Chapter 4

The late autumn wind was chilly. I instinctively hugged my arms.

I motioned for Adrian to wait in the car. After a moment’s hesitation, he draped his coat over my shoulders before getting in.

Even now, he chose to trust me.

I held Adrian’s coat tight, watching Lucas approach unsteadily.

His eyes were dark, unreadable.

"Why did you marry him? Is he really better than me?"

His question was absurd, but thinking back to everything before I married Adrian, I couldn’t help but smile.

That year, I was a rookie director trying to break into the industry. Even new-media producers wouldn’t look at my scripts.

I’d almost run through my savings chasing that dream.

When I was at my lowest, Adrian picked up my script.

He didn’t look down on me. Instead, he went over every detail with me, suggested actors, helped me win my first director award.

The day I won, he confessed.

I won’t deny I’d fallen for him during those long collaborations, but because of my past-life scars, I held back.

I asked him, "If I’m with you, can I still direct?"

Adrian seemed surprised. "You’re your own person. You don’t need my permission. I love you, so I’ll support whatever you want to do."

I took a deep breath. "I want kids."

Adrian smiled softly. "Me too."

I said yes, and from that day on, he became my new beginning.

We married.

Adrian respected my wish for a simple church wedding with just close friends and family.

Then came Lily.

Seeing my expression, Lucas looked as if he’d been stabbed. Eyes red, he asked again, "That girl… she’s really yours?"

"Yes."

"You never wanted a child with me. Why him?"

His words brought back the ultrasound photo I’d clutched until I died in that crash.

That baby had a steady heartbeat but died with me in the fire.

My chest ached, tears blurring my vision.

Lucas kept accusing me of betrayal. Finally, I couldn’t take it. I slapped him.

Lucas held his cheek, staring at me in shock.

"We had a child once."

"The day you drove us off the cliff, I was going to tell you."

"I used to feel so guilty about that baby. But now I’m just relieved. At least my child didn’t have a father like you."

Lucas froze.

He covered his mouth, trembling. "No… you went to the clinic that day. Olivia said she saw you go in for an abortion."

"She said you thought I was too poor to have my child."

Then I understood why he’d called me selfish all those years.

"If I looked down on you, why would I have married you without hesitation?"

Lucas shattered.

He collapsed, mumbling, "I killed my child… I killed them."

Tears fell as I looked at him, feeling only ridicule.

"I walked with you for so long, gave you so much, and you believed someone else so easily."

I turned to leave, but Lucas grabbed my wrist. "Evelyn, I was wrong. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you."

"Please come back. I can’t live without you."

I shook my head, pulling my hand free. "Lucas, you forgot."

"‘Let’s never see each other again in this life.’ You said that."

I knew the past couldn’t be changed.

Thankfully, I’d truly moved on.

One night, police cars surrounded the Stevens’ private clinic.

The next day, headlines blared: Oliver Stevens, Olivia’s father, arrested for illegal organ trafficking, corpse sales, and baby auctions.