your Tudor family people throughout the Perkins Group. I turned a blind eye, treating them as just a few freeloaders."
"Even when you were unkind to Eve, I always mediated between you, thinking you'd understand eventually."
He paused and let out a short laugh. "Only now do I realize you're blind in both eyes and heart. I shouldn't have been soft with you."
Emma's face paled. "Matthew..."
"Mother, you really are getting old—you've lost your ability to judge people and situations."
"I don't see any need for you to continue staying at the Perkins Estate."
Matthew raised his hand. Several bodyguards stepped forward and seized Emma. "Send her to a psychiatric hospital. Without my permission, no one is to release her or visit her."
Emma was both shocked and furious, struggling desperately. "How dare you treat me this way? I'm not going! Who dares to touch me!"
Matthew looked at her, his eyes cold and dark.
That gaze held no hatred, no anger—only thorough disappointment.
"You'd better not struggle," he said. "Otherwise, I don't mind having 'Tudor family spies embezzle Perkins Group assets' make tomorrow's headlines."
Emma's whole body went rigid.
She looked at Matthew's eyes. There was no warmth there, no emotion.
Those weren't the eyes her son should have.
She was finally afraid.
She ultimately quieted and was led away by the bodyguards, her face ashen with defeat.
Seaside City.
Since returning to her hometown, Susan hadn't had a moment's peace.
Howard and Iris came to make trouble every few days. She couldn't be bothered and had security turn them away.
But those two were like flies—impossible to chase away, impossible to kill, causing scenes at the door daily.
It was rather unseemly. Counting the days, it was time for her to return to the country anyway.
Susan decided to handle all remaining dirty business today.
"Bring Howard and Iris in," she told the steward.
Before long, an indignant-looking Iris and Howard entered.
Both wore angry expressions, yet forcibly suppressed them, squeezing out aggrieved looks.
"Mom, what exactly are you playing at?" Howard couldn't help speaking. "Why won't you let Iris and me in?"
Iris squeezed out a few timely tears. "Mother-in-law, what happened at my mother's bedside last time was all a misunderstanding. Howard and I regret it deeply. We'll never offend you again."
Susan watched this couple perform before her and only felt disgust.
She ignored Iris and looked directly at Howard. "We already signed a severance agreement before. It was notarized. Have you forgotten?"
Howard's expression changed. "Mom, are you really going through with this? I thought that was just for you to vent—how can it count?"
"I'm the legitimate heir of the Gray family. If you don't find me, won't you have no successor?"
"That's not for you to worry about." Susan sneered.
She leaned back in her wheelchair, not even bothering to look at them. "Anything else? If not, show them out."
Iris panicked. She bit her lip and stepped forward, her voice turning shrill. "Wait! My mother's inheritance was left with you for safekeeping back then—you said you were looking for some granddaughter!"
"Emily's been dead so many years—how could there possibly be a granddaughter? You probably swallowed it all yourself!"
"Hand over the inheritance now, and Howard and I will never bother you again!"