Chapter 8
He dropped to one knee in front of my wheelchair. His boot hit the stone path with a dull thud.
People around us stopped to stare.
He looked up at me, eyes red-rimmed, voice shaking.
“You’re alive… I knew you were still alive.”
He reached for my hand.
Nausea rolled through me. I pushed him away.
The wheelchair rolled back half a foot.
My voice came out cold.
“If there were a God, the first thing He’d do is make you disappear.”
Lucas froze. The light in his face died.
He stared for a few seconds. Then he grabbed my wrist again.
“Evelyn.” His voice was hoarse. “You still hate me, don’t you?”
I tried to pull free. He held tighter.
“I know now. I know everything.”
His throat worked. His eyes reddened further.
“The PEP in your bag—it was because of that night at the field hospital. That drunk sergeant…”
He sucked in a breath. The words came out through gritted teeth.
—
“I had someone investigate. That’s when I found out what happened to you that night. After I left you there alone.”
Cold flooded through me.
He looked like he couldn’t stay upright anymore. Collapsed there in front of the wheelchair.
“And our baby.”
His voice dropped, barely audible.
“I didn’t know you were pregnant. Didn’t know we lost the baby that same day.”
His hands shook as he pulled a small metal tin from his inside pocket. The movement was careful, reverent.
“I’ve been carrying his ashes with me.”
“Whenever I miss you, I look at it.”
He stared up at me, eyes red, his expression shattered.
“I’ve been searching for you all this time just to say I’m sorry. To make it up to you.”
“Hit me, yell at me, anything—just don’t look at me like that…”
I pulled my hand back. My voice was cold.
“If you really feel sorry, then get lost.”
He flinched like I’d struck him.
Then—perfume drifted over.
—
Vivian emerged from the crowd. Uniform crisp, smile gentle.
“Dr. Brooks, you can’t be like this.”
Her tone carried just the right note of chiding.
“You can’t treat Lucas so coldly just because you found someone new to rely on overseas.”
She moved closer, slipped her arm through Lucas’s.
“Back then, if you hadn’t been so stubborn, he wouldn’t have left you there in the heat of the moment.”
“Besides, everyone there knew who Lucas was. Why didn’t you just tell that man Lucas was your husband.”
“You were too proud, and things went wrong. But now you’re blaming everything on Lucas? That’s not fair, is it?”
My chest tightened. I could barely breathe.
“So.” I stared at Lucas, let out a cold laugh. “You brought her here to humiliate me again?”
“Now. Leave.”
Vivian’s expression shifted. She opened her mouth, but Lucas snapped back to awareness.
“Vivian, shut up.”
He turned to me. Kept his voice low, strained.
“That sergeant from that night—I’ve dealt with him.”
—
“Everyone who was there has been ordered to keep quiet.”
“That day… I misunderstood. That’s why I hurt you. I didn’t know you’d fallen down those stairs, that you were paralyzed. I thought you were faking…”
He saw the cold look in my eyes. His voice shook.
“Come back with me. We’ll get married right away. I’ll get you the best rehab team. Even if you don’t recover, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life…”
I gave him two words.
“Dream on.”
His face changed. Something in him snapped.
“How can you be this heartless?”
“You won’t come back because there’s someone else, isn’t there?”
He suddenly lunged closer, grabbed the wheelchair’s armrest.
“Who is it?”
“What man? Does he care about you more than I do? You’re like this now—does he really want to take care of you for the rest of your life?”
He took a deep breath.
“I can give him a future. Whatever he wants, I’ll give it to him.”
“As long as he leaves you.”
The words were barely out, a cold male voice came from behind me.
—
“Who exactly are you trying to negotiate with?”
The wheelchair shifted slightly.
Someone gripped the push handles.
I turned my head.
Ethan.
He looked down at Lucas kneeling there.
“My sister,” he said quietly, “is priceless.”
“You don’t get to stand here and weigh her worth against your medals and your future.”
Lucas’s head snapped up. His eyes were bloodshot.
“Who are you?”
Ethan didn’t bother looking at him. Tilted his head, gave an order.
“Get them out.”
Two men in civilian clothes but military bearing stepped forward immediately. They grabbed Lucas by both arms.
Lucas struggled, twisted to look at me.
“Evelyn!”
“Don’t go!”
“I know I was wrong—I can make it right—”
Before he could finish, they hauled him out of the crowd.
—
Vivian’s face went pale. She tried to follow, but another guard blocked her.
“You need to leave.”
“You’re not welcome here.”
She stumbled back, glared at me from a distance. Through gritted teeth:
“You’ll regret this, Evelyn!”
I glanced at her coolly.
“Whether I regret it has nothing to do with you. Mind your own life.”
Vivian’s face went white. She turned and walked away quickly.
Ethan wheeled me around. We left.