Chapter 245

Evelyn jolted back to reality, heat flooding her cheeks as she quickly broke away from Liam's embrace. She turned her face away, unable to meet his intense gaze.

"Aren't you supposed to be in meetings?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Liam's lips curved slightly. "Just wrapped up the last one."

"Oh," Evelyn murmured, her fingers nervously playing with the hem of her blouse.

Without another word, Liam took her hand, his warm fingers intertwining with hers. "Come," he said gently. "Let's check on Alexander again."

As they walked down the hospital corridor, Evelyn couldn't tear her eyes away from their joined hands. Her pulse raced, each point of contact sending electric currents through her skin. Even after all this time, his touch still made her heart stutter like a schoolgirl's.

Outside the observation room, Liam's expression turned grave as he studied his brother through the glass. "Any changes?" His voice carried the weight of unspoken fears.

Evelyn shook her head slowly. "The doctors say it's remarkable he's lasted this long."

Liam's jaw tightened, his eyes glistening. "Miracles happen."

"Yes," Evelyn agreed softly. "They do."

They stood in companionable silence, keeping vigil over Alexander's still form as the afternoon light faded.

In the following days, Liam became consumed with state affairs again. Evelyn found herself wandering the gardens of Blackwood Manor one bright morning, enjoying the rare sunshine when her phone buzzed urgently.

Rosalind's voice crackled with tension. "Evelyn! Turn on the Citizen's Broadcast right now!"

"What broadcast?" Evelyn frowned, stopping mid-step.

"Channel 7 - the interview segment. Hurry!" Rosalind insisted before the line went dead.

With trembling fingers, Evelyn pulled up the live stream. The image that greeted her made her blood run cold.

There, sitting across from the smarmy host, were Vincent, Dominic, and Dorothy Carter - the family that had raised her. The very people who had betrayed her.

The interview was a character assassination. They painted Evelyn as a gold-digging social climber who abandoned her humble roots. They claimed she'd physically abused Dominic and neglected her adoptive parents.

But the worst was yet to come.

With theatrical tears, they dredged up fabricated stories about Evelyn dropping out of school, working in seedy bars, contracting diseases from promiscuity. The crowning blow? Accusing her of marrying an elderly millionaire before setting her sights on Liam.

Most devastating of all - they revealed her marriage to General Blackwood, dragging his sterling reputation through the mud on national television.

Evelyn's vision blurred with angry tears as the lies kept coming. Her phone slipped from numb fingers as the broadcast cut to shocked reactions from "ordinary citizens."

She tried calling Dorothy repeatedly, only to be met with the robotic voice of voicemail. Stumbling back to the manor's sitting room, she collapsed onto a velvet chaise and dialed Rosalind with shaking hands.

"They're monsters," Evelyn choked out when her friend answered. "Absolute monsters."

"Breathe, Evie," Rosalind soothed. "We'll figure this out."

Evelyn's voice broke. "Do you realize what they've done? Liam's name... his family's honor... all tarnished because of me!"

The weight of it crushed her. The media frenzy would be relentless. And she had no idea how to protect the man she loved from the fallout of her toxic past.