Chapter 25: "She Harmed Our Baby!"
Meanwhile, in Sienna’s room, a maid was bowing her head, reporting everything she had just overheard outside the door to Sienna.
“The Master said he would hand the child over to the Mistress for raising once it is born.”
Crash!
The crystal vase on the table was violently swept onto the floor, shattering into countless pieces.
Sienna’s face was contorted with fury. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes filled with jealousy and venom.
So, she was nothing but a tool for childbearing from beginning to end! Damian had never planned to marry her, and he even intended to snatch this child—this non-existent child for whom she had faked a pregnancy report—and give it to that slut Evelyn!
No, absolutely not! She had spent six years scheming to get to this point, and she would absolutely not let Evelyn ruin everything. She had to get Evelyn out of this house, and fast, forever!
The next morning, the vibration of her phone woke Evelyn from her stupor.
It was an email from Professor Hays.
Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat. She clicked it open with trembling hands, the white light from the screen stinging her eyes.
[Design Draft Review Passed. Final round requires a physical sample for evaluation.]
Passed? She actually passed.
A faint ember reignited in the ashes, but the cold water of reality extinguished it in the next second.
Physical sample. This meant she needed top-quality fabrics, a professional pattern maker, and a fully equipped studio. All of this required money, and she was penniless. Damian controlled all her spending; every single bill went through his review. She was like a bird caged in a gilded cage, stripped even of the strength to struggle.
Despair engulfed her once more.
Just then, her phone chimed again with a text message from an unknown number.
[I am back in the country, but due to some urgent matters, I cannot proceed with the original plan to get you out yet.]
It was the person she had contacted. Evelyn’s heart sank; her last retreat was now blocked.
Before she could reply, the person’s second message immediately followed.
[If you are in urgent need of funds, I have a proposition. Create a design draft for me. Name your price.]
Evelyn froze. She remembered the person behind this account, the one who had sponsored her throughout university, signed as “Mr. K.” She had paid back all the sponsorship immediately after graduation and severed contact. Mr. K had more than once advised her not to abandon her career for a man.
Now, it seemed he was right.
She had no choice.
[Okay.] She replied with a single word.
Almost instantly, a huge sum of money was transferred to her private account. The string of numbers made her eyes widen.
Immediately, Mr. K’s message arrived again. [Requirements will follow later. Do not disappoint me.]
Evelyn looked at the initial "K" in the sender’s name and a face suddenly flashed in her mind: Ryan K. Lawrence. Could it be him?
She immediately dismissed this absurd thought. Mr. K’s tone of speaking was strictly business-like, whereas Ryan Lawrence was frivolous and womanizing. They were completely different people.
Evelyn shook her head, thinking she must be going mad to connect them.
She walked to the living room, picked up a red marker, and crossed off the days she had endured on the wall calendar. This calendar was originally used to track Damian’s important schedules and their ridiculous anniversaries. But now, it served as her countdown.
Her fingertip traced the remaining squares, and she counted silently.
Two months and twelve days left. This was the deadline she had set for herself. By then, her pregnancy would be impossible to hide. She had to escape Damian with her child before that time.
“You look very busy, Evelyn.” A sweet voice drifted down from the staircase.
Sienna was leaning against the railing on the second floor, looking down at her. She was wearing a silk nightgown that clung to her body, outlining her proud curves. Clutched between her slender fingers was a folded piece of paper—the style of a hospital lab report.
Evelyn’s heart plummeted, as if it had been seized by a tight grip.
“Why are you so nervous?” Sienna chuckled, gracefully walking down the stairs. She shook the paper in her hand. “Damian does not know yet, does he? That his discarded wife is actually carrying his child.”
Evelyn’s blood seemed to freeze.
“How about we make a bet?” Sienna walked up to her, lightly tapping Evelyn’s cheek with the report. “Let us bet on whose child will be born first. The winner gets to keep Damian forever.”
Evelyn’s rationality was completely ignited at that moment. She could not let Sienna take this report to Damian, she could not let her use her child as leverage!
“Give it back to me!” Evelyn hissed, reaching out to grab it.
“Oh, what is the rush?” Sienna skillfully dodged her.
Evelyn lunged at her like a madwoman. Her fingertips had just brushed the corner of the report when a strange glint flashed in Sienna’s eyes.
In that instant, Sienna seemed to lose all her strength. Her body went limp, and she let out an exaggerated scream. “Ah!” She tumbled down the last few steps of the staircase, landing heavily on the floor.
Everything happened too fast. Evelyn was still frozen in her forward-lunge posture.
Sienna lay on the ground, curled into a ball, her face deathly pale, both hands clutching her lower abdomen. Painful moans escaped her lips.
“My baby... my baby...”
A flash of stinging red seeped out from between her fingers, quickly spreading on her light-colored nightgown. Blood.
Evelyn’s pupils contracted suddenly, her mind blank.
“Evelyn... you are so cruel...” Sienna looked up. “I know you do not like me... but how could you harm an unborn child...”
Just then, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the main door. Click, the door opened.
Damian’s tall figure appeared in the doorway. He seemed to have returned on an impulse, a trace of fatigue still visible on his face. However, the moment he registered the scene in the living room, all his expressions froze.
Sienna instantly looked like she had found a lifeline. She stretched out her hands toward him with all her might. “Damian... save our baby... it was her... she pushed me! I just... I just wanted to show her my report...”