The Queen Returns—And She's Unforgiving

Evelyn stood frozen in place, disbelief washing over her.

That casual, dismissive tone. It was arrogance-like she was nothing more than a product to be evaluated. Even something as fundamental as having children had to be scrutinized to see if she was worthy.

To them, she could never compare to Tiffany-a PhD graduate from a top-tier overseas university. She wasn't even in the same league.

They had no idea that those words cut deeper than they realized.

Once her treatment and surgery started, she would lose the ability to be a mother forever.

No wonder Lucas had always been indifferent toward intimacy with her, even before the divorce talk. Had he already decided back then that she wasn't good enough to be the mother of his child?

Evelyn didn't want to know how he responded to Sharron. His vague response to Maria at dinner said it all-he had no intention of having a child with her. He probably agreed with every word Sharron had said.

Her grip tightened around the pill bottle as she turned back toward the bedroom. Her breathing was shallow, her lips slowly losing color.

She opened the bottle with stiff, mechanical movements and swallowed the pill dry. The bitterness coated her tongue, lingering like a bad aftertaste.

She couldn't tell what was harder to swallow-the medicine or the bitterness in her heart.

Evelyn closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to calm down. She wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, so she went back to her laptop and started working on project details.

The end-of-year deadline was approaching fast. There was still a lot she had to finalize. After adjusting some core data, she finally moved to the bed with a book in hand.

Lately, she had been carrying around a few books on aerospace engineering, extracting useful insights through algorithmic analysis.noveldrama

The door opened, and Lucas walked in.

Under the soft glow of the warm orange lamp, Evelyn looked up at him, surprised to see that he hadn't left Grant Manor.

Lucas made his way to the wardrobe. As he pulled out a fresh set of clothes, his gaze briefly flicked to the book in her hands-Orbital Theory and Applications in Spacecraft Engineering.

He had read that one before. It was a highly technical book with immense academic and technological value. Recently, he had recommended it to Tiffany. Even she had struggled with it.

"You understand that?" he asked casually, taking out his clothes. His tone wasn't condescending, but the question itself made Evelyn uncomfortable.

She kept her eyes on the page as she replied, "More or less."

She had already mastered the content years ago. She was just rereading it to see if she had any new insights.

Lucas narrowed his eyes slightly, studying her. "You've been working hard lately," he commented.

Evelyn lifted her gaze, sensing an implication behind his words. Was he suggesting she was trying to imitate Tiffany? That she was deliberately chasing after her, trailing in her shadow?

She almost laughed, but she didn't bother explaining. Whatever Lucas thought didn't matter to her.

He said nothing else and walked past the bed toward the couch. As he moved, his eyes landed on her laptop. The screen was still on.

Then, for some reason, he stopped. His gaze lingered.

Evelyn's expression instantly changed.

She quickly got up, walked over, and slammed the laptop shut. Her tone was cold. "What did you see?"

Lucas finally looked at her.

She rarely showed this kind of sharpness. But right now, her eyes held caution, indifference, and frustration, like she was hiding something. Like there was something in that laptop she didn't want him to know.

Lucas actually hadn't seen anything clearly. But her reaction reminded him of something. A long time ago, he had accidentally come across a certain file on her laptop—a secret she had never talked about. Was that why she was reacting this way now? Was it that secret?

His expression darkened, his lips curling into a cold smirk. Without answering, he grabbed his clothes and walked out.

Evelyn frowned.