Chapter 179: There Is Nothing Between Claire and Me

When Harper fully regained consciousness after her fever broke, dawn was already approaching. She realized her clothes were gone, and she was being held in a man's arms.

Because she was familiar enough with Evan, even without any lights in the room, she knew it was him holding her.

She hadn't expected Evan to find this place so quickly.

Harper pushed at Evan. "Let go of me. Why are you holding me so tight?"

Evan's tone was innocent. "I'm not the one who wanted to hold you—you asked me to. You kept saying you were cold and burrowing into my arms. What was I supposed to do..."

Harper let out a derisive laugh. "Even so, I couldn't have taken off my own clothes. Would I really strip down while complaining about being cold?"

This was something he couldn't explain away, since he'd been the one to undress her.

When Evan didn't answer, Harper continued, "We're already divorced. You and Claire are about to get engaged. Continuing like this isn't appropriate, and I don't like sharing a man with another woman."

Evan's arms tightened, pulling Harper even closer. He spoke in a low voice near her ear, "Claire and I have a completely innocent relationship. The baby isn't mine—you know that. She's pregnant, so how could I do something so despicable? As for before that, I never touched her."

This surprised Harper. If she remembered correctly, Evan and Claire had been in a relationship three years ago.

During her three-year marriage to Evan, he and Claire had never avoided her—they'd always been openly together, coming and going as they pleased. And Evan had seemed to dote on Claire.

Now he was telling her they were completely innocent and had never been intimate. She found it hard to believe. "But I saw you two at that bar, mouth-to-mouth, sharing a drink."

"We've kissed, I admit that. We've held hands too. But we never slept together." Evan explained again. After all, they were a couple—kissing and holding hands were normal. He didn't deny it.

Harper thought about it and decided to believe him. On this matter, Evan had no reason to lie to her.

Evan tucked the blanket around Harper. "Don't think about it anymore. Get some sleep. Dawn's coming soon."

Harper did still feel exhausted. She murmured a soft acknowledgment, closed her eyes, and drifted back to sleep.

The sun had already risen, but Maria hadn't found Evan at home, which made her anxious. She came looking for him herself. "Mr. Morgan, Mr. Morgan, are you up? How's your sister? Can you still come to my house today?"

Harper had just woken up when she heard a woman's voice outside. After listening carefully, she recognized it as Maria's voice.

That sickeningly sweet tone made Harper understand immediately what the woman was here for. "Didn't realize you had such appeal—people like you even here. Also, since when did I become your sister?"

"It just seemed more appropriate to say it that way." Evan had already gotten dressed. After saying this, he walked out to deal with Maria.

When he opened the door and stepped outside, he saw Maria standing in the courtyard. Today she'd clearly made an effort—she wore light makeup, and her dress was nicer than yesterday's, making her look more attractive.

Seeing Evan emerge, she immediately rushed to his side. "Mr. Morgan, my dad's already prepared a whole table of food at home. Everyone's waiting for you. Can you come now?"

Just then, Harper walked out of the room. She completely ignored Maria. "I'm going next door to check on Nicholas."

Without waiting for Evan to respond, she walked straight out of the courtyard to the neighboring house.

Maria didn't care at all about being ignored—all her attention was focused on Evan, waiting for his answer.

Since he kept not responding while her gaze remained fixed on his face, Evan finally replied, "I need to check on my friend first. I'll come to your house after that."

"Okay, I'll wait for you." As long as Evan was willing to come to her house, Maria would agree to anything.

Afterward, Maria continued waiting in the courtyard while Evan went to Nicholas's room.

When Harper entered the room, she found Nicholas already up. His condition was much better than yesterday—at least his face wasn't so pale anymore. "How are you? Does your chest still hurt?"

"It hurts, but it's better than yesterday. I have the strength to walk today. We can leave whenever." Nicholas nodded. He could hold out until getting back to the hospital for treatment.

One night in this place was enough—he didn't want to stay any longer.

Evan followed close behind and walked in. "You two wait here for a bit. I need to go to the village chief's house."

Nicholas was puzzled. "Why are you going to the village chief's house?"

Harper added sarcastically, "The village chief's daughter is outside waiting for him. Looks like she wants to marry him. I'd say he's got quite the appeal—came to this little fishing village and landed himself a wife."

Nicholas's mouth twitched. He felt grateful that he'd been in poor condition yesterday, or the village chief's daughter might have set her sights on him instead.

Evan didn't bother explaining. Seeing that both of them were in decent shape, he walked out. Leo had also finished getting ready and followed at Evan's side.

On the way back, Maria started talking again. The content was all the same—praising her father, praising her brother, praising Evan, repeating over and over how much she liked him.

The village chief had indeed prepared a table full of good food and was waiting at home. Mike was thinking about how Harper had escaped last night, feeling rather irritated.

He'd wanted to go out looking for her, but his father had kept him home, saying they were expecting guests—that his sister had found herself a boyfriend.

This piqued Mike's interest. He knew his sister—she didn't think any of the village men were good enough for her.

He wondered just how good-looking this man his sister had her eye on must be, since she'd brought him straight home.

"Dad, did my sister say anything about the guy's background? We don't want her getting scammed." After all, she was his sister—Mike hoped for the best for her.

The village chief said happily, "Your sister came back yesterday saying he runs a company and even brought an assistant. From the looks of it, the company must be pretty big. Once your sister marries him, she'll definitely have a good life."