Don Beckett soon followed the physician into the private office to retrieve the prenatal results. Delaney, however, paused in the hall, claiming she needed the restroom—yet she never actually left. She simply lingered in place like she was waiting for a curtain call.
Once the office door shut behind them, she finally turned her head lazily and called out,
“You can stop hiding already. You’ve lurked there long enough. Or were you hoping to enjoy the show a little more?”
I stepped from the shadows without responding, my face devoid of any trace of emotion.
My silence seemed to irritate her. The sweetness drained from her eyes, replaced by sharp ridicule.
“What’s wrong?” she sneered softly. “Lost all sense of embarrassment? You knew from the beginning that Don Beckett never loved you—so why are you still clinging desperately to the title of Mrs. Shaw?”
A quiet, icy laugh escaped my throat.
“And you,” I replied calmly, “feel no shame at all being a kept woman while fully aware he has a wife?”
The corners of Delaney’s lips lifted with confidence.
“I knew Beckett long before you ever entered his life. If I hadn’t left the country, you would’ve never had the chance to marry into his family at all.”
She stroked her stomach slowly, showing it off like a trophy.
“But I’m back now. And this child carries Don blood. So really… it’s time you step aside, don’t you think?”
From the first day I married into the Shaw crime family, I had known there was a woman buried deep in Beckett’s heart. But I never imagined she still ruled his soul so completely.
The agony in my chest struck so violently that my knees nearly buckled. My fingers curled tightly around the medical report in my hand as if it were the only thing keeping me upright.
That was when Delaney noticed the paper.
She lunged without warning and snatched it from my grasp.
Her eyes skimmed the diagnosis—and then she burst into unrestrained laughter so loud it echoed down the corridor.
“Cancer?” she scoffed cruelly. “Tell me, then—do you think you’ll live long enough to push that bastard out? Or will the two of you be buried together?”
Her laughter drilled into my skull like warning sirens. Something inside me finally shattered.
I stepped forward and struck her across the face with everything I had.
She cried out, stumbled dramatically, then sank hard onto the floor as if she had been gravely wounded.
“Evelyn! I never meant to hide this from you! But I’m carrying his child! How could you hit me in my condition?!”
Tears spilled instantly from her eyes, grand and theatrical. Before I could even react, a savage shove slammed into my back.
I lost my footing.
My body crashed forward, and my stomach struck the icy tile with terrifying force.
Pain exploded through me as Beckett seized my arm and dragged me upright. My vision was still spinning when his enraged voice thundered in my face.
“Have you completely lost your mind?!” he roared. “How dare you touch Delaney?! She’s pregnant!”
I stared at him as if I’d never seen this man before.
Before a single word could leave my lips, Delaney sobbed weakly,
“Beckett, please don’t argue with Evelyn because of me. I shouldn’t have asked you to bring me here today. This is all my fault. As long as the baby is safe… she can hit me as much as she wants.”
She clung to him, pitiful and fragile—every inch the tragic heroine.
Beckett’s jaw clenched. He turned toward me slowly, his gaze sharp as a blade.
“You’ve gone too far this time, Evelyn,” he said coldly. “Apologize. Now.”
The absurdity of it crashed over me.
I laughed—bitter and hollow.
“You want me to apologize?” My voice shook. “Don Beckett… do you even know what this document says?”
With trembling hands, I shoved the report against his chest, choking on the words I could barely force out.
He never read a single line.
Instead, he ripped it clean in half and hurled the pieces aside with furious disgust.
“I don’t care what’s written on that paper!” he snapped. “All I see is that you’ve crossed a boundary! You’re pregnant yourself, Evelyn—how could you be so vicious toward another woman?”
Tears finally slid down my cheeks, scorching hot and unstoppable. My entire body shook—not from fear, but from rage so intense it stole the air from my lungs.
For a fleeting moment, Beckett hesitated when he saw me crying. His expression softened just enough to hurt even more.
“Enough,” he exhaled more gently. “Just apologize, alright? I admit I’ve neglected you these past months, but I’ll make things right after the baby arrives. I promise.”
Then, without the slightest shred of dignity, he pushed me toward Delaney.
She cast me a sidelong glance—her eyes shimmering with undisguised victory.
I stared back at Beckett, stunned at how easily the man who once swore eternal devotion had transformed into a stranger the second she returned. Had every vow spoken on our wedding day meant absolutely nothing?
I drew in a long breath, steady and controlled.
“No,” I said quietly. “I won’t apologize. And Beckett… you’ve truly shown me who you are.”
Then I turned my back on them both—and walked away.
