Hiss!
A sudden, sharp pain on his lip made Ryan Sterling instinctively ease his pressure, giving Evelyn Grant a chance to breathe.
The coppery-sweet taste of blood bloomed in his mouth. That metallic tang felt real, grounding him.
’Evelyn Grant... she was his.’
’And he would never let her belong to his older brother again!’
"Ryan Sterling, let me go!"
Frantic and furious, she tried to push him away.
But his chest was like a wall of steel; she couldn’t move him an inch. Instead, he caught her hand and pressed it against his heart.
Her palm was filled with Ryan Sterling’s body heat.
"You’re carrying my child now. I won’t have you getting tangled up with my older brother again!"
Evelyn Grant was furious too, traces of his blood still staining the corner of her mouth.
"I only agreed to have the baby. I didn’t promise you anything else!"
"Evelyn Grant, I’m obsessive about cleanliness. You know that."
"..."
’She did know that.’
Back when they were students, Ryan Sterling’s uniform was always the whitest and cleanest of all the boys. Even when he went to the field to play sports, he would fold his clothes neatly and set them aside first.
If anyone got his clothes or even his books dirty, it was like they were doing a tap dance on his last nerve.
Once, at a gathering between their two families, she’d accidentally spattered a drop of oil on his shirt. Ryan Sterling had gone to change with a stony expression, then immediately demanded she wash it out by hand.
After Evelyn washed it and gave it back to him, she never saw him wear that shirt again.
’But what did his obsession with cleanliness have to do with her and Julian?’
"Don’t forget, Evelyn Grant. Legally, you are my wife right now."
Ryan Sterling forced her eyes to meet his. "I will not be cuckolded!"
Evelyn Grant’s delicate brows knitted together. "But we aren’t a real..."
"We’re legally married, we’ve slept together, and you’re pregnant with my child. Tell me, what part of being a married couple have we missed?"
"..."
Ryan Sterling ground his teeth, forcibly swallowing the rest of his words. He was giving her—and himself—an out.
"Once this deal between us is over and we’re divorced, you can do whatever you want with other men. I won’t have any say in it! But until then, you belong to me and me alone!"
When Evelyn Grant remained silent, he moved as if to kiss her again.
She quickly covered her mouth and nodded. "I get it. I get it."
...
Julian Sterling’s stomach condition was severe.
While he was studying abroad, his eating schedule was a mess—skipping meals one day, overeating the next. Add in all the drinking at social events, and his ulcer had gotten so bad it had started to bleed.
The doctor said any worse and it could perforate.
After she married him, Evelyn Grant’s biggest fear was Julian’s stomach condition flaring up.
It broke her heart to see him in so much pain that his face turned deathly pale and his whole body trembled too violently for him to speak.
So Evelyn Grant secretly vowed that she would nurse his stomach back to health, no matter what.
But it was a pity. Julian Sterling never appreciated her efforts. Everything she did for him meant less than a single, shallow word of concern from Jane Jacobs.
"Are you the patient’s family?"
A doctor emerged from the emergency room, addressing Evelyn Grant first.
After all, a woman of a similar age waiting outside was usually the patient’s wife.
Before Evelyn Grant could speak, Ryan Sterling stepped in. His tall frame moved to block her as he answered the doctor, "I am."
"He hasn’t eaten all day, and his ulcer flared up again, which is why he fainted. It’s not critical this time, but if he isn’t more careful in the future, the consequences could be severe!"
"Right. Understood. I’ll tell him."
The doctor nodded, then suddenly asked, "Is there an Evelyn Grant here? The patient just woke up and said he wants to see her."
Ryan Sterling’s dark eyes grew cold. "She’s not here," he replied, his voice like ice.