Chapter 309

Evelyn gazed at Alexander with her captivating almond-shaped eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Alexander, Ethan is our precious child," she said, voice trembling with emotion. "I would protect him with my very life. How could you think I'd ever abandon him?"

At that moment, Eleanor approached with Ethan in tow, her disdainful glare fixed on Evelyn. "Miss Prescott," she sneered, "I heard you're engaged to Alexander's uncle. Why then do you keep hovering around my daughter's fiancé? Were you raised without any sense of decency?"

Evelyn maintained her composure, lips curling into a serene smile. "An excellent question, Mrs. Kingsley. My parents couldn't teach me that lesson - they were too busy bringing home another woman's child while abandoning their own flesh and blood."

Alexander's head snapped up at this unexpected revelation. Seeing the bittersweet smile playing on Evelyn's lovely face sent an inexplicable pang through his chest.

Both Eleanor and Victoria froze in shock.

'Her story... it's eerily similar to Evelyn's,' Victoria thought, unease creeping into her mind.

Eleanor's mocking expression faltered, her confidence momentarily shaken.

Noticing their reactions, Evelyn's smile deepened. "While my birth parents failed me, the woman who raised me didn't. So let me ask you this, Mrs. Kingsley - with all your high society breeding, how did you raise a daughter so devoid of maternal instinct that she'd abandon her own child to save herself? Your parenting skills seem rather... lacking."

"How dare you!" Eleanor sputtered, face flushing with rage. "Apologize to Victoria immediately or I'll make sure you regret this!"

"Mother..." Victoria's eyes welled up with crocodile tears as she turned to Alexander. "Do you hear how she slanders me? This woman has tormented me relentlessly. All my suffering stems from her cruelty. Why must my life be so tragic?"

Eleanor comforted her "distraught" daughter before rounding on Evelyn. "Vivian Prescott, you'll pay for humiliating my child! You shameless harlot, scheming to steal Alexander from—"

"The one pursuing whom here isn't Vivian," Alexander's icy voice cut through Eleanor's tirade. His stormy expression silenced the room. "This discussion ends now."

"What? She orchestrated Victoria's kidnapping and you're just letting it go?" Eleanor's eyes blazed with indignation. "I won't allow my daughter to be victimized! Victoria, darling, I'll see justice served!"

Victoria's gaze flickered nervously. Playing the martyr, she declared, "Truth will prevail. Those who commit evil will face retribution!" Her accusatory stare landed on Evelyn.

Evelyn smiled knowingly. "How right you are, Miss Lancaster. Karma has a way of catching up with people."

Victoria paled, suddenly unable to meet Evelyn's penetrating gaze.

"Now that Ethan is safe, I can rest easy." Evelyn turned her gentle smile toward the silent boy watching her. "Goodbye, Ethan."

The child's large, expressive eyes brimmed with unspoken words, but he remained quiet.

"You're leaving?" Alexander's voice was low, intense.

"Should I stay and endure more abuse?" Evelyn arched a brow, acutely aware of Eleanor's venomous glare. Though she told herself not to care, the sting of rejection from her own flesh and blood still lingered.

"I'll take you home," Alexander offered.

Victoria's face darkened. "Alexander! Ethan and I just survived a trauma! How can you leave us now?"

"Mr. Blackwood, stay with your family. Don't trouble yourself over an outsider like me." With a final glance at Alexander, Evelyn turned gracefully.

"Hmph! At least she knows her place," Eleanor muttered.

Victoria's satisfaction lasted mere seconds before Alexander strode after Evelyn.

"Alexander!" she cried, but he didn't so much as glance back.