Chapter 281
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After Cole’s health had stabilized, Evangeline had just gone to see Lydia. Lydia had not shown any signs of waking up, so what on earth had happened at the hospital in those few hours?
The silence of Crystal Waters House enveloped her. Calming down after her spat with Walter, Evangeline began to think that maybe she had been wrong about him.
With the influence the Gordons wielded, if they really wanted to set Lydia free, would not it have been a cinch to cook up some fake medical report and convince themselves Lydia was gone for good? Why go through the whole song and dance of rescuing her, then act like they were guarding her?
The memory of Walter’s furious yet determined face as he vowed to dig deeper into the matter brought a pang of guilt to Evangeline’s heart.
Walter had a point. Lydia’s vanishing act was riddled with question marks, and Evangeline had flown off the handle at Walter without getting her facts straight. She needed to take a breath, cool her head, and get to the bottom of things with a proper investigation.
Cool it, cool it!
Lydia was out there somewhere, and calmi.
.own felt like trying to smooth ruffled feathers in a gale.
Then, the click of the door lock snapped her back to the present, signaling Walter was home.
The hospital drama was far from over, but after sending Evangeline back, Walter could not shake the worry that she could be tossing and turning all night. So, he hit pause on everything else to come and see for himself.
What he had not expected was to find Evangeline, no longer caught up in her earlier frenzy, her eyes now sharp and focused.
However, he was fretting over something else entirely.
“Why aren’t you asleep?”
Forget the hospital incident; Evangeline’s well–being was his top priority.
There she was on the couch, clutching a throw pillow. Her gaze was distant as if she was piecing together a puzzle in her mind.
It took Walter’s voice to jolt her back to reality.
“You’re back?”
Evangeline’s reaction was slow on the uptake. “Did you get to the bottom of the hospital stuff?”
“Oh? So you’ve stopped suspecting me?” Walter raised an eyebrow, his lips twisting into a sly grin that seemed at odds with the guy who had nearly lost his cool over Evangeline’s words just moments before. Evangeline made a face. “I… I just panicked, okay?”
“So, panicking is an excuse to throw wild accusations around?” Walter cut her off, not bothering with pleasantries.
Caught out, Evangeline did not try to argue.
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Chapter 281
“Did I? I guess I just let my imagination run wild and ended up hurting you.”
She clung to some twisted logic, her voice growing softer and more playful by the second, obviously trying to charm her way out of trouble.
Walter was not having any of it. “Evangeline, you realize you’ve messed up with me, and you’re still making excuses?”
Despite everything, Evangeline admitting to hurting him hit the right note, and Walter’s irritation faded.
Still, it was not every day he got to see Evangeline backpedaling and begging, so he decided to savor the moment a bit longer.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
Their usual vibe was more like a standoff, and she was clueless about how to smooth things over.
Walter locked eyes with her, his lips barely moving as he laid down the law.
“No repeats.”
He was always on Evangeline’s side, and he would not stand for even a hint of doubt from her.
“Got it, I swear!” Evangeline raised her palm, looking for all the world like she was taking a sacred vow.
She thought her own bodyguard was a dud and needed Walter’s muscle to look into Lydia’s vanishing act, so she had to compromise.
She actually felt bad for getting Walter wrong and figured she owed him an apology.
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