Chapter 4

Evelyn looked down at the pen in her hand, then slowly lifted her eyes to meet Carter’s cold, unyielding gaze. Despite the ash in her chest, a tiny, foolish spark of her old self wanted to give him one final chance.

"Carter," she whispered, her voice cutting through the thick malice in the room. "Look me in the eye and answer me. Do you truly want this divorce? Do you truly want nothing to do with Lily? Are you completely casting us out?"

Carter didn't even hesitate. He crossed his arms, his chest puffing out with arrogant finality. "Every single word. You and that brat are a stain on my reputation. I want you stripped from my life by tomorrow morning."

Evelyn let out a breath that sounded like a laugh, though it held no joy. Slowly, she guided his gaze down to her hand, which was still resting protectively over her lower abdomen.

"What if I told you I went to the clinic this morning?" Evelyn said softly, her voice echoing in the sterile kitchen. "What if I told you I am pregnant, Carter? I am carrying your second child. The son you have been begging me for."

Carter froze. For a fraction of a second, a flicker of shock and hesitation crossed his face. His eyes automatically dropped to her stomach.

But before the truth could sink in, Chloe let out a sharp, dramatic gasp. She instantly grabbed Carter’s arm, her eyes wide with manufactured horror.

"Oh, Carter, no..." Chloe whimpered, looking at Evelyn with profound pity. "Evelyn, how can you lie like this? You just saw the photos of yourself at the luxury hotel with that billionaire. Now, the moment Carter asks for a divorce, you suddenly claim to be pregnant? Even if you are pregnant... whose child is it really? Are you trying to trap Carter into raising your lover's bastard?"

Helen’s face distorted with absolute rage. "You vile, shameless creature!" she screamed, lunging forward. "You cheat on my son, and now you want him to pay for another man's mistake?! You want a bastard to inherit the Vance fortune?!"

The poison from Chloe and Helen instantly erased any doubt in Carter’s mind. The shock in his eyes turned into a blazing, murderous fury. He felt completely humiliated.

"You disgusting whore!" Carter roared.

Losing all control, he reached out and shoved Evelyn away with immense, violent force.

Evelyn’s weakened body was sent flying backward. Her feet slipped on the slick kitchen tile, and she crashed brutally into the sharp, jagged corner of a heavy stainless-steel prep table. The metal edge dug directly into her lower abdomen.

A sharp, blinding agony exploded through her core. Evelyn gasped, falling to her knees on the cold floor. A white-hot pain tore through her womb, so intense it made her vision go black around the edges. She instinctively curled into a fetal position, clutching her stomach as tears finally spilled over her lashes.

Beneath her, a terrifying warmth began to spread. Bright, crimson blood began to pool rapidly onto the white tiles, staining the hem of her cheap beige dress.

She was losing the baby. Right here, on the floor of his celebration.

Chloe hid her face against Carter’s shoulder, smirking where he couldn't see. "Oh my god, Carter, look at the blood! She’s faking it, she must have brought something to make herself bleed! She's trying to frame you!"

Helen looked at the blood with total indifference. "Serves her right! Heaven is punishing her for trying to bring a bastard into our bloodline!"

Carter looked at Evelyn’s pale, sweat-slicked face, but his heart had turned entirely to stone. His pride was too deep. "Get up, Evelyn. Stop acting. Your cheap tricks won't work on me anymore."

Evelyn couldn't even speak. The pain was paralyzing. She could feel her child, her innocent baby, slipping away into the cold. She looked up at the man she had loved for three years, the man she had secretly made a billionaire, and felt nothing but a terrifying, sub-zero void. Her heart of stone was born in that exact second.

Just then, muffled cheers and applause erupted from the grand ballroom next door. The master of ceremonies’ voice echoed through the walls: "And now, let us welcome the CEO of Vance Group, Carter Vance, to the stage!"

"Carter, the investors are waiting," Helen urged frantically, glancing at the kitchen doors. "If anyone comes in here and sees this mess, it will ruin the banquet! We can't let the media see her like this. They'll think we abused her!"

Carter glanced at his watch, then down at Evelyn, who was barely conscious, trembling in her own blood.

"Lock her away," Carter ordered coldly. He pointed to the massive, heavy stainless-steel door at the back of the kitchen. It was the commercial walk-in freezer. "Throw her in there until the banquet is over. We’ll handle the signing and throw her out after the guests leave."

Without an ounce of mercy, Carter and Helen grabbed Evelyn by her arms, dragging her limp, bleeding body across the floor. They threw her into the dark, freezing vault.

SLAM.

The heavy metal door shut, and the deadbolt clicked into place. Evelyn was left in the pitch-black, sub-zero dark, bleeding out on the frozen floor while her husband walked back out to the ballroom to receive his applause.