Chapter 45
Matthew no longer looked as disheveled as when he was first injured. He was wearing casual clothes.
Sitting in his wheelchair, he exuded a refined and scholarly demeanor.
Only his eyes revealed their sharpness.
Matthew, raised by the Thomas family, was not someone to be pushed around.
"I'm very sorry about what happened yesterday."
Benjamin didn't deny it. Instead, he bowed to Timothy and Hannah.
"I promised Evelyn but failed to deliver, which allowed others to take advantage."
"Please believe me, nothing like this will ever happen again."
Hannah was kind-hearted, and given the relationship between the Thomas family and the White family, she reached out to help Benjamin up.
"Alright, alright, since nothing happened..."
Following her gesture, Benjamin straightened up. "What happened yesterday was indeed my fault. You and Timothy can direct any dissatisfaction at me. I will properly compensate Evelyn and ensure nothing like this happens again."
His visit to the Thomas Villa today clearly meant he and Evelyn had talked things through.
Plus, since Evelyn hadn't actually been harmed, it would seem a bit unreasonable for the adults to keep making a fuss.
But the person who was kidnapped and nearly assaulted was Evelyn. She hadn't even come home to complain—it was Matthew who brought it up.
This left Hannah feeling uncomfortable.
"Benjamin."
Timothy's voice rang out. "We've seen everything you've done for Evelyn before."
"Accidents are inevitable, and we can understand that."
"But what do you mean by letting him go?"
Timothy's measured tone wasn't exactly an accusation, but he clearly wanted an explanation.
"According to the police investigation, he used force to make my driver tell him where Evelyn was. But why would he go looking for my driver in the first place?"
Even Benjamin's driver wouldn't normally know Evelyn's whereabouts.
But the fact that Louis happened to pick up Evelyn was still suspicious.
"Is there a mole among your people?" Timothy narrowed his eyes.
Before Benjamin could deny it, Matthew let out a cold laugh.
"So you wanted to use Evelyn as bait to help you root out the mole?"
"Our Thomas family's young lady absolutely cannot do such dangerous things!"
She was Timothy and Hannah's treasure, and if Benjamin's people had problems, how much trouble would that bring her?
Hannah immediately became displeased, and Timothy frowned as well.
"I just said I would never let Evelyn fall into danger."
"Anyone can say that!" Matthew pressed on, trying to use this incident to make the Thomas family think Benjamin was unreliable.
Evelyn had already pulled Benjamin to sit on the sofa.
"Mom, Dad, he'll handle it properly."
Evelyn's trust in him was one thing, but more importantly, she didn't want to see Matthew acting so arrogant.
"Evelyn."
For once, Timothy didn't indulge her. "We're happy that you two get along, but nothing can come at the cost of your safety. Benjamin must explain clearly how he plans to handle this."
Timothy's concern for her left her unable to argue with him further.
Helplessly, she looked at Benjamin.
He reassuringly held her hand, gently rubbing it.
His natural and familiar gesture silently declared that their relationship had progressed further.
Timothy and Hannah's expressions were mixed with joy and worry, while Matthew's face looked far less pleasant.
How could Evelyn, who had always followed him around, suddenly turn to someone else's embrace?
If she really got together with Benjamin, what he planned to do in the future would become much more difficult.
He absolutely wouldn't allow that to happen.
"Dad, Mom."
Pressuring Evelyn through Timothy and Hannah was the most convenient approach.
"Once Evelyn falls in love with someone, she becomes blind to everything. You need to be careful."
When Evelyn liked Matthew before, she had made quite a few embarrassing mistakes.
It was only under the combined pressure of Benjamin and the Thomas family that Evelyn hadn't done anything too outrageous.
But Timothy and Hannah were clearly troubled by this aspect of her personality.
"Evelyn, be good and come here."
Hannah had seen Evelyn suffer quite a bit over matters of the heart before.
This time, she didn't want to see that happen again.
"Mom," Evelyn linked her arm with Benjamin's, "I know what you're worried about, but he's different."
She smiled, glancing at Matthew with a hint of mockery in her eyes.
"No matter what happens, his favoritism is for me. He would never allow me to be harmed."
"So he must have his reasons. Just don't ask about it."
"If some villain is scheming and leaks his plan, that would be the real trouble."
Evelyn's words were reasonable and well-founded. More importantly, how could Timothy and Hannah not understand what she was implying?
Hannah wanted to say something, but Timothy gently patted her hand and spoke first.
"Let's eat first. We can discuss anything else later."
The atmosphere at the dinner table was fairly harmonious. Although Timothy and Hannah were somewhat dissatisfied, they wouldn't make things difficult for Benjamin.
Only Matthew looked displeased, making sarcastic remarks from time to time.
"Evelyn, it's not safe outside these days. You should move back home."
"No need. I'll go to Benjamin's place. He'll protect me."
Evelyn simply didn't want to go along with Matthew's wishes.
But after her words came out, the dinner table seemed to fall silent for a moment.
She realized that as an engaged couple, saying this in front of Timothy and Hannah was perhaps too direct.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Evelyn."
Benjamin acted as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual and continued her line of thought. "I've prepared a room for her at my villa. Everything she uses daily has been arranged according to her preferences. She won't be wronged."
On the surface, he was talking about treating her well, but he was subtly indicating that he had already prepared a room for her long ago.
With separate bedrooms, Timothy and Hannah couldn't very well object.
Besides, living together before marriage wasn't really a big deal, and they were properly engaged anyway.
For a moment, Timothy and Hannah couldn't stop them and quickly moved past the topic.
After dinner, Hannah went out to walk the dog, and Benjamin accompanied Timothy in a game of chess.
"Miss," a kitchen helper approached Evelyn, "the fruit tea you made before tasted really good. Could you teach me?"
She never put on airs, so she agreed and headed downstairs.
But as soon as she reached the living room, she saw Matthew.
Evelyn wasn't planning to acknowledge him, but he spoke first.
"He could abandon you once for someone else, so he could do it a second time. And you still want to move into his villa? Aren't you afraid of having nowhere to turn for help?"
"What do you mean by 'nowhere to turn for help'? You probably don't know, do you?"
Thinking of her past life in Zephyria's red-light district, her eyes filled with hatred, even reddening at the corners.
"No communication devices, locked in a sealed basement, seeing no one, only demons!"
"Benjamin would never let me fall into such a situation. What about you!"
Remembering her past life when he held Sophia, the disgust in his eyes as he looked at her, infinite rage surged through Evelyn's heart.
For a moment, she truly wanted to kill Matthew right then and there, consequences be damned!
Matthew was startled by the hatred on her face and momentarily did not react—not until her hand grabbed his throat!