Chapter 3

Evelyn Clark POV

Lily Sullivan got out of the car, clearly unwilling.

Adrian couldn’t bear it, but he couldn’t say anything. Without a word, he pressed the gas and drove away.

I leaned back in the passenger seat, watching the streetlights flash past outside the window. I didn’t speak either.

The car was as quiet as stagnant water.

By the time we got back to the villa, the car had barely stopped before I pushed the door open and walked off.

“Still mad?” Adrian caught up in a few quick strides and reached out to grab my wrist.

I tried to shake him off, but I couldn’t.

Adrian took the opportunity to hold my hand even tighter, his voice softening.

“Come on. She’s just an assistant. She’s young and doesn’t know any better. She offended you today. I’ll punish her.”

He gently squeezed my hand and lowered his head to look at my face.

“Don’t ruin your health over something so small, okay?”

Punish her?

I sneered inwardly. How?

Punish her in bed?

Or punish her in exactly the way Lily Sullivan wanted most?

When Adrian saw that I wasn’t speaking, he simply pulled me straight into his arms.

“Evelyn looks so beautiful when she’s jealous.”

His tone was light, tinged with amusement, as if he thought this whole thing was just a childish little tantrum.

I stood in his arms. I didn’t hug him back, but I didn’t push him away either.

“Adrian Ashford.” I called him by his full name.

“If you ever betray me, I’ll make sure you never see me again.”

Adrian’s arms tightened around me.

“Of course I won’t. How could I ever betray Evelyn?”

He lowered his head, resting his chin against the top of my head, his tone certain.

“In this lifetime, I only love you.”

“But a lifetime is so long.”

I lowered my eyes and said, “People’s hearts change.”

Adrian was silent for a moment, then the tip of his nose brushed over my hair.

“People’s hearts change, but mine won’t.”

He lifted my chin, forcing me to look straight into his eyes. There was no hesitation in them at all.

“If I ever betray you, let me go bankrupt. Let me end up on the streets and die a miserable death.”

I stared into his eyes.

There was real conviction in them. Flawless confidence.

My chest felt as if it had been struck by something blunt, aching and numb all at once.

“You dare swear something that vicious? Aren’t you afraid it’ll actually come true?”

Adrian let out a low laugh, bent down, and kissed my forehead.

“I’m not afraid. No one knows better than I do how much I love you.”

“I can’t live without you in this lifetime. How could I ever betray you?”

He looked at me seriously, his gaze gentle.

“Evelyn, without you, I wouldn’t be able to live at all.”

I didn’t say anything else. I let him hold my hand.

Then let’s wait until a week from now and see whether you really can’t live at all, just like you said.

After we entered the house, Adrian went straight to the kitchen.

He tied on an apron, opened the fridge, and moved through the motions smoothly.

Ever since we got together, he had learned to cook and refused to let me do it.

Even now.

No one would imagine that the CEO of Ashford Group, worth over a hundred billion, would tie on an apron every night and cook dinner for his wife.

I had once found it unbelievable too. I asked him, it wasn’t as if we couldn’t afford help at home, so why learn to cook?

He said, I want you to eat the food I make for the rest of your life, until you can never leave me.

After we got married, whenever we were home, Adrian was the one who cooked.

That habit had never once been broken.

When the dishes were brought out, they were all the flavors she liked.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes sweetened with caramelized onions, BBQ-style roasted chicken legs without scallions, and creamy beech mushroom soup on the side.

I sat at the dining table and mechanically put food into my mouth, unable to taste anything at all.

Adrian’s phone was sitting by the table, message notifications going off nonstop.

He glanced at the screen, didn’t reply right away, and turned the phone face down on the table again.

Two minutes later, the phone rang again.

His brows furrowed. He picked up his fork, then set it back down.

Then he flipped the phone over and placed it face down on the table.

I saw everything, but said nothing.

After a while, the messages were still coming.

Adrian finally couldn’t sit still. He pushed back his chair and stood up.

“There’s an urgent issue at the company. The people under me can’t handle it. I’ll be right back.”

He moved quickly, picking up his coat and car keys as he walked toward the door.

“Evelyn, take your time eating. Don’t wait for me.”

The door closed.

I set down my utensils and looked at the empty chair across from me.

I was silent for a moment, then, as if torturing myself, got up and followed him out.

Outside the villa.

Adrian had stopped by a tree not far away.

I hid behind a porch column and made no sound.

A car stopped by the road outside the villa. Lily Sullivan got out and ran toward Adrian, throwing herself into his arms.

“Adrian, it hurts so much.”

Adrian didn’t push her away.

He patted her back, his tone darkening slightly.

“You deserve it.”

“How many times have I warned you? You can make all the trouble you want in private, but when you’re in front of her, keep yourself under control.”

“She is my wife. What the hell are you? What was that stunt today supposed to mean?”

His words sounded harsh, but there wasn’t much real anger in his tone.

Lily tilted her head up, her eyes red, her lower lip caught lightly between her teeth.

“I’m sorry, Adrian. I just love you too much. I couldn’t help it.”

She lifted her injured arm and brought it in front of Adrian.

“And it really hurts. I went to the hospital alone, got the injection alone. I was so pitiful.”

Her voice was soft and sweet, half coquettish, half pleading.

“Blow on it for me.”

As she spoke, she kept pressing and rubbing her chest against Adrian.

Adrian lowered his eyes and looked at her injured arm, his gaze darkening.

“If it hurts, then behave.”

He scolded her, but still bent down, his thin lips gently covering the red mark.

Standing in the darkness, I slowly clenched my fingers.

The corners of Lily’s mouth lifted. Her hands began to wander restlessly, sliding down along his waist.

“Don’t come to the office for the next few days. Stay home and recover.”

Adrian lifted his head, held her arm in his palm, and carefully checked whether her wound had been treated properly.

“It’s just a small injury.”

His reprimand was gentle. “It won’t kill you.”

Lily tilted her head, her lashes fluttering lightly, amusement flowing through her eyes.

“But if I can’t see you, I’ll miss you. What should I do?”

“Where will you miss me?”

Lily took his hand and slowly guided it toward her body, her voice dropping lower.

“Find it yourself. Everywhere misses you.”

Adrian didn’t pull his hand away. His hand followed the direction she guided it.

Lily let out a soft, coquettish moan. Her whole body melted into his arms, pressing against Adrian as she looked up at him with watery eyes.

My nails dug into my palm.

Only when damp heat seeped into my palm and pain spread all the way up from my hand did I forcibly suppress the urge to break down sobbing.

I had known for a long time.

But knowing was one thing.

Seeing it with my own eyes was another.

That man who was calm and self-possessed in front of outsiders, considerate and gentle in front of me.

Facing Lily Sullivan now, he was wearing a completely unfamiliar face.

That hungry, desperate look in his eyes—I had last seen it during the year we were newly married.

Lily hooked one arm around his neck and whispered something by his ear.

Adrian let out a muffled groan and cursed under his breath.

“You little vixen.”

He scooped Lily up in his arms and strode toward the car.