Chapter 29 Chapter 29. Zoria’s Ultrasound With Evander
Faye narrowed her eyes lazily as the rocking chair swayed gently beneath her. Zoria, Zoria, I had planned to let you be at peace for a few more days. But you walked straight into my blade yourself, so do not blame me for being ruthless.
……
When Evander saw Zoria, he was quite surprised and asked with concern, "Why are you at the hospital? Are you not feeling well?"
"No." Zoria shook her head. Guilt flickered in her eyes. Last time, when Evander was beaten by Zephyr, she had not even managed to apologize. After that, she did not dare secretly meet him again, afraid of dragging him into trouble.
"I am sorry. You were hurt because of me last time."
Out of habit, Evander reached out and rubbed Zoria’s head, speaking lightly. "It had nothing to do with you."
Even so, Zoria still felt uneasy and looked worriedly at his hand. "Is your hand alright?"
Evander was a surgeon. His hands were the most important thing to him.
"It was not serious. It healed a long time ago. If you do not believe me, look." As he spoke, he moved his wrist in front of her.
Only then did Zoria finally relax.
Evander led Zoria into his office, closed the door, poured her a glass of water, set it in front of her, and asked, "Has Zephyr been giving you a hard time lately?"
"No."
Thinking of how Zephyr had flown into a rage last time for no clear reason, suspecting something improper between her and Evander, Zoria felt confused. They were cousins who had grown up together, shared the same bottle of water, even worn the same pair of pants as kids. How could Evander possibly like her?
Zoria took a sip of water, glanced at Evander from the corner of her eye, and discovered he was looking at her with a gentle, focused gaze. It was as if she was the only one in his eyes. Her heart panicked, and she became so distracted that she choked on the water.
"Why are you so careless?" Evander stepped behind her and gently patted her back. His gaze drifted down unintentionally and landed on a mark on Zoria’s slender neck.
He frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Are you and Zephyr still doing that?"
Zoria turned her head in confusion to look at him.
Evander took a deep breath, knowing there were things he should not say. But the suffocating feeling in his chest made it impossible to hold back.
So he raised his hand and touched the mark on Zoria’s neck.
"There is a love bite here."
Zoria instinctively lifted a hand to cover it. That motion looked like concealment in Evander’s eyes. He sighed, feeling both heartache and anger on her behalf. "Zoria, do you still love him?"
Evander’s interrogating voice pressed close to her ear and sounded painfully sharp.
Zoria raised a hand to the back of her neck. Her cold fingers brushed against the kiss mark that was still there, and she could still feel a faint, tingling ache. That kiss must have been too rough last night, Zephyr clearly had not held back.
"I do not love him." She said those four words with absolute certainty. Whether she was saying them to Evander or to herself, she allowed no room for doubt.
Evander took a deep breath and changed the subject. "Have you felt uncomfortable anywhere lately?"
What Evander cared about most was still the relationship between Zoria and Zephyr. But he had no position to criticize them, so he could only clumsily interrupt the conversation this way.
Zoria remembered why she had come today, and a warm feeling rose in her chest. She placed a hand over her stomach. "I felt the baby move, so I wanted to do a color ultrasound to see if the baby is healthy."
A trace of bitterness welled up inside Evander, but he did not show it. His expression remained gentle, as it always was.
Evander led Zoria into the ultrasound room, pointing at the computer screen as he explained everything carefully. Zoria watched the screen intently, her right hand instinctively resting on her belly, stroking it gently.
The baby was very healthy, just lacking nutrition, which made him look much smaller than expected, not like a four month old fetus at all.
Zoria decided she would stop by the supermarket later to buy some nutritional supplements.
After leaving the hospital, Zoria remembered that she still needed to buy bruise relief medicine and wound ointment for Faye.
When Evander saw her buying the medicine, he frowned slightly, but in the end he said nothing, only reminding her to be careful.
Zoria immediately knew he had misunderstood and explained, "These are not for me."
Evander walked Zoria out of the hospital. It had just rained in the early morning, and the road was slippery. Afraid she might fall, he carefully held her hand as they walked. His large hand wrapped around her small, cold one, and for a moment it felt like they had returned to their cubhood.
Having just seen the ultrasound image, Zoria was in a wonderful mood, her face glowing with a happy smile. She was already beautiful, and every frown or smile drew the attention of passersby.
Standing by the roadside waiting for a taxi, Evander looked at Zoria and could not help asking, "Zoria, how long do you plan to keep lying to Zephyr like this?"
When Zoria lowered her head and stayed silent, Evander spoke again. "The fetus will keep growing. Sooner or later Zephyr will find out. When he asks, how are you going to explain it?"
It was not that Zoria had never thought about these issues. Every time she did, cold sweat would break out on her back. She wanted to leave Zephyr, but he used her father as leverage, and she did not dare take the risk.
"I went to the detention center earlier to see Uncle Kieran."
"Is my dad doing okay?" After the last court session, she had not been able to see him again. One reason was that Zephyr would not allow it. Another was that she felt she had no face to see her father.
Evander replied, "Uncle Kieran is fine. He is always worried about you. He even asked me about how you are doing, and whether you have cut off the bond with Zephyr."
Zoria’s eyes dimmed, and a bitter feeling rose in her chest.
"Then did you tell him about what is going on between me and Zephyr?" Zoria did not want her father to worry about her while he was in prison.
"I did not. But Uncle Kieran could tell you were not living well. As for your mother..." Evander suddenly stopped. He realized he had never told her that her parents had already severed their bond.
Zoria gave a soft laugh, as if she already understood. "I know. My parents separated. Last time I went to you to get prenatal vitamins, I ran into my mother on the way back. She was choosing mate bonding jewelry with another male."
The more indifferent she sounded, the more it hurt Evander to listen.