Axel’s jaw tightened just a bit when Joseph was ntioned.
Evelyn noticed.
"Hubby, why do you still feel jealous of him?" She asked, her tone deliberately light, with a faint smile. "Relax, Mr. Knight. I only went there for a work-related eting, not as a couple."
Axel lowered his gaze, staring at their entangled hands as though the answer might be hidden sowhere between their fingers.
"I’m not jealous," he replied calmly. "But I dislike him—"
Evelyn’s lips curved upward despite herself.
"That sounds jealous," she teased gently.
She knew Axel far too well. He had never trusted Joseph since the day he learned how close Joseph had been to her during her ti at Walters Group. Axel might deny it endlessly, but her instincts tell her otherwise.
"That sounds accurate," Axel admitted with a quiet sigh.
Despite the underlying tension, amusent flickered briefly between them, softening the air in the room.
Then Evelyn continued, her voice drifting into thoughtfulness.
"That night, I rember the ballroom," she said slowly. "The crowd, the music, the endless speeches that made everyone pretend to be fascinated."
Axel nodded. "That sounds like every gala dinner."
Evelyn smiled faintly before turning to look directly into his eyes.
"You were also there. Did you perhaps leave the ballroom?"
Axel’s brow lifted slightly.
"Wife," he replied playfully, though sothing heavier lingered beneath his tone, "you are the one who should answer now."
His thumb brushed absently over her hand.
He continued, "I need to hear what happened to you before I conclude my investigation."
The word investigation was delivered lightly, yet Evelyn could sense the seriousness behind it. Axel Knight rarely asked about the past without purpose.
Despite her confusion, Evelyn took a slow breath and continued recounting what she rembered.
"During the event, I started feeling a heavy sensation in my head," she began. "At first, I thought it was just exhaustion. I tried to ignore it."
Her brows furrowed slightly as fragnts resurfaced.
"But a few minutes later, my entire body began to feel... strange."
Axel’s expression shifted. ’Strange!?’ He thought, did not interrupt.
"I decided to leave the ballroom," Evelyn continued quietly. "I went upstairs to my hotel room to find sothing to ease the headache and whatever that odd sensation was."
Axel frowned.
"I rember so guests having private rooms," he murmured thoughtfully.
"Yes," Evelyn nodded. "I booked one."
Axel’s eyes flickered with curiosity.
"For convenience?"
"For survival," Evelyn replied dryly.
That earned a faint smirk from him.
"I didn’t have ti to visit a salon that day," she explained. "So I hired a stylist and makeup artist instead. The room was ant for preparation."
A small smile appeared on her lips as the mory softened.
"I rember feeling rushed, stressed, and overwheld."
Axel’s gaze softened briefly. That version of Evelyn — burdened by expectations, trapped under her father’s rigid control — was not one he enjoyed imagining.
"When I got to the elevator," Evelyn kept going, her voice slowing down a bit as she wasn’t sure, "my headache got worse."
She swallowed faintly.
"Even walking beca difficult. I rember bumping into soone."
Axel’s eyes sharpened instantly.
"Soone?"
"Yes," she nodded slowly. "I don’t rember who it was, only that the person was a man."
Silence settled heavily between them.
"I rember entering the elevator," Evelyn whispered. "Then entering my room..."
Her voice faltered.
Because the ending did not match.
Because she had not awakened in her own bedroom.
Because she had awakened in Axel’s.
Axel watched her carefully, his expression unreadable.
After a brief pause, he said calmly, "You entered my room."
Evelyn’s pulse skipped.
"So... I suppose the person you t brought you there." He asked. The conclusion sounded logical.
Evelyn’s mind spiraled backward once more, desperately searching for clarity.
But there was nothing. Only fog. Only fragnts. Only that haunting absence of mory.
Inwardly, regret tightened her heart. She should never have asked Oscar to delete the CCTV footage.
At the ti, fear had governed every decision. Waking beside Axel Knight, a man whose reputation preceded him like a storm cloud, had terrified her. Panic had driven her to eliminate evidence rather than seek understanding.
She had believed Axel would never trace her presence. After all, he only knew it was her because she encountered Dylan that morning.
That chance eting. That impossible coincidence.
After a prolonged silence, Evelyn slowly shook her head.
"I don’t rember," she admitted softly. "I truly don’t know whether that person brought to your room... or whether I walked there myself."
Axel leaned back slightly.
His gaze drifted. His mind is clearly spinning.
Evelyn watched him closely.
She could see it.
That distant, calculating look.
The one that ant Axel Knight was reconstructing possibilities.
Before he could speak, Evelyn broke the silence.
"Axel," she asked quietly, "why are you asking about this now?"
Her brows knitted faintly.
"I thought you wanted to explain your relationship with Harper Cooper."
The question struck him like a sudden interruption.
Axel’s eyes snapped back to her. For a brief mont, sothing flickered across his expression.
Then—
Darkness. Subtle. Controlled. But unmistakable.
Evelyn’s heart tightened. Confusion twisted sharply inside her chest.
’Is he angry? Why is he angry about that?’ Her thoughts spiraled rapidly, logic struggling against fear. ’Are they really sleeping together? My God... Does he truly have a son with that woman?’
The questions erupted uncontrollably, each one tightening painfully around her heart.
For a fleeting mont, Evelyn’s composure wavered.
Not outwardly. But inside, a storm gathered. The image surfaced uninvited; Axel is standing beside another woman. Axel is holding another child. Oliver had to share his father with other children from a different mother. And that woman’s children share Axel’s world, which belongs to Oliver.
’No!’ She scread in her mind.
The thought alone sent an unfamiliar ache through her chest.
She could tolerate many things. Uncertainty. Mystery. Even the ghosts of Axel’s past.
But sharing him?
Sharing her family with other won?
That was a boundary her heart refused to negotiate.
Axel noticed the subtle shift imdiately. He leaned forward, his voice lowering. "Eve."
She did not respond.
Her gaze had drifted, lost sowhere between imagination and dread.
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