Chapter 4

Evelyn put away her phone and completed her discharge paperwork with an expressionless face.

She had just returned to her room to collect her belongings when a sweet, taunting voice sounded behind her.

“What, Adrian didn’t come running when you called? Oh, and you just had an abortion, yet he still left you the moment I called him from the hospital roof. I’m so sorry!”

Evelyn turned around.

Vanessa Sinclair stood a few steps away, her chin tilted slightly upward, her eyes brimming with undisguised arrogance.

“Honestly, I almost feel sorry for you. You suffered alongside him when you were young, and now that you’re past your prime, you have absolutely nothing to show for it.

“The only thing Adrian ever felt guilty about was how he treated you back then, and he’s made up for all of it through me. You’ve spent years begging for scraps of his affection, but has he ever truly looked at you?

“Tell you what. Get down on your knees and bark like a dog, and I’ll let you have his time today. How about—”

She never finished the sentence.

Evelyn slapped her so hard and swiftly that the last few words died in her throat.

“If Adrian is willing to sleep with you, why hasn’t he given you a proper title?”

Vanessa clutched her reddened cheek, her eyes widening in disbelief.

“You—!”

Evelyn raised her hand and slapped her again, silencing whatever she had been about to say.

She shook out her stinging hand and curled her lips into a faint smile.

“If he won’t give you a title, I can give you one myself.

“How about beast? You’re a horny beast, and he’s a cheating piece of trash.

“You two can even use matching couple names online. You’d make quite the pair. How romantic!”

Two overlapping red handprints quickly appeared on Vanessa’s face.

Yet instead of getting angry, a calculating glint flashed through her eyes.

She grabbed the neckline of her own dress and was about to tear it when Evelyn beat her to it.

Rip!

The fabric split from the neckline all the way down to her waist.

Vanessa looked down at her exposed skin, and the smile vanished from her face, replaced by sheer panic.

Screaming, she clutched her dress closed and stumbled toward the hospital entrance.

Adrian arrived just then.

The moment he saw Vanessa stumble into his arms, her clothes disheveled and tears streaking her face, his pupils contracted sharply.

“Who did this?”

His voice was low and ominous, like the calm before a storm.

Vanessa lifted her tear-filled eyes and gently tugged at his sleeve.

“Evelyn found out we were at the same hospital. She dragged me out of my room and all the way here, then tore my dress apart. She said she wanted everyone to see how I seduced you...”

Adrian immediately wrapped an arm around Vanessa and pulled her into his embrace, making no attempt to hide his protectiveness.

He looked up at Evelyn, and the warmth in his eyes dropped to freezing cold.

“Evelyn, you’ve gone too far this time.”

Evelyn stared at the hand protecting the woman in his arms. The disgust churning in her stomach threatened to overwhelm her.

Suddenly, she let out a mocking laugh.

The next second, she snatched up the medical chart beside her and swung it viciously toward Vanessa’s face.

The chart sliced through the air, stopping less than an inch from Vanessa’s nose.

Terrified, Vanessa shrank into Adrian’s arms and let out a sharp scream.

Evelyn withdrew her hand, her tone almost casual.

“Now that’s going too far. Do you see the difference?”

Adrian immediately pulled Vanessa behind him. Then he seized Evelyn by the wrist and looked down at her, his gaze filled with a frightening, almost feral coldness.

Faced with those unfamiliar, icy eyes, Evelyn took a step closer instead of backing away.

“What is that look for? Are you thinking of killing me to make it up to her?”

The air fell silent for a moment.

Adrian froze.

It was as though something had shattered the instant her words fell between them.

He abruptly released her wrist and lowered his eyes, looking almost ashamed.

When he spoke again, his voice had softened, carrying an awkward, almost clumsy attempt at an explanation.

“Evelyn, that’s not what I meant. Have you forgotten what people used to say about your mother?

“I was only trying to remind you that you shouldn’t use the same tactics to tear another woman’s clothes off...”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He wanted to say more, but the moment his eyes met hers, the words died in his throat.

The eyes that had once gazed at him with nothing but tenderness now held hatred.

Evelyn met his gaze and stepped closer, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

“Tactics? Adrian Whitmore, what tactics?

“For example, can you even tell how old the personality standing in front of you is right now?”

His pupils contracted sharply, and a flicker of disorientation passed through his eyes.

The year they’d first met, she’d caught him off guard with the same question.

During a high school study period, he’d refused to follow Evelyn’s instructions and had deliberately challenged her in front of everyone, acting like he couldn’t care less.

But she’d countered every taunt with calm, measured retorts until he’d been left speechless at his desk.

A moment later, he’d suddenly broken into a grin, raised an eyebrow, and leaned toward her with shameless audacity.

“Evelyn Hart, why do you talk just like my mom?”

Back then, she’d looked at him exactly as she was looking at him now, a hint of mockery in her eyes.

“Adrian Whitmore, do you have dissociative identity disorder? How old is the personality standing in front of me right now?”

The same eyes. The same tone.

Memories of their old battles, separated from the present by nearly a decade, came crashing back over him.

Adrian looked as though he’d been struck hard. His lips moved unconsciously, but it took him a long time to manage a single hoarse word.

“Evelyn...”

The fragile bewilderment in his voice made it seem as though, for a brief moment, the mature, stern man had disappeared, leaving behind the teenage boy who’d once been rendered speechless by her sharp tongue, only to find himself secretly intrigued.

Evelyn paid no attention to the wavering in his eyes. She simply looked at him calmly.

“What are you going to do about it? If I take off my own clothes to make it up to her, will that be enough?”

He seemed not to have fully emerged from his daze. He had just begun to reach for her when Vanessa reacted even faster.

Crying, she grabbed his arm and dug her fingers tightly into his sleeve, holding him firmly in place.

Evelyn watched the two of them clinging to each other, her eyes utterly devoid of emotion.

The next second, she calmly took off her own jacket.

“Is this enough?”