Matteo sat there in silence, watching Evelyn with an unreadable expression.
The tension in the room stretched until Evelyn finally broke it.
“You called me here. What do you want?”
Matteo straightened his posture, interlocking his fingers with an air of authority. “Eve, were those thugs last night sent by you to mess with Rebecca?”
Evelyn froze.
She instinctively glanced at Rebecca, catching the fleeting smirk in her eyes.
In that instant, she understood everything. Rebecca had staged it all.
A bitter smile curved her lips. “It wasn’t me. I don’t know them, and I have no interest in doing something like that.”
Matteo’s face didn’t soften at her denial.
He lowered his gaze and spoke evenly, “Eve, the moment Rebecca abandoned me all those years ago, I let her go. You’ve been with me for seven years. You should know who I care about now.
“The Pittman family has fallen, and anyone can kick them while they’re down. But that person shouldn’t be you. You don’t have to stoop to this.”
Evelyn felt like she had been punched in the gut.
She thought back to the nights he had poured his pain into her arms, the days they had run from doctor to doctor searching for a cure, the moment when he had been wrongly told he would be blind for life.
She still remembered the despair in his eyes. A man who had once stood above the rest was now utterly broken over a woman.
Seven years.
They shared seven years of struggles. Now, he dismissed it all as if it had never happened.
Her mind flashed to the image of his marriage certificate with Rebecca and that stamp sealing away all their years together. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Yeah,” she murmured, her voice trembling. “Seven years… and I’m just now realizing who you really care about.”
Matteo’s gaze sharpened. “What do you mean by that?”
Evelyn shook her head, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “I mean, I’m just a maid’s daughter. How could I possibly have the power or connections to send those guys after her?”
Even as she laid it all out in front of him, Matteo still didn’t believe her.
Evelyn was exhausted. She took a deep breath and gave up. “If you don’t believe me, then let’s cut to the chase. What do you want me to do?”
Matteo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Apologize, Eve. If you’ve done something wrong, you should say sorry.”
Before Evelyn could respond, Rebecca, who had been sitting there looking pitiful, suddenly spoke up. “Forget the apology. If you really feel bad, then just drink all this alcohol.”
