Evelyn stood with the Stone family, waiting for the arrival of the guests. The guests seemed to be pretty prestigious given the level of enthusiasm and carefulness shown by everyone.The main branch of the Stone family had Richard and Susan Stone, both being Evelyn's grandparents; Caspian Stone, her birth father; Janice Stone, Annalise's mother; Annalise and her although she was hardly counted to be a part of the family; and Evan Stone, her half-brother in elementary.Evelyn's mother died before her birth, and there was nothing Evelyn knew of her, not even her name. This was because her birth mother was considered a stain, and that's why, measures were taken to erase her existence.Back when she was a child, she did request to see the woman, but that ended up with her receiving an deep injury to her forehead which needed stitches. From then on, she knew not to cross the boundaries.Evelyn stared down at her hands. They were covered up in bandages. She didn't treat them with much; she
"Marie's daughter? What do you mean? Are you confusing Evelyn with someone else? She is my and my wife's daughter."Marie? Was that her birth mother's name? Evelyn looked at Chairman Parker with anticipation and curiosity in her eyes. She wanted to know more of the woman who gave birth to her."I am not here to play games. I am here to take Marie's daughter back. She shouldn't stay in this filthy family anymore."Take her away?"Evelyn, I am sorry for being late. Won't you go with me?"Evelyn wanted to.For the first time, someone was so warm with her, and she wanted to follow along. Also there was Landon who came with Chairman Parker. Of course, she knew that the rest wouldn't spare her once they left and she was here all alone."I respect you, Chairman Parker, but you are going too far. Evelyn is going nowhere. She is my daughter. I can take care of her, and if you are going to force it, I will have to involve the legal department."The old man's expression changed to become more en
Throughout the car ride, the old man talked to Evelyn softly, trying to ease her nerves. She had to admit that she appreciated and felt touched by the effort, but it did very little to soothe the uneasiness.Even though she was welcomed by him, what about the rest of his family members? They shouldn't be fine with a stranger suddenly coming to live with them. There was a Landon as well.Despite being nice, it couldn't be that Landon w as s willing to be tied to her. The boy was so outstanding, and then, there was her— way below the average.Every glance at Landon only made her self-esteem go lower. However, at the same, a tiny hope of what if bloomed in her chest, spreading its roots more gradually.The car stopped in front of the mansion, and Evelyn entered. Her bag was taken away by the housekeeper, and Landon has been ordered by his grandfather to show her around.Although he maintained a nonchalant attitude, he introduced Evelyn to every corner of the mansion slowly and let her ha
"Chairman Parker, good morning," Evelyn greeted."Chairman Parker?" The old man laughed, making Evelyn's cheek heat up. "Now, don't be so formal and call me grandpa."This made her eyes widen yet feel welcomed at the same time. Seeing the old man look at her with anticipation in her eyes made Evelyn swallow the saliva.Then, she proceeded to reluctantly and slowly enunciate, "G-Grandpa."He smiled widely."Now, that's a good girl! Come, come, sit and eat. You must be starving."She nodded with a smile.And the weekend went by extremely well for Evelyn. For the first time, she had so much warmth in her life, and she could see that even though grandpa was busy, he tried his best to accompany her.Although she didn't get to see Landon much, the small glimpses she got of the teenager was enough to satisfy. She did feel like a stalker with how her eyes kept following him around.After that, with the weekend gone came the school days for her, and Evelyn dreaded it. Annalise would be sure to
Evelyn stared at the frozen lake. Her mind was contaminated with thoughts when she felt the push on her back. It was with a lot of strength, and it got her to harshly fall on the ice before sliding.And that's when she felt the ice beneath her cracking. This got her eyes to widen, and before she could manage to get herself off of there, she submerged in the ice-cold water.She heard a scream overpowering hers and did recall seeing Annalise's face last before falling into the water. Was Annalise finally scared after doing something to her?She shouldn't be. But if Evelyn were to be dead, that's something even Annalise can't escape from. Then again, Evelyn wouldn't know. The power of money was boundless.Her entire body was freezing, and she had a hard time breathing. It felt terrible, and she wanted to get away from there. She wanted to get out and started to struggle, panicking in the process.That's when, people started to gather, and the rescue came.Evelyn, who was slipping between
Grandpa Parker left to give the two sisters some place. As much as Evelyn didn't wish to be left alone at presence of a menace that Annalise was, she couldn't let the man know the relationship between them was off.Annalise had that signature evil smirk on her face as she revealed, "Do you know who called help for you?"Evelyn did faintly recall Annalise crying for help. Maybe there was someone else too. She couldn't exactly remember. Her memory was too blurry, and the freezing temperature made it difficult for her to focus back then."Landon," Annalise continued, "it's because of him that I called for help or else I would have left you to die there."Unexpectedly, Evelyn was not surprised that Annalise could even kill her. Maybe in her eyes, Annalise had long turned into a monster, having no signs of humanity.But why was Annalise telling her this now?It couldn't be that Annalise wanted Evelyn to know how deep her hatred for the girl ran."And Landon was there with me when we report
Strangely enough, May and Ashley treated her with absolute kindness. Even though she showed distance in the beginning, they didn't mind and kept on approaching her. It baffled her, extremely.What shocked her was when they apologized to her."I am sorry, Evelyn. I know it wasn't right of me to ignore it when you were being bullied by the rest," apologized May."Me too. I am sorry for being a coward. I was scared of what Annalise and her friends would do to me. But now, I have changed my mind. J will stick to you no matter. Well, if you allow me to," Ashley expressed.Nonetheless, slowly, she found herself opening up to them. After all, as a teenager, one of the things she had looked forward to more than having friends, and they did sound sincere. Even the rest were bothering her less these days.Maybe she could be finally be hopeful towards being happy.And the next few days went by so well that Evelyn almost felt as though it was a dream. She went out to have snacks with Ashley and M
One day after school, the three of them selected a restaurant to try out. It was new and luxurious. Usually, Evelyn would never frequent such restaurant where she needed to empty her pocket entirely to pay for a meal. It wasn't that she was a miser; she just felt it wasn't worth it.However, since Ashley and May were curious, Evelyn tagged along because they didn't wish to disappoint these friends she earned after ages. Her mentality then was to please them, so that they didn't get tired of her and left her.Once the meals had arrived, May dropped the drink on her skirt. It was annoying, but Evelyn couldn't being herself to be upset at her new friend. After all, she already apologized, and it was a mistake.Evelyn excused herself to the washroom to clean up. Her friends had all smiles on their face then. And the happy mood Evelyn had dropped slightly after returning from washroom. The two of them took pictures together in front of the food.Of course, this wasn't the first time this h
After all the teasing around and Evelyn being constantly flustered, she finally managed to cook the soup. Fortunately for her, Landon couldn't sit idle.He had his company to take care of. Therefore, he dressed up and left for his work, looking extremely regretful. It brought relief to Evelyn.She wanted to spend time with her baby Sophia.Although the girl was weak and pale, she stared at Evelyn with animated eyes as she fed her. After the girl was done eating, Evelyn patted on her head. Her heart tightened.Keeping her away from her daughter for so many years, Landon wasn't a good thing for sure.Seeing all the needle marks on her daughter's hand and how the girl could hardly walk made Evelyn's heart sink. After the little Sophia was done eating, Evelyn accompanied the girl to watch cartoons. Evelyn ate her breakfast while Sophia excitedly introduced her favorite characters to her mom.Evelyn listened in full interest.The little girl then raised her head and, staring at Evelyn exp
"That I can, but raising a family takes a lot of money. That's why, it is better to save money as much as possible," he voiced out.Evelyn's teeth dug into her lower lip, and she clenched her hand into a tight fist. Seeing the amusement twinkling in his eyes made her feel more aggravated.She wanted to bunch that face, but afraid of having from worse repercussions, she held back her action. Taking in how he acted these days, she was afraid of being told to do something ridiculous to make up to him.She raised her hand and pushed his chest away with her palms. He didn't resist and took a step behind. She took in a deep breath and pressed her forehead."Do whatever you want. Don't talk to me or else, believe it or not..." she trailed off, starting to think of a decent threat.Her eyes wandered around the place when she spotted the kitchen knife. She reached out to pull it out before pointing it towards Landon's throat."I will stab you. I really will. Even if I have to spend a lifetime
Sitting on the chair, Evelyn dozed off. Her head wobbled due to lack of support, and when it was about to fall down, Landon entered the room.He noticed her position. He hurriedly stepped ahead and placed his palm forward, letting her head rest on it. His eyes then fell on her face, unable to move them away as he saw her sleep peacefully. However, then her eyebrows furrowed.Those dark eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes. Her vision was hazy at first, and only upon focusing did Landon's tense expression fell into her line of sight.She quickly reacted by moving away from him, removing her head from his palm. Although Landon felt a sense of loss, he didn't let it show on his face.He placed his hand down and cleared his throat."Are you hungry? You haven't eaten dinner," he pointed out.Now that all of her intense emotions settled down, she could feel the hunger gnawing inside her stomach. But she kept her expression indifferent."No, I am fine. Where will I be staying?" she vo
Landon's words made her think.She couldn't deny that she felt happy and free during this period of three years. She thought she almost moved on, putting everything behind.If Landon gave her a couple more years, the past wouldn't even hurt her, and he will be erased from her heart entirely.But did that matter now when the truth came crushing down on her?All she felt was regret, hurt, and anger. Maybe she should have acted more stable back then. That would have probably given Landon the chance to tell her about everything."That would have been fine. According to you, in order to not let me be hurt then, you hid the matter from me and took away the option of having a choice from me. I could have endured that agony. At least that would allow me to stay by my child's side and support her through the pain. As her mother, that's my right and responsibility. Who are you to snatch that away from me? How would you feel if I did the same to you? Kept your child hidden from for years and m
Landon took in a deep breath and started, "In the beginning, even I thought that she didn't make it. The doctor, he colluded with Stacey and let the entire family believe she died.At the same time, Stacey hid her away. I didn't notice in the beginning, but she left behind enough flaws for me to catch on to it. This made me panic, and I knew if I wanted to find our baby, I needed to hurry and do it in a way that didn't alert Stacey.That's why, I said those hurtful words to you in the hospital back then. I can never be sorry enough. I had to gain Stacey's trust, and that was the best way to do it under her watch.Your state was fragile then, and I was afraid of you alarming Stacey. It was wrong of me to withhold the information from you, but that was the best I could do.When I managed to find our baby, I planned to tell you all about it, but your mental state worsened. You became suicidal and wished to divorce me.The psychiatrist told me to let you go, but I didn't want to be sepa
The next second she felt him grab her hand and drag her out of the room. She couldn't resist against the force applied by him."What are you doing!? Let go of me!"She was brought into another room. Before she could look around it, a door was opened. Then, she was pushed into her washroom, and a gasp left her mouth at his next action.He turned on the shower, letting the cold water fall on her head and drenching her. As it touched her skin, she shuddered at the temperature and glared at him.Has he completely lost it?What was he even doing?"Are you crazy? Aren't you going too far? This—"Before she was able to carry on forward with her words, he placed his finger on her lips and enunciated, "Do you feel cooler now? Did all the heat dissipate? Are you ready to listen to me?"She was baffled.She was freezing right now, but that did work as great distraction. However, Evelyn wasn't great at enduring low temperature, and after that pregnancy, her body weakened considerably, making her
On the bed was a little girl resting. Her complexion was pale, and she had a delicate stature. Her body was connected to a monitor. An IV drip was attached to her hand.The sight made Evelyn's eyes widen."W-What?" she stuttered out.She couldn't process the situation in front of her. Her body trembled as she took a step forward. She stumbled and almost fell, but Landon came to the rescue by holding her shoulders, providing her with support."That's our baby."His masculine and deep voice fell.Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.She glared at him fiercely upon hearing this and clutched on to the collar of his shirt tightly. Her jaw clenched, and anger radiated off of her.Her aura was imposing."Do you realize what you are saying? What type of sick joke is this?"He sighed."I am not joking. This is the truth. Our baby, she didn't die back then."This made Evelyn's mind blank. She didn't know what to make of the situation. All these years, she cried due to her daughter's deat
Landon's eyes were pinned on crouched down woman who sobbed relentlessly. Her body trembled while she hugged her knees.Variety of indescribable and inexplicable emotions crossed through his eyes. He walked over to her and placed his hand around her shoulders.Then, he said, "It is cold. Get up."His touch caused her body to stiffen. Rejected it, she slapped his hand away and got up. Her cheeks and nose was flushed. Her eyes were reddened. She was about to wipe her tears with the back of her hand when she noticed the handkerchief he held towards her, urging her to take it.Hesitancy showed in her expression.Nonetheless, not having any tissues with her, she accepted the handkerchief and wiped away the remnants of the tears.Once done, she locked away all the vulnerable emotions and faced him with coldness."Let's go," she said, her voice void of emotions.For a second there, she almost thought she spotted a sense of loss in those indifferent eyes but, thinking that was incredulous, b
But before she was able to leave the house with her gun, Landon arrived, and his eyes immediately went towards the weapon in her hand. They narrowed on her face before he proceeded to ask, “What are you planning to do?”With her voice dripping with determination, she answered, “Kill Stacey.”“That’s enough, Evelyn. Put that gun down. It is not safe. Instead of being controlled by your emotions, try to think rationally,” he calmly said.“Shut up! I am done listening to you! A life for a life. Since she killed my child, it’s only fair I take hers,” she stated.His voice dropped dangerously low before he stated, “You will stop this absurdity at once. I have endured enough of your tantrums. Don’t force me to take actions you wouldn’t like.”Her teeth dug into her lower lip, drawing out blood.“You will stop me from killing her?” she questioned.“Evelyn, I have a lot to say to you. That’s why, let’s discuss the matter before recklessly making a decision you will regret.”“Fuck off! What ma