Christopher’s voice sharpened. “Evelyn, I’m talking to you! What happened here?”
She looked up lazily, her eyes cold and detached. “I already told you. She fell. Maybe you should ask her what she was doing before that happened.”
Christopher clenched his jaw, his arms tightening protectively around Charlotte, who gasped weakly in his embrace. He reached for his phone and called for an ambulance, his voice trembling with urgency.
Evelyn observed him silently. The man she had once loved so deeply, now pouring his energy and care into someone else. Someone who had schemed and manipulated her way into his life. The irony was almost amusing.
As the sound of sirens approached in the distance, Christopher’s anger boiled over. “Is this how you want to play it, Evelyn? Watching someone suffer without lifting a finger? You’ve changed—no, maybe this is who you’ve been all along.”
Evelyn closed her book with a soft thud, the sound echoing in the tense room. She met his furious gaze with an unsettling calm.
“Changed?” she repeated, her voice low and steady. “Maybe. Or maybe I’ve just stopped pretending to care when it’s clear no one cares for me.”
Christopher flinched at her words but quickly masked it with more anger. “This isn’t about you. It’s about Charlotte, who’s fighting for her life right now while you sit there reading like nothing’s happened!”
Evelyn smirked, leaning back against the headboard. “Fighting for her life? Dramatic, isn’t it? But if it helps you sleep at night, go ahead and play the hero.”
Before Christopher could respond, the paramedics burst into the room, swiftly taking over. They carefully lifted Charlotte onto a stretcher, administering oxygen as they prepared to transport her.
As they carried her out, Charlotte managed to glance back at Evelyn, her eyes filled with a mix of desperation and hatred. Evelyn met her gaze, unyielding and emotionless.
Once the paramedics left, the room fell silent, save for the faint hum of the heater. Christopher stood frozen by the door, his fists clenched at his sides.
“You’re heartless,” he finally said, his voice trembling with rage. “I don’t even recognize you anymore.”
Evelyn tilted her head, a faint, sardonic smile playing on her lips. “Heartless? Funny, coming from you. After all, I’m about to literally give her my heart.”
Christopher froze, confusion flashing across his face. “What… what are you talking about?”