Falling for my Billionaire Boss

Chapter One The Last Thing She Saw The hospital corridor had never seemed so attractive to Evelyn Hargrove. Perhaps it was because she had spent the last thirty minutes imagining the expression on her husband's face when she'd finally shared the long-awaited good news with him. She stood outside the doctor's office with one hand resting protectively over her flat abdomen, while the other hand clutched the small envelope containing her medical results. She could hardly contain her smile. “We are having a baby, hubby”, she said quietly, more like a whisper, as a lovely smile curled her lips. For five years, Evelyn had watched other women announce pregnancies, watched husbands embrace their wives with tears of joy in their eyes, and wondered when that moment would finally belong to her. Luckily, it's today; she kept imagining how happy Damian would react. “Perhaps he would stare at me in disbelief, or he would laugh and lift me into his arms and tell me I had just given him the greatest gift of his life”. She smiled at the sweet thought, blushingly. Damian wasn't an easy man to read. He was controlled, authoritative, almost intimidating even when he was silent. But beneath that impenetrable exterior, Evelyn had always believed there was a tender man who loved her deeply. At least, she thought there was. Her phone vibrated. Evelyn glanced at the screen. It's Damian. Her smile widened as she picked up the call immediately. "Hello, darling." There was no response. Instead, a message popped up with a tag. “I need you to see this” She stared at the screen. It was a video. Her brows knitted together in curiosity. “What could this be?” She clicked on the video. At first, she didn't understand what she was seeing. Then her blood ran cold as if it were ice. The familiar image that appeared on the screen was a bedroom curtain, a bedside lamp, the dark wooden headboard Damian had chosen himself. It was definitely their bedroom. And then— Evelyn stopped breathing when she saw her husband's face; she couldn't mistake him for anyone. A woman was lying beside him, not just a woman but her own blood sister, the person she had trusted, Serena. Evelyn's fingers began to tremble in shock; she felt her heart shatter. "No…" The word escaped her lips as barely a whisper. She watched the video again and again. Each time, the truth became more unbearable. Her husband was with Serena, making out in their matrimonial bed. In the room where Evelyn had shared countless nights with him. Her stomach twisted violently. The envelope containing her pregnancy results slipped from her fingers and fluttered on the floor. "No...this can't be " She managed to pick up her phone while her hands kept trembling alongside her head, as if she lacked nutrition. Her first instinct was to call Damian. She needed him to explain that it was all a joke, so she could tell him the joke was too expensive and tell him how bad it's affecting her mental health. “I trust Damian…… he can't do this”, she tried to assure herself, even though she was sure the video was real, but before she could dial his contact, another message appeared. “You deserve to know the truth.” Evelyn's heart fractured as if she had just confirmed something. She pressed the phone against her chest as if she could somehow keep herself from falling apart. “Nooooo…” She screamed, heartbroken at seeing her world collapse. Five years of marriage and loyalty, five years of choosing him, defending him and trusting him, were all a waste. “Had all of it been a lie?” Tears split down her cheeks. She remembered each time Serena's visit would embrace her and tell her how lucky she was to have Damian. Serena had always encouraged her to trust her husband and love him. She thought she was the luckiest woman to have Damian as her husband and Serena as her blood sister. “Had she and Damian been secretly having affairs all this while and then feigning innocence around me?” Evelyn staggered toward the hospital exit. She couldn't stay there anymore; everywhere suddenly felt suffocating. She needed a place to breathe and think. She rushed out without thinking. Evelyn barely noticed the dark cloud in the sky; she climbed into her car, placed both hands on the steering wheel, and stared blankly through the windshield. After driving for how long she could say, her phone rang. Evelyn stared at the caller’s ID; it was Damian. Seeing his name alone felt as if a dagger had just pierced the wound in her heart again. She ignored the non-stop calls until hee patient worn out; she finally picked up the call. "Why?" Her voice was broken. There was a grave silence on the other end. "Why, Damian?" She asked again, but there was no response. That silence hurt more than any denial could have. Evelyn laughed bitterly through her tears. "You know….I went to the hospital today……and I was going to tell you somethin……” She paused to swallow the bitter saliva in her mouth. "I was going to tell you that we're having a baby." She burst into tears again; this time it was heavier. She expected Damian to say something, not sure of what she wanted to hear- maybe congrats or I'm sorry for the video… but no word came from the end of the line. It got worse when she began to hear loud moaning; something inside her collapsed. She had just gotten a final confirmation. “He didn't need me anymore; he wants my sister” She ended the call as tears slipped down her face. It was as if the clouds joined her in crying because the rain intensified. Evelyn pressed her foot against the accelerator even though she had no idea where she was going, but knew that she couldn't remain near him, not tonight, maybe not ever. Her vision became distorted by tears. She wiped them away, but more immediately replaced them. The road stretched before her, dark and glistening beneath the rain. She barely noticed the approaching bridge and the headlights appearing ahead of her. Her mind was occupied with the pain of double betrayal. Back in that bedroom and the video, back to the moment she had foolishly believed she was going home to surprise the man she loved. She was lost in her thoughts when something moved in front of her. The blare of a horn hijacked her from her lost thoughts, realizing too late. Evelyn's eyes widened, and she instinctively turned the steering wheel, but it was too late; the tyres lost their grip, and the car spun. Her scream was swallowed by the thunderous crash. The world became a blur of rain, darkness, and violent motion. Then the barrier disappeared beneath her; her car plunged over the edge of the bridge. For one terrifying second, Evelyn saw nothing but the black expanse below. Her hand flew instinctively to her stomach. "My baby..." It was the last thing she whispered before darkness swallowed her whole.