Chapter1

"Mr. Sterling, you're making such a big deal of the hundred-day celebration. Aren't you afraid the news will leak to Evelyn?" Liam continued to play with the giggling baby, a tenderness in his eyes that Evelyn had never seen before. "This is my only child. Of course, the hundred-day celebration should be as grand as possible. As for Evelyn, don't worry. I've already ordered the news blocked. She won't find out through any channel." "And even if she did, what could she do? I'd make things clear to her. The only reason I'm keeping it from her now is that I'm worried she might go crazy and harm my child." "You all know perfectly well how Evelyn always makes a scene without reason, nothing like a proper wealthy heiress." Evelyn stood outside the private room, her fingertips brushing the cold door handle, her entire body frozen. She couldn't believe these words came from the man she had loved for five years. Not long ago, Liam had told her he loved her. If it weren't for that, Evelyn wouldn't have given up her high-paying job abroad without a second thought and decided to return home. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the corridor, late-blooming cherry blossoms fluttered down. Evelyn stood outside the door, the chill from her fingertips spreading through her veins to her heart, freezing her until she could barely breathe. The laughter from inside the room seemed amplified, each word like an ice-cold needle piercing her eardrums. Five years. Her five years felt like a long, absurd silent movie. From that rainy night when he was seventeen, tilting the umbrella towards her, getting his own shoulder soaked. To when he was twenty-five and his startup failed, and she secretly mortgaged the apartment her mother left her, stuffing the money into his suit pocket. Those scenes surged in her mind, overlapping with the sounds from the private room, forming sharp thorns. The private room door suddenly opened from the inside. Evelyn jumped back as if burned, bumping into a Roman column in the corridor. The marble's chill seeped through her thin suit, making her shiver. Standing in the doorway was Maya, her best friend. Maya wore a lotus-pink evening gown that complemented her fair skin. Seeing Evelyn, she visibly started, then quickly stepped out, intimately grabbing Evelyn's wrist. "Evelyn? What are you doing here? I thought you weren't returning until next week?" Evelyn opened her mouth, but her throat felt like sandpaper, unable to produce a sound. She could see the scene behind Maya: Liam sitting in the host's seat, holding a delicate, jade-like baby in his arms, the lines of his profile soft under the warm yellow light. As he lowered his head to play with the child, the shadow cast by his eyelashes held a tenderness Evelyn had never seen. "Come inside first," Maya said, pulling her into the room without further explanation, her voice hushed. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Liam, he…" Before she could finish, the laughter in the room suddenly died down. All eyes focused on the doorway, filled with surprise, curiosity, and a hint of barely concealed awkwardness. Liam looked up. The baby in his arms, seemingly startled, pouted, ready to cry. He immediately lowered his head, gently patting the baby's back with practiced ease until the infant smiled again. Then he looked up at Evelyn, his eyes showing no surprise, only a flicker of coldness and impatience at being disturbed. "What are you doing here?" His voice was completely different from when he was cooing at the baby, cold as ice. Evelyn's gaze swept over the baby in his arms. The child's features, especially the slightly upturned corners of the eyes, looked just like him. Her heart felt as if gripped by an icy hand, the pain making it hard to breathe. "I…" She wanted to say something, but Maya cut her off. Maya held her arm, a hint of playful scolding in her eyes, though her tone remained intimate. "You too, why didn't you tell me you were back? I could have picked you up." "Mr. Sterling, so this is Ms. Evelyn?" The man who had been echoed Liam earlier in the room spoke up, a teasing tone in his voice. "Sure enough, just as Mr. Sterling said, quite impulsive." Liam said nothing. Maya, however, acted as if she didn't catch the sarcasm, waving her hand with a laugh. "Mr. Simth, don't listen to Liam. Evelyn isn't the type to make unreasonable scenes." She turned to the others, her tone sincere. "She's straightforward, sometimes gets stuck on things, but her heart is in the right place." Evelyn's gaze was magnetically fixed on the third button of Maya's gown. There was a faint, light yellow, semi-transparent stain there, the kind only left by someone who had recently breastfed. Her breath hitched. The noise around her seemed to fade, leaving only the thunderous beating of her own heart.