Chapter 364

Vanessa gasped for air, her face flushing crimson within seconds.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she locked desperate eyes with Eleanor, silently begging for mercy.

Seeing Ethan's uncharacteristic fury and the brutal grip he had on Vanessa, Eleanor rushed forward. "Ethan, stop! Think about the baby!"

"The baby?"

Ethan's expression turned glacial. "Does she even deserve to carry my child?"

Under normal circumstances, he would never raise a hand against a woman—but Vanessa had shattered every boundary.

Using her pregnancy as a weapon to manipulate and scheme? Unforgivable.

"I told you—once the child is born, your father can come home. Until then, she must stay unharmed," Eleanor insisted, her voice strained with urgency.

"Do you have any idea what she did tonight?" Ethan's tone was razor-sharp.

"She shoved me into the lake, pretended to run for help, then led everyone back to stage this absurd spectacle."

Ethan's grip tightened around Vanessa's throat, his voice a deadly whisper. "You should be a corpse right now."

Eleanor's face drained of color. She had been completely unaware.

Her sharp gaze turned to Vanessa. "Is what Ethan saying true?"

Vanessa gasped for air, her vision blurring at the edges. Just as darkness threatened to consume her, Eleanor rushed forward and yanked Ethan away.

Finally free, Vanessa collapsed to her knees, clutching her bruised throat. Tears streamed down her face in torrents.

Never had she imagined Ethan could be so cruel—so willing to end her life with his bare hands.

Trembling, she managed to rasp out, "Mrs. Whitmore... it's true I pushed Ethan into the water by accident. But it's also true that there's something going on between him and Evelyn."

Before she could finish, Eleanor's palm struck Vanessa's cheek with a resounding crack.

"You dared to lay hands on my son?" Eleanor's voice was ice. "If you weren't carrying his child, do you think I'd even tolerate your existence?"

The blow left Vanessa reeling. A fiery handprint bloomed across her pale skin.

For a long moment, she simply knelt there in shock. Then, pressing a shaking hand to her stinging cheek, she dissolved into even louder sobs.

"You will end this pregnancy immediately and leave Whitmore Manor. I'll compensate you with thirty million dollars. After this, we're done."

His eyes burned with contempt. Ethan couldn't fathom how Vanessa could sink so low.

Now that he saw her for who she truly was, all he felt was revulsion.

Eleanor hesitated at Ethan's harsh demand, her expression conflicted.

"She's made mistakes, yes, but the baby is blameless. Why not let her stay until the child is born? Your father would—"

"Mother!" Ethan cut her off sharply. "Why are you so obsessed with this child? If you want a baby that badly, go have one yourself!"

"What kind of ridiculous talk is that?" Eleanor snapped, glaring at her son in disbelief.

Vanessa shook her head, her voice trembling. "Don’t you see, Eleanor? Ethan is desperate to discard me because he’s already fixated on Evelyn."

Her hand rested protectively over her stomach. "Once I’m out of the Whitmore family, nothing will stand between them."

She looked down, whispering to her unborn child. "You poor thing. You came at the worst possible time. Your father is already lost to another woman. He doesn’t care about you at all."

Secret Longing: Finding Love After Redemption (Evelyn)