Chapter 17
Evelyn suddenly halted in her tracks. She whirled around, her eyes cold as she stared at Charles holding Sandy. A frosty smile curled at the corners of her mouth. “Charles, since Charlie was born, you haven’t spent a single day with her. How do you have the nerve to
stand here and criticize me?” Charles was left speechlessly choked up.
“Evelyn, how can you speak to Charles like that? He’s not like you and does not just idle at home. He’s always busy with work, so it’s inevitable that he might neglect Charlie sometimes. You should be understanding instead of blaming him. “And Charles adores children. Why would he neglect Charlie? Maybe you should reflect on yourself.”
Dahlia spoke with empathy, not just to please Charles. She was also insinuating that it was Evelyn’s bad influence on Charlie that made Charles despise her.
Evelyn’s gaze turned sharp as knives towards Dahlia, her tone unfriendly as she warned, “Dahlia, it’s not your place to speak here.”
Dahlia’s eyes instantly filled with tears as she moved closer to Charles. “Evelyn, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. I just feel sorry for Charles. I can’t stand to see you misunderstanding and wronging him like this!”
“Dahlia, what brand of trash bag are you? How are you so full of garbage?” Evelyn felt utterly disgusted.
“Evelyn!”
Charles’ handsome and noble face grew cold at this comment. His gaze towards Evelyn was sharp and frosty.
“Charles, it’s okay. Don’t be upset with Evelyn on my account.”
Dahlia tugged at Charles’ sleeve, playing the martyr.
Today was very important to Evelyn. She couldn’t be bothered to continue this squabble with them and turned around to walk away. She didn’t want to waste her words on them.
There were fifteen minutes left until the competition. Evelyn had only slept for a few hours, so she decided to make herself a cup of coffee for a quick energy boost.
As she entered, Dahlia, seeing no one around, followed her in and greeted her as if nothing was wrong, “Evelyn.”
Evelyn couldn’t be bothered to respond. She walked straight to the cupboard to get a mug.
Dahlia glanced at Evelyn’s hand, which was slender and graceful. With those hands, she could effortlessly create stunning works of art.
A hint of something appeared in Dahlia’s eyes. She stepped forward, grabbing a mug for herself.
Evelyn continued to ignore Dahlia and went to the coffee machine to make herself an Americano. After brewing the coffee, she reached out to take it, and Dahlia suddenly pressed the hot water button. The scalding water poured straight down.
This burn meant Evelyn’s right hand would be out of commission for the day, and worse, if the burn was severe, she might never be able to hold a pen again.
Dahlia couldn’t help but smirk, but the next second, her smile froze. She had not anticipated Evelyn’s quick reaction.
Before the hot water could scald her, she swiftly withdrew her hand. So fast that only a few drops of hot water splashed onto the back of her hand.
Dahlia almost instinctively reached out to grab Evelyn’s arm to stop her from moving away, but she caught air instead.
Evelyn sidestepped, bumping into Dahlia’s shoulder in the process. Caught off guard, Dahlia struggled to maintain her balance, instinctively reaching out to grab something to steady herself.
In the chaos, her hand landed under the hot water, knocking over the coffee cup. The scalding water poured directly onto her right hand, causing bone-deep, excruciating pain.