Chapter 426

Vanessa whispered, "Perhaps we should wait until Ethan regains his strength to explain everything himself?"

She wanted to witness how Ethan would attempt to justify his betrayal to them all.

Nearby, Eleanor exhaled in quiet relief when Vanessa avoided mentioning the abduction.

But her relief shattered the moment Ethan's lips parted.

Cassandra was the first to notice Ethan stirring. She seized his hand urgently. "Ethan, can you hear me? How are you feeling?"

Though weakened, Ethan yanked his hand from Cassandra's grip. His icy rejection couldn't have been clearer - he wanted nothing to do with her.

Cassandra's face darkened as she followed Ethan's unwavering gaze toward Evelyn.

His voice emerged as a fragile whisper. "The attacker stabbed me... Evelyn had no part in this..."

"Ethan!" Eleanor spun around, her furious glare cutting through his words like a blade.

Her thoughts raged: Why must he be so obstinate?

The tension in the room became palpable.

Evelyn stood motionless, her expression unreadable. She watched the scene unfold with calculating eyes, waiting for the next move in this dangerous game.

Nathan hovered near the doorway, his posture tense. He kept glancing at his watch, as if expecting someone.

Outside, rain began pattering against the windows, the sudden storm mirroring the turmoil inside.

Ethan's breathing grew labored again, his pallor worsening. Yet his eyes remained locked on Evelyn, conveying something only she seemed to understand.

Eleanor's manicured nails dug into her palms. She'd underestimated her son's loyalty to this woman.

Vanessa bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. The bitter taste filled her mouth as she watched the silent exchange between Ethan and Evelyn.

Somewhere in the mansion, a clock chimed ominously.

The game had changed.

And Evelyn Carter held all the cards.

"That way, she'll be too occupied protecting herself to chase after the kidnapping."

"I know you have a sense of honor, but you can't just casually admit to being stabbed like this!" Vanessa's voice trembled with anger. "That wound almost killed you!"

Vincent Black nodded in agreement. "Exactly! Ethan, I came back specifically to demand justice for you. You're lying here critically injured, while Evelyn walks away unscathed. Anyone can see something's not right about her."

Their synchronized attacks drowned out Ethan's feeble attempts to defend Evelyn.

Vanessa, tears glistening in her eyes, played her trump card—her pregnancy—to guilt-trip Evelyn.

"Evelyn, we're family now. I'm carrying his child. Can't you, for the sake of this baby, just let Ethan and me live in peace?"

They made it seem as if Evelyn had committed some unforgivable sin.

But Evelyn wasn't fooled.

It took her only seconds to unravel their scheme.

They were exploiting Ethan's injury to rewrite the narrative and pin the blame on her.

Evelyn had no desire to kick a man while he was down, but they were weaponizing her kindness, flipping the script to make her the villain.

A chilling realization struck her.

They were terrified the truth about Ethan imprisoning her would surface. Because if it did, the Caldwell family would undoubtedly cast him out.

She never imagined her kindness would be turned into a blade against her.

Evelyn's voice was steady, yet it carried an undeniable weight. "Aren't you the least bit curious why Ethan and I were there at that exact moment, crossing paths with that man?"

"There are call logs on Ethan’s phone—proof of contact between him and the attacker. And that man’s real target wasn’t Ethan. It was Alexander."

The room plunged into silence the moment she finished speaking.

Everyone was frozen, stunned by Evelyn’s revelation.

If her words were true, then Ethan had been secretly working with the criminal.

What she implied was clear—Ethan and that man had plotted against Alexander together.

Eleanor’s face drained of color. She had only learned last night, after running into Evelyn at the hospital, that Ethan had imprisoned her for weeks.

But she never thought he could be involved with a criminal.

In mere seconds, Eleanor’s mind raced. She knew Ethan could never admit to this.

"You’re lying!" Her voice trembled with fury. "I’m his mother. No one knows Ethan better than I do. How could he possibly be connected to that man? Evelyn, these accusations are absurd!"

Ethan had clung to a fragile thread of hope.

He'd convinced himself that Evelyn's prolonged silence meant she still held some affection for him, that perhaps she'd left him an escape route.

But hearing her speak these words with such finality shattered that illusion completely.

The way Evelyn's voice didn't waver, the steel in her gaze - it all confirmed what he'd been refusing to acknowledge.

She had severed every tie between them, cutting him out of her life with surgical precision.

Ethan's fingers curled into fists at his sides, his nails biting into his palms. The physical pain was nothing compared to the realization crashing over him.

All his carefully constructed plans, his secret maneuvers - they meant nothing now.

Evelyn wasn't playing some elaborate game. This wasn't a test of his devotion.

She had moved on completely, while he'd been trapped in the past, obsessing over what might have been.

Across from him, Evelyn stood tall, her posture radiating quiet strength. The diamond on her left hand caught the light, a glittering reminder of her new life with Alexander.

Ethan swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.

He'd been so focused on winning her back that he'd failed to see the truth - Evelyn Carter wasn't his to win anymore.

The realization hit him like a physical blow, stealing his breath.

All this time, he'd believed himself the hunter.

Now he understood - he'd always been the prey.