Chapter 223: An argument between Evelyn and Maya.

The next morning, when Elena woke up, she found Elias sleeping soundly beside her.

He looked peaceful in his sleep, but the scars on his face made Elena’s heart ache.

She gently lifted her hand and traced her finger over the scar on his forehead.

His eyebrows creased slightly, but he didn’t wake up.

Elena immediately pulled her hand back.

’He returned so late last night. He probably didn’t get enough sleep. I shouldn’t disturb him.’

She slowly moved away from him and carefully pulled the blanket over his body. But then her hands froze.

Her gaze fell on his injured arm.

Blood had stained the white gauze.

Tears instantly filled her eyes.

’He is bleeding. The wound might have opened again.’

She quickly slipped out of bed, fetched the first-aid box, and returned.

Wiping away her tears, she sat beside him.

She picked up the scissors and carefully cut through the old bandage before removing it. Her heart clenched when she saw the wound.

It was still fresh, with dried blood around it.

’How badly you were injured... Yet you still acted as if you were fine.’

She looked at his sleeping face.

’And now you are sleeping like a log. Why didn’t you rest the whole day? You didn’t even come home until late at night.’

She wanted to scold him. But when she looked at his injured arm again, concern quickly replaced her irritation.

’Forget it. I’ll tend to his wound first.’

She carefully cleaned the wound with antiseptic.

The sharp sting woke him.

Elias’s muscles stiffened.

"Hiss..." He grimaced, his eyelashes fluttering as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Sorry," Elena said immediately. "I saw that you were bleeding, so I thought I should change the bandage. But I woke you up."

A lazy smile appeared on his lips. "You are worried about me."

"Of course, I am." Emotion shook Elena’s voice.

"How could I not be worried? Look at you. You are injured so badly, but you still went to work. I thought you would come home early, but no... You didn’t return until late."

Her lips trembled as she fought back her tears.

"You have no idea how scared I am." Her voice was filled with complaints.

"Ian is in a coma. Evelyn is crying all the time. And you—you disappeared. If something had happened to you...how am I supposed to live?"

Hot tears streamed down her.

"You don’t care about me. You don’t care about our babies."

Elias immediately straightened and pulled her into his arms.

"Shh... calm down." He gently held her against his chest. "I’m fine. And I’m right here with you. Nothing will happen to me."

Elena stiffened for a moment before finally melting into his arms.

"I stayed at the hospital with Evelyn yesterday," she whispered. "She kept crying. I can’t watch her like that."

Elias’s heart ached. "I know it’s painful. But we have to endure it for now."

He gently stroked her hair. "Ian got injured while protecting Eve. I owe him. I’ll do everything I can to wake him."

He then cupped Elena’s face and wiped away her tears with his fingers.

"Now stop worrying. I don’t want you to give birth to grumpy, moody babies. My children should smile more."

Elena stared at him. Despite everything, she was almost amused that he still had the mood to tease her in such a situation.

A small smile finally appeared on her lips.

"If you want smiling babies, stop making me worry," she muttered. "Stay out of danger, okay?"

"Alright, Mrs. Rowan." Elias gave her a playful bow. "Your wish is my command."

Elena’s smile widened. "You are impossible. Now don’t move. Let me bandage your wound."

She picked up the fresh gauze.

Elias obediently stayed still as Elena carefully wrapped the fresh gauze around his injured arm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week passed.

Ian was still in a coma.

Leo stood beside his father’s bed, staring at his motionless face with tears in his eyes.

"Mommy, why isn’t Daddy waking up?" he cried. "I miss him. I want to play with him. He promised me he would take me on a vacation. Is he not going to keep his word?"

Evelyn’s own eyes filled with tears, but she quickly blinked them away and forced a smile.

"He will wake up," she said reassuringly.

"You are lying." Leo slowly wiped his eyes. "You say that every day, but he still doesn’t open his eyes."

"Leo, darling..."

Evelyn wrapped her arms around him, fighting hard to keep her tears from falling.

"Don’t lose hope. The doctor said he can hear us. We should keep talking to him. It will help him wake up soon."

Leo’s face lit up. "Really? Then I’ll talk to him. I’ll tell him everything I do at school."

Evelyn forced a smile through her tears.

A knock sounded at the door. A familiar figure stepped into the room.

It was Maya.

She no longer looked like the proud woman she once had been. She looked haggard, as though she hadn’t slept properly for days. The confidence she once carried was gone, replaced by exhaustion and sadness.

Evelyn looked at her coldly. She didn’t yell. She didn’t ask why she had come. All she did was stare at her in silence.

"Evelyn, can we talk for a while?" Maya asked quietly. "Please."

Evelyn glanced at Leo. "Stay here with Daddy."

She walked out of the room.

Maya followed her, her head hanging low.

Evelyn turned toward her. "Say whatever you have to say. I don’t have time. My husband and son need me."

Maya looked up, tears filling her eyes. "I won’t take much time. I just came to see you and Ian."

The moment Evelyn heard Ian’s name, her temper flared.

"Don’t utter his name with your filthy mouth," she snapped.

Maya flinched.

"He is like this because of you." Evelyn pointed at her accusingly.

"No..." Maya stepped back, shaking her head.

"Ian planned a date that night. We were supposed to spend the evening together—just the two of us. I wanted to tell him so many things. But you ruined everything."

Maya’s tears began to fall.

"If you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have gone mad at him," Evelyn continued bitterly. "I wouldn’t have left in fury. I wouldn’t have been kidnapped."

Her anger grew with every word.

"If I hadn’t been kidnapped that night, Ian would never have come after me. He wouldn’t have been injured."

Her eyes burned with resentment. "All of this happened because of you." She clenched her fists. "I hate you, Maya."

Maya stared at her, tears streaming down her face.

"Why aren’t you the one lying in that bed?" Evelyn hissed.

Maya gasped. Shock and fear flashed across her face.

"You destroyed my marriage," Evelyn continued, her voice shaking. "You deliberately tried to make me believe that something was going on between you and Ian. You made me doubt him. And when Ian finally wanted to get me back, you appeared again and ruined that chance."

Evelyn’s voice cracked. "Ian was happy. Leo was happy. I was thinking about reconciling with him. But now..."

Her eyes filled with tears. "He is in a coma. I don’t even know when he will wake up. Are you happy now?"

Maya broke down. "Stop... Please, stop..."

She covered her face as she wept, guilt and shame crushing her. "I know. I know you have every right to hate me."

She swallowed hard.

"I love Ian," she admitted through her tears. "I fell for him the very first day I met him."

She wiped her face. "His friendly nature... the way he helped and taught the intern doctors... I admired him so much. I couldn’t stop myself from falling for him."

She lowered her hands and looked at her.

"When I heard he was already married, I was heartbroken. I tried to stay away from him. But then I heard that he didn’t like you, that you had forced him to marry you."

She looked down.

"My colleagues told me you were extremely jealous and didn’t like any woman getting close to Ian. I didn’t believe them at first. But then I decided to find out for myself."

She pursed her lips.

"That day, I saw you coming to the hospital. I deliberately went to Ian to ask him something. As always, he cleared my doubts."

Her fingers trembled at her sides.

"When you saw us together, you started yelling at me. And unexpectedly, Ian took my side and asked you to leave."

Maya’s voice became quieter. "That gave me hope. I convinced myself that his marriage wasn’t a happy one. I believed he didn’t want to be with you. Then I started looking for chances to get closer to him. I thought if I kept creating misunderstandings between you, eventually your marriage would fall apart."

Evelyn let out a bitter laugh. "Yes. We got divorced."

Her eyes were cold. "I left him, believing he would finally be happy with you. But he came looking for me. The man you chased so desperately didn’t even choose you."

Maya pulled her chin down.

She had believed that if she tried hard enough, Ian would eventually notice her feelings. But she had been wrong. She had never been able to win his heart.

The shame and heartbreak were almost unbearable.

"He never loved you," Evelyn continued. "He never gave you any reason to believe otherwise. Yet you still got close to a married man and destroyed his marriage. How shameless."

Maya couldn’t lift her head.

"And you still have the nerve to show your face here. Do you think I would welcome you?"