Chapter 112: We Can Never Again

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: We Can Never Again

...

Evelyn could only laugh awkwardly, unsure of how to respond.

"Eve, we’ll always be family! I know what Julian did, and I know you’ve been wronged. It’s normal that you don’t want to deal with him right now, but I will always be on your side!"

Hearing this, Evelyn hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Mom, there’s something I need to make clear to you."

She felt that the more ambiguous things were, the messier they became.

Since she’d already spoken to Ryan today, she might as well be clear with her former mother-in-law, too.

On the other end of the line, Florence Morgan was no fool.

The moment she heard that opening, she sensed something was wrong.

"Um... Eve, dear, I’m a little busy right now. Let’s meet in a few days and continue our chat then!"

"Mom!" Evelyn called out, stopping her. In a low voice, she said, "Julian and I can never remarry. The moment he decided to send me to be sentenced to death, refusing to give me even a shred of trust, we were over."

...

"You know how I treated him. I feel like I did everything I possibly could. But I still couldn’t warm his heart, so I gave up."

Florence Morgan sighed. "After all these years, you really can’t give him another chance? Julian truly knows he was wrong. He’s told me so many times in private! I thought that since you were married for so many years, you could give him a chance to turn over a new leaf."

"No, we can’t. We never can."

"Eve..."

"I have a clear conscience about our marriage. The fact that Julian was determined to send me to prison for Jane Jacobs, even lying to me to do it, proves that I was never in his heart! This isn’t something I’ll believe just because someone says otherwise. I’m not a fool. I know what I’m doing, and I know even better how people truly treat me."

Evelyn had never spoken so harshly before.

Because she loved Julian Sterling, she had spent all those years diligently loving everyone and everything connected to him.

His daily life, his friends and family, anything and everything to do with him—Evelyn had always done her utmost to help.

So, the impression she gradually gave others was that she was good-natured and could be pushed around.

"I’ll vouch for Julian. He really knows he was wrong!"

"You should know, I’d never have given Julian the cold shoulder for this long before. And now that we’re divorced, our fate together has simply run its course."

Florence Morgan tried to say something more, but after starting to speak a few times, she could only swallow her words.

"Just think it over! Don’t make a decision yet. Don’t be rash."

She was just one step away from telling Evelyn outright: ’Whatever you do, don’t get together with Ryan Sterling!’

After hanging up, Evelyn then called her own mother.

After a great deal of coaxing, she finally got her to agree to go for a check-up with her son tomorrow.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Evelyn finally left work.

...

Ryan Sterling had guessed his mother would call Evelyn, so when he called his mother and heard the busy tone, he called Evelyn instead.

Sure enough, her line was busy too.

Uncharacteristically, he felt a surge of anxiety.

’I told my mother about this to keep Evelyn out of trouble, but now it’s just putting direct pressure on her!’

Ryan tried a few more times, and finally, his call to Evelyn went through.

When she picked up, he immediately asked, "What did my mom say to you?"

"How did you know she called me?" Evelyn was taken aback for a moment. "She didn’t say much. We just chatted for a bit."

"Really?"

"Really. Why would I lie to you?"

Ryan frowned. "My mom... she knows I have feelings for you, but she doesn’t know anything else!"

"You told her that? Won’t she tell my mom?"

"No, because she doesn’t know that you and I have already... My mom wants you to get back together with my brother, so she definitely won’t make a big scene."

Ryan had thought all of this through.

He could offend his entire family, he didn’t care, but he couldn’t drag Evelyn into it.

"My mom’s health is poor. She relies on medication and has to go for frequent check-ups at the hospital! I really don’t have a choice..."

Evelyn felt that this was terribly unfair to Ryan.

But as a daughter, she really didn’t know what to do.

Ryan froze for a second, then suddenly asked, "You... does this mean you’re acknowledging my place in your life?"

...

"Is that it? Evelyn, are you willing to be with me?"

After a few seconds of silence on the other end, she spoke in a low voice, "Ryan, you really deserve better. I feel like being with me is unfair to you."

All the external pressure was being shouldered by Ryan.

Evelyn had barely faced any of the criticism herself.

"I only want you. If I could have given up on you over all these years, I wouldn’t have come this far! Evelyn, don’t push me away. I can’t ever love anyone else. I’m begging you, okay?"

He had even used the word "begging."

Ryan was truly terrified.