'Jane Jacobs is dead. That's an unchangeable fact. So why does Evelyn Grant, the instigator, get to walk away scot-free just because she was framed once?'
Julian Sterling's dark eyes narrowed. Then, he took out his phone and dialed his mother's number.
"Mom, Evelyn still won't forgive me. She even kicked me out!"
Hearing this, Florence Morgan started to say something, but all that came out was a sigh. "To be fair, you can't blame your wife for being angry! You sent her to prison over another woman. Who in her position would forgive so quickly?"
"Yeah, I know I was wrong." He deliberately deepened his voice, adding a pitiful note.
Just as he expected, Florence couldn't bear to scold her son any longer.
"It's good that you know you were wrong! As a woman myself, I'm absolutely certain that Eve loves you very much! At most, she'll just be angry for a little while longer. You just need to sweet-talk her a bit. There's no such thing as an overnight grudge between a husband and wife!"
"But… she won't give me a chance to win her over! And Ryan, instead of helping his own brother, he's always spiriting Evelyn away right from under my nose!"
'Today, I had a clear shot at dragging Evelyn away by force and getting rid of that bastard in her belly!'
"Ryan was probably just worried you two would fight again! He's your own brother, after all. Of course he wants to see your family at peace."
Florence gave him a few more words of advice before hanging up.
Julian sat on the living room sofa. The thought of Evelyn sleeping with some other man made his rage flare as if doused with gasoline, burning fiercely.
"You'd better hope I don't find out who it is! I'll make you both pay, you bastards!"
…
Evelyn couldn't get a read on the man Ryan Sterling had become, so she relented.
'What if he really was the type to act recklessly, without a care for the consequences? If he revealed that she had burst into his room on her own, asking her ex-husband's brother to get her pregnant…' She didn't dare to imagine the rest.
But even though she'd agreed, Evelyn still laid out three conditions.
"First, you absolutely cannot reveal to a single other soul that you're the father of my baby!"
Ryan was sitting on the sofa in her apartment. His long arms and legs made the sofa seem pitifully small and the entire living room feel cramped.
"How are you going to give birth by yourself, then? And how will you give the baby to me afterward?"
"That's none of your business. And don't worry, I won't ask you to be there with me." Evelyn had already thought it through. 'Once my belly starts to show, I'll hide it with loose dresses and skirts.'
'When I can't hide it anymore, I'll take my annual leave, lie to my mother about a business trip, and go to another city to give birth!'
Her tone was even more formal and business-like than Ryan's was when he was negotiating a deal.
He almost laughed in exasperation.
"Evelyn Grant, you're really committed to the word 'transaction,' aren't you."
"So, do you agree to the first condition?"
Ryan let out a derisive snort. "Agreed."
"Okay. Second condition: I'll move into the house you've arranged, but while I'm living there, you're not to touch any of my things."
He raised an eyebrow. "Got any valuables in there?"
Evelyn's expression faltered. "No."
Aside from what she gave her mother and brother, she had spent the rest of her monthly salary on Julian.
She didn't even own a single decent piece of jewelry.
"Then what of yours is there for me to mess with?"
"…"
"Third condition. Let's hear it."
Evelyn looked at him, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Back at the detention center, you had me sign the papers to marry you. We don't need that anymore. Let's go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow and get a divorce."
Ryan's hand, reaching for his cigarettes, froze. He clicked his tongue. "Can't do that."
She frowned. "Why?"
"We haven't gotten the birth permit for the child yet."