"Get on your knees and beg Eve for forgiveness!"
Florence Morgan glared at her son in exasperation. "Haven't you realized? Why do you think you've been able to focus on your career all these years without any family matters to distract you? It's because Eve took such good care of your father and me! Early this year, when your father had heart surgery, it was Eve who dropped everything to go to Port Caligo. She took care of him around the clock for a whole week!"
"That should have been your responsibility as a son, but Eve said you'd taken on a big project and were too busy to get away. She even told us not to tell you!"
Julian Sterling's handsome face froze, and his gaze subconsciously shifted to Evelyn Grant.
But she didn't look at him.
"Never mind all that. Let me ask you this: after you married Eve, how long has it been since your stomach problems acted up?"
"..."
"Did you think it just healed on its own?"
That was all thanks to Evelyn Grant's painstaking care.
But because she never said a word, the one reaping all the benefits simply took her for granted.
Seeing her son standing there with his head down, silent, Florence Morgan remembered the main reason for her visit.
She sighed, then took one of Evelyn Grant's hands. She stroked it gently as she spoke in an earnest, heartfelt tone.
"Eve, I know I have no right to ask this, but... please, just forgive Julian this once? He really knows he was wrong! At home just now, I grilled him over and over. He never slept with that... Jane Jacobs! That one night—you saw the evidence in the chat logs yourself—it was all that woman's scheme! Besides you, Julian has hardly been around other women. He didn't realize it was a trap and was foolishly deceived! Can't you just—"
"Mom."
Finally, Evelyn Grant spoke.
Her voice was hoarse, as if it had been ground down by gravel.
"We're already divorced."
With an elder present, Evelyn's innate kindness compelled her to save face for everyone, so she phrased it tactfully.
"You can get remarried after a divorce! This time, Mom guarantees it, Julian will absolutely be a good husband!"
Florence Morgan simply couldn't bear to lose such a wonderful daughter-in-law just like that.
A bitter smile touched Evelyn Grant's lips as she gently shook her head.
Her refusal unexpectedly set Julian Sterling off.
Because of her, he'd not only been slapped by both of his parents, but he'd also been forced to come here and apologize.
'And now she was putting on airs?'
'Heh.'
"Mom, why don't you go downstairs first? We need to discuss this between ourselves."
Alarm shot through Evelyn Grant, and she immediately tried to slam the door shut.
"I have nothing to say to you!"
But Julian Sterling was too quick. Using his height to his advantage, he shoved his hand into the gap, forcing the door open.
Seeing this, Florence Morgan assumed her son had truly repented and was just too embarrassed to apologize with her there. She waved her hand. "Julian, Eve, you two talk it out! You know the saying: couples quarrel in the evening and make up in the morning. Just clear the air and everything will be fine!"
"Mom!" Evelyn had just gotten the word out before Julian clamped a large hand over her mouth and dragged her into the room.
The door shut. The lock clicked.
"Mmph! Let go of me, mmph!"
"Evelyn Grant! I haven't even said anything about you carrying some other man's bastard, and you have the nerve to act all high and mighty? HISS!"
Seizing her chance, she bit down hard on his hand. She finally broke free and scrambled backward.
"Get out! This is my house!"
"Let's go. You're coming with me to get an abortion! I've told you, I will not tolerate this child! We can discuss everything else after!"
Julian Sterling tried to regain his composure, forcing himself not to think about Evelyn Grant sleeping with another man. "My mom doesn't know you're pregnant. As long as you get rid of it, I... I can try to turn the page on the whole thing with Jane and start over with you."
It would be a lie to say his mother's words hadn't affected him.
'Thinking back, it really was true. After marrying Evelyn, he'd been taken care of so well, and he never had to spare a thought for matters at home.'
But to Evelyn Grant, those two simple, flippant words—"start over"—
sounded utterly laughable.
"Julian Sterling, I begged you. Have you forgotten?"
That day at The Sterling Estate, when I was locked inside.
She had only asked him to believe her once. Just once.
"..."
"We can never turn that page."
"I won't debase myself like that again."
For some reason, in that moment, Julian Sterling felt a pang of heartache so suffocating it seemed even worse than when he'd learned of Jane Jacobs' death.
'It felt like something was slipping away... something he couldn't grasp, no matter how he reached for it.'
Julian Sterling's handsome face hardened, his throat tight. "Don't forget, you were the one who insisted on marrying me back then! Now you've ruined my life, and you think you can just walk away scot-free? I won't allow it!"