Chapter 62

Evelyn's head throbbed violently. When Victoria shook her, the dizziness intensified.

"Eve, how could you be so heartless? I don't care how much you despise me, but my child is innocent! What have you done to Ethan?"

The words struck a chord—too familiar.

Evelyn remembered saying something similar to Victoria once.

But now?

What was Victoria accusing her of?

"Eve, tell me! Where is Ethan? Answer me!"

Still disoriented, Evelyn flinched as Victoria shrieked in her face.

"Ethan?" Evelyn struggled to recall. She had been bringing Ethan back to Blackwood Estate.

So why was she in her own apartment now?

A cold dread slithered up her spine. She didn’t want to imagine what had happened.

"Evelyn, I never thought you'd actually follow through with your threats."

Alexander's voice, icy and sharp, cut through the air above her.

She looked up. His handsome face was twisted with contempt.

His words carried a hidden meaning, but Evelyn couldn’t grasp it. Not when Victoria was sobbing hysterically beside her.

"Eve, I'm begging you! I'll give up everything—just return Ethan to me! I'll make sure Alexander treats you well, just give him back!" Victoria clutched at Evelyn’s arms, desperation in her eyes.

Evelyn turned to Alexander, panic rising. "I found Ethan lost on Maplewood Avenue. I was taking him home—"

"Stop lying!" Victoria screamed. "We saw the security footage. He wasn’t lost. You took him!"

Evelyn’s pulse raced. She forced herself to stay calm. "If you checked the footage, then you know I was heading to Blackwood Estate. But then—"

Then she had blacked out.

Her breath hitched. A realization struck her. "The driver! He was suspicious—he must have taken Ethan!"

Alexander scoffed, his gaze freezing her blood.

"Alexander, I didn’t take your son. I would never hurt him!" Evelyn met his piercing stare, refusing to back down.

"Still acting, Evelyn? Or did you forget what you told Victoria in front of me? You warned her—when you snap, you won’t just come for her, but for the boy too. And now you dare deny it?"

A chill spread through her veins.

Yes, she had said that—but only to provoke Victoria.

She would never act on it.

"Eve, please! For old times’ sake!" Victoria suddenly dropped to her knees.

Alexander pulled her up, his glare like daggers. "You have one minute to confess. If you don’t, I’m sending you back to prison."

Evelyn’s entire body went numb.

Prison.

The word alone sent terror coursing through her.

She remembered the endless days of torment—the beatings, the isolation, the suffocating despair.

It had nearly broken her.

She couldn’t die.

But she couldn’t go back there either.