Chapter 462

Her emerald eyes burned with fury. "What if I lose this baby?"

The question lodged like a knife in Dominic's throat, stealing his voice.

"This pregnancy isn't even stable yet!" Evelyn's hands trembled as she gripped her purse. "If you keep pushing me like this every damn day, I swear I'll miscarry." The satisfaction of watching his shocked expression sent adrenaline coursing through her veins.

His lips parted, then closed without sound. The memory of her broken form in that hospital bed stopped him. She'd had countless opportunities to terminate before now.

Yet she endured the brutal morning sickness. She'd wasted away to nearly nothing but still carried their child. That meant something.

Dominic slowly straightened his tie, regaining his composure.

Evelyn exhaled sharply and checked her phone. Messages from Michael, Sophie, and Eric flooded her screen. She typed quick reassurances to each.

The car glided through Mooncrest Manor's wrought iron gates, stopping before her stone mansion.

When the door unlocked, she bolted out - only to find Dominic mirroring her movements.

"Why are you following me? Go home." She glared across the car's roof, the evening breeze tangling her hair.

"We need to talk."

"About what?" Exhaustion weighed her bones. She wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed.

Yet he stood immobile at her front gate like some marble sentinel. With a frustrated groan, she stomped past him, keycard in hand.

The moment the gate clicked open, he shadowed her up the cobbled path.

It felt like leading a panther into her home. He actually brushed past her at the front door, entering first.

Her jaw dropped as he plucked brand-new slippers from her entryway cabinet. "You're unbelievable, Dominic." She leaned against the doorframe, watching him change shoes with practiced ease. "Weren't you disgusted by the thought of my pregnancy back then? Or have you rewritten history in that perfect memory of yours?"

'As if I could forget,' he thought bitterly. Every agonizing detail was seared into his mind.

"Say whatever you need to, Evelyn." He met her gaze evenly. "If it helps you sleep at night."

"Is this your idea of an apology?" She shoved past him to toss her purse on the console table. "Pretty words to erase the past?"

"My mistakes?" A humorless chuckle escaped him. "I'd make the same choices again without hesitation."

She froze mid-step.

"Did I even know you then?" His voice turned razor-sharp. "Put yourself in my position - waking up married to a stranger carrying my nephew's child. Tell me, what would you have done?"

Her breath hitched.

"That baby could have been anyone's. I couldn't accept it." The raw honesty in his admission lifted an invisible weight from her chest.

"You accuse me of lacking empathy?" She whirled to face him. "How do you think this pregnancy happened? Immaculate conception?"

Dominic blinked, caught off guard.

"It was your mother's scheme! You knew and did nothing." Her nails bit into her palms. "I understand now you forced that abortion because you didn't love me. But understanding doesn't erase the pain."

Rather than anger, something like remorse flickered in his eyes. He'd always considered abortion a simple medical procedure - until her hospital threat made him feel that visceral fear.

Now he wondered if she'd felt that same tearing agony five years ago.