Chapter 4

Evan Carter's POV

My legs gave out, and I sank into a crouch, trembling uncontrollably.

Maya got to her feet and started toward me. Before she could take another step, Adrian swept her into his arms and hurried toward the exit, heading straight for the hospital.

Just before leaving, he looked back at me, his expression dark. "Evan, if anything happens to Maya or our baby, you'll answer to me."

I had barely managed to get back on my feet when the reporters swarmed me.

Microphones were shoved toward my face from every direction.

"Mr. Carter, Mr. Whitmore claims you've been pursuing his wife. Were you knowingly having an affair with a married woman?"

"You were the other man, and you still had the nerve to confront her husband?"

Every accusation, every contemptuous stare cut into me.

My breathing grew faster and shallower until I could barely get enough air.

The room seemed to close in around me. Then everything went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital.

The television was playing the news. Footage of Adrian punching me had made headlines.

Except somehow, I was the villain. I was the other man who had shown up to cause a scene—a broke nobody being kept on the side by a wealthy heiress.

I didn't even notice Maya entering the room.

"Evan, the baby's fine. You're lucky. If anything had happened, both our families would've come after you. Even I wouldn't have been able to protect you."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "Maya, what exactly are we now?"

She looked away. "Evan, I'll make this up to you. Just issue a public apology. Once the scandal dies down, we can go back to the way things were."

She pressed a bank card into my hand. "There's no spending limit. Buy whatever you want. You'll never have to worry about money again."

I threw the card onto the floor. "I'm not apologizing. Not now. Not ever."

Maya sighed. "Evan, don't blame me for what happens next."

She bent down, picked up the card, and slipped it back into my hand.

Her voice was quiet, but there was a finality to it that unsettled me.

At the time, I didn't understand what she meant.

I did the next morning when I saw the public statement.

According to Maya's statement, I'd demanded a fortune from her, and when she refused to pay, I'd stormed into the press conference and made up the entire story to ruin her reputation.

Adrian posted their marriage certificate as proof and accused me of deliberately trying to destroy their marriage.

But what truly sealed my fate was my own family.

They posted a video apologizing on my behalf and announced that they were cutting all ties with me.

My mother sobbed into the camera. "Evan used to be such a good kid. I never imagined he'd grow up to do something like this."

My father let out a heavy sigh. "What a disgrace. I don't know how we raised a son who could do something so shameful."

The video racked up more than 100,000 likes.

By then, it felt like the entire internet had turned against me. But there was one thing none of them knew.

My parents and I hadn't been family for years. They'd thrown me out when I was 16. From that day on, I had no family at all.

My phone rang. It was my mother.

I answered and asked calmly, "How much did Maya pay you?"

"Oh, come on. Don't take everything people say online so seriously." She brushed the question aside as if none of it mattered. "Anyway, your brother lost a lot of money recently. Send us 100,000 dollars for now. I'll text you the account details."

I hung up. Whatever hope I'd had left in my family disappeared with that call.

A notification popped up on my screen almost immediately afterward.

It was from work.

I'd been fired for "conduct unbecoming of an employee".

I'd given that company five years of my life. I had been one step away from a promotion.

And now, just like that, everything I'd worked for was gone.

Something inside me finally snapped.

I tore through the hospital room, knocking things over and smashing anything I could get my hands on.

One of the bodyguards reported what was happening to Maya.

Her response was simple. "Let him. Whatever he breaks, I'll pay for it."

Maya came to pick me up herself on the day I was discharged. "Evan, go home and take some time to recover. Once things settle down, I'll arrange another position for you at the company.

"I've already had air conditioning installed at the house—a top-of-the-line system. You won't have to spend another day sweating through the summer.

"And if you don't want to live there anymore, that's fine too. I can get you a mansion, a luxury penthouse, whatever you want."

I laughed, but there was nothing remotely happy about it. "And then what? I keep being your secret lover? Let the whole world call me a shameless homewrecker?"

Maya instinctively reached for me. I stepped away before she could touch me.

"Evan, when the time is right, I'll find a way to divorce Adrian. I'll give you the wedding and the marriage certificate I owe you."

I felt strangely numb as I looked at her. "Don't bother."

Maya frowned. "Evan, stop being like this. Who else is ever going to treat you as well as I do?"

I didn't answer because there was someone in this world who would love me without asking for anything in return; it just wasn't her.

I opened a message thread and typed, "I want to come home. Come get me."

The reply came almost instantly. "Okay. I'm on my way."

A few minutes later, a black sedan pulled up outside the hospital. Maya assumed it was the car I'd booked and walked me out herself.

Even as I was about to get in, she kept a firm grip on my wrist. "Evan, call me when you get home. Once I've taken care of everything here, I'll come to Northbridge and find you."

I said nothing. I simply pulled away, climbed into the car, and stared straight ahead.

Maya didn't know it yet. But this time, I wasn't going back to Northbridge.

And I was never coming back to her.