Chapter 2
I reached for the necklace.
"Ouch! My belly hurts," Gwen suddenly cried out, stumbling backward.
"Evelyn!" Victor shouted, shoving me aside.
His eyes were filled with anger and coldness.
"She's carrying my child! Haven't you caused enough trouble already?" he snapped.
The force of his shove was so strong that I was sent flying backward.
The back of my head slammed hard against the corner of a solid wood cabinet.
Agonizing pain exploded in my skull.
Warm blood trickled down the back of my neck.
But Victor didn't look back.
He rushed over and pulled Gwen into his arms.
"Victor," Gwen whispered.
She buried her face in his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Will the baby be okay?" she asked.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here," Victor said in a soft voice. "You're going to be okay. Our baby will be okay too."
As he carried Gwen out of the villa, I was left sitting on the cold floor, completely forgotten.
Blood kept seeping down the back of my neck, soaking into my shirt.
He was so consumed by worry for Gwen that he never once glanced back at me.
A sharp pain throbbed at my temple.
Suddenly, I remembered. He used to worry about me like this, too.
Back then, I had just become a licensed pharmacist.
During the day, I worked at a small pharmacy in town.
At night, I'd head back to St. Julian's Chapel, where I grew up, and help the nuns hand out medicine to the poor families nearby.
The first time I met Victor was on my way back from delivering medicine.
A group of thugs had me trapped against a wall in a dark alley.
Victor came out of nowhere and rescued me.
His arm got seriously hurt because of that.
I brought him back to the chapel clinic and cleaned his wound myself.
I stitched him up and stayed by his side for three days, making sure the wound didn't get infected.
After he recovered, he started showing up everywhere in my life.
One night, while I was working late at the pharmacy, he walked in and slapped a black card down on the counter.
"Come with me," he said. "You don't have to keep grinding like this."
I stared at the card for a moment, then slid it back to him.
"Thanks, Victor, but I don't need it. I earn my living. It's really not that tough," I replied.
He looked me over for a while.
Then he slid his business card across the counter.
"I'm Victor Callahan. I'll be back tomorrow," he said.
The next day, he kept his promise and showed up.
A black luxury car stopped right outside the pharmacy.
Everyone on the block stopped to watch.
Knowing I was busy, he bought everything in the store. So, I could get off work early and have dinner with him.
For the next three months, he never stopped chasing after me.
When I turned down his flowers, he'd have them delivered straight to the pharmacy.
When I refused to ride in his car, he'd walk me all the way home himself.
We walked side by side through run-down neighborhoods and muddy back alleys.
I told him, "We're worlds apart."
The next day, I found him crouched by my herb box, helping me sort out the rotten leaves and bad roots.
For three months, he never gave up.
If I said I didn't feel anything for him, I'd be lying.
But I knew how far apart our worlds were. I was too afraid to fall for him, too terrified to take the risk.
Everything changed the day he shielded me from a pot of boiling water.
The burns left scars that stretched across most of his back.
With sweat pouring down his face from the pain, he still smiled at me.
"Evelyn, my back is ruined for life. You'll have to take responsibility for me now," he joked.
I gently ran my fingers over his scar, my tears landing on his scorched skin.
In that moment, I knew I'd fallen for him.
After we got together, Victor was crazy about me.
One afternoon, I cut my finger open while trimming the chapel lawn.
By midnight, he'd already summoned his private doctor and had half the nuns up in the middle of the night.
Another time, I casually mentioned my favorite pastries from a downtown bakery.
The very next day, the owner personally handed me a box of freshly baked pastries.
One time, I took a spill on the steps at St. Julian's Chapel and ended up with a scraped knee.
It was a small scratch, but Victor freaked out.
He scooped me up and rushed me to the hospital, as if I were on death's door.
I couldn't help but laugh and told him, "I'm a pharmacist, you know. I can handle a scraped knee."
But he said, "Just because you take care of everyone else doesn't mean you know how to take care of yourself."
Back then, he couldn't bear to see the smallest scratch on me.
But now...
I looked down at the blood on my shirt and gave a bitter chuckle.
In the end, I ended up taking a cab to the hospital alone.
The doctor took one look at my wound and immediately started stitching me up.
By the time he was done, I'd lost so much blood that I was dizzy and could barely stand.
As soon as I stepped out of the Emergency Room, someone suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Evelyn, Gwen almost lost the baby. Haven't you had enough?" Victor's voice was tight with anger.
He clenched his jaw, his eyes icy.
"You actually followed her to the hospital and tried to cause another scene?" he snapped.
"I'm not here because of Gwen," I replied, pointing at the bandage wrapped around her forehead.
"I'm injured, too. I couldn't deal with it myself."
Victor's expression froze.
It was only then that he saw the blood oozing out from beneath the bandage.
"Victor, you once told me that after she had the baby, we could leave," I said, looking into his eyes.
"But be honest with me. Do you see me anymore?"
Victor's brow furrowed as he reached out, his fingers hovering near my wound. For a split second, a flicker of worry crossed his face.
"What happened?" he asked.
"You shoved me. My head slammed into the cabinet. But that was nothing more than a shove, wasn't it?" I said bitterly.
Victor froze.
Only then did he finally remember that I was injured as well.