Chapter 213: The Pregnancy
The smell of hospital disinfectant was overpowering, mixed with the faint scent of copper.
Evelyn opened her eyes. The anesthesia was wearing off, replaced by a dull, throbbing ache in her abdomen. She turned her head and saw Ryan sitting by the bed. The man who was usually so arrogant and full of life looked like a lost child, his head bowed, holding her hand in his.
His handmade shirt was scorched black, the cuffs stained with dried blood—Bernie’s, and hers.
"Ryan," she whispered.
He snapped his head up, his bloodshot eyes filled with a mix of relief and terror. He didn't say a word. He stood up and kissed her forehead with extreme care. "The doctor says you need rest. Don't move. Please."
The door opened. A female doctor walked in, checking her chart. She smiled. "It's good that you're awake. Vitals are stable."
The doctor’s tone became serious but grateful. "Mr. Lawrence, your wife suffered trauma and shock, but the baby is a fighter. Heart rate is normal."
Ryan’s hand froze as he was tucking her in. Evelyn went still. She instinctively placed her hand on her flat stomach.
A baby? After an explosion? After being thrown against concrete? This little life was still there?
"You'll need absolute bed rest for the next few weeks due to the blood loss," the doctor cautioned before leaving.
Ryan remained frozen for thirty seconds. Then he slowly turned his gaze to her stomach. He dropped to one knee by the bed, pressing his face into the blankets. His shoulders shook violently. There was no sobbing, just the sound of a man struggling to breathe under the weight of it all.
Bernie was dead. His best friend had died in front of him. And on this night of smoke and death, the universe had handed him a new life.
"We have a family, Evelyn," Ryan said, looking up. His eyes were red, but he gritted his teeth. "I swear, this is the last time you'll be in danger. I’m going to give you, Elias, and this baby a real home. Anyone who wants to touch you will have to step over my corpse."
A small, messy head poked through the door. Elias looked in timidly until Evelyn waved him over. He ran to the bed but stopped short, remembering Ryan’s warning that his mother was hurt.
He stood on his tiptoes, staring at her stomach. "The doctor lady said there’s a little sister in there?" He reached out, then hesitated.
"Or a brother," Evelyn said, her eyes tearing up. She took his small hand and placed it on her belly. "You're going to be a big brother, Elias."
"I'll protect them!" Elias puffed out his chest. "Just like Uncle Ryan protects Mommy!"
Ryan pulled them both into a hug. Finally, there was warmth in the room.
Late that night, after Elias had fallen asleep on the guest bed, Ryan sat on the sofa with the USB drive Bernie had died for. The cold light of the laptop reflected on his hard face.
Evelyn leaned against her pillows as a top-secret document appeared on the screen. It wasn't just a business secret. It was a thirty-year chronicle of the Lawrence family’s sins.
The earliest file was signed thirty years ago by Victor Lawrence. To win a power struggle within the family, a young Victor had funded a mercenary group called "The Vipers"—the predecessor of the Twin Snakes. He used them to eliminate rivals and secure smuggling routes.
The pages were a horror story. Then, a wire transfer from twenty years ago caught Evelyn’s eye.
Recipient: Madeleine Lawrence Note: Atonement Fund
Attached was a scanned entry from Victor’s private journal: [I shouldn't have let the demon out. The Snakes are out of control. They are attacking the family. Madeleine found the truth. I am powerless to protect her; I can only fund her escape. This is my greatest sin...]
Her mother’s flight hadn't just been a discovery of the truth; it was a desperate, failed attempt at protection by Victor as things spiraled out of his control. All those anonymous donations Evelyn had received in the orphanage? They came from the "cold-blooded" patriarch.
A knock came at the door. Victor Lawrence was wheeled in. In just a few days, the man seemed to have aged a decade. His hair was white, his breathing labored.
Ryan didn't stand. He just watched his adoptive father. Victor signaled his guards to leave and rolled his chair to Evelyn’s bedside.
"I know you hate me," Victor said, his eyes full of regret. "If I had been stronger, if I had cut ties with them sooner, maybe she wouldn't have died. I watched you grow up, but I didn't dare claim you. I knew the moment you returned to this family, you’d become a target."
"So you just watched me struggle in the mud?" Evelyn asked, her voice sharp. "You watched me get bullied by Damian? You watched me live on the streets? You call that protection?"
Victor opened his mouth, but no words came. He had been afraid. He thought money and distance would keep her safe, but he had underestimated the Twin Snakes' greed.
"I am sorry." The man who had spent his life as the arrogant head of an empire apologized to his niece in the middle of the night.
"I know it doesn't change anything. Ryan, take the drive to the police. I will turn myself in. If I die in prison, it is no more than I deserve."