Chapter 515

When Ethan Caldwell reappeared, Alexander Whitmore's piercing gaze narrowed dangerously.

Ethan's face was a canvas of fresh injuries - bandages covering half his features, making him appear uncharacteristically fragile. His eyes locked onto Evelyn Carter as he spoke with venom. "Evelyn, Uncle Alexander ditched you to be with his childhood sweetheart. You nearly died in that car wreck because you were distracted, yet you forgave him just like that!" In Ethan's twisted mind, Alexander was no better than him.

Both men had let other women come between them.

But while Alexander could win Evelyn back with sweet words, Ethan had been chasing her for years with nothing to show for it. The injustice burned in his gut.

Vanessa Hart arrived fashionably late, catching Ethan's inflammatory words. Her face paled instantly.

She grabbed Ethan's arm urgently, whispering, "Ethan, that's Uncle Alexander you're talking to..."

"And what if it is?" Ethan scoffed.

The fear he once felt toward Alexander had evaporated tonight. Seeing Evelyn beg Dominic Powell on his behalf had emboldened him beyond reason.

"She'll divorce him eventually," Ethan declared boldly.

His words sent shockwaves through all three listeners.

Vanessa's lips trembled, her expression crumbling. "Ethan... Evelyn... you two...?"

Alexander's eyes turned glacial, his gaze sharp enough to cut diamonds.

Evelyn stormed forward and delivered a stinging slap across Ethan's face.

"What disgusting lies are you spreading!" she shouted, her cheeks flushed with fury.

The realization hit her like a truck - Ethan must be the source of those vile rumors circulating through Cresthaven about the baby's paternity. Would this madness never end?

Ethan licked the inside of his stinging cheek. Rather than anger, he seemed to savor the physical contact from Evelyn.

He leaned in dangerously close, his whisper meant only for her ears. "Evelyn, a real man who loves you wouldn't care about any of this. Want the truth? Uncle Alexander just wants you to abort that baby. He doesn't truly love you." His body pressed against hers inappropriately as he spoke.

Alexander moved like lightning, his fist connecting with Ethan's jaw with brutal force.

Ethan collapsed to his knees, spitting blood onto the pavement.

Yet he merely wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, grinning through the pain. "Hitting a nerve, Uncle Alexander? You can beat me senseless, but it won't change facts. That baby in Evelyn's womb is mine." His shameless taunt pushed Alexander past the breaking point.

As Alexander raised his fist again, Vanessa threw herself between them, shielding Ethan with her body.

"Please stop!" she begged. "Ethan's already injured! His chest wound hasn't healed - you could kill him!"

Alexander's voice was ice. "Then let him die. I won't stop until I've knocked every tooth from his lying mouth. That's a promise!"

Ethan kept provoking because he knew his status as the Caldwell heir and his childhood bond with Harold Aniston gave him protection.

Defiant, Ethan locked eyes with Alexander. "Tell me, Uncle Alexander, when you got that hospital call about Isabella Morgan dying - when they needed your signature for emergency surgery - were you worried about her life? Or were you feeling guilty for standing Evelyn up?"

"While she nearly died in that car crash, where were you? With another woman."

"When those men harassed her in that vehicle, where were you? Still with another woman."