Chapter 48 Did I Ever Love You?

In the end, Étienne boarded the private plane back to the United States. Jason still couldn't bear to let go of his son. Leo watched from the side, with many questions in his mind, but he understood that those weren't things he should meddle in.

So, he endured and yet again suppressed the words in his heart.

Étienne looked at the IV drip the Doctor insisted upon for the flight, suppressing the pain in his chest, praying silently in his heart, hoping that Evelyn wouldn't misunderstand. But when he thought about the situation at that time, he couldn't explain himself clearly.

Finally, after getting off the plane, he saw it was getting late. After sending Leo away, Étienne stood alone at the doorstep of Evelyn's house. Suddenly, drizzling rain started to fall from the sky. Étienne, with a pale face, waited at the doorstep. Time passed so slowly, and he couldn't help but feel anxious and nervous.

Finally, Evelyn returned, carrying an umbrella and a bag of things. It seemed like she had just come back from the supermarket. Seeing the person waiting at the doorstep, she directly put down the umbrella, walked straight to unlock the door, as if she hadn't seen Étienne.

Étienne's heart sank in that moment. He spoke, his voice hoarse, "Evelyn..."

Evelyn opened the door directly, without a moment of hesitation, ready to enter the house. Étienne grabbed her hand, "Evelyn, please don't do this, okay?"

Evelyn decisively shook off his hand, "Go away!"

"Can't you give me a little trust? Evelyn, why, why are you so cruel? I love you so much! Please don't do this," Étienne trembled, holding onto her shoulder.

Evelyn turned her head away, unwilling to look directly into his eyes. She couldn't forget his apology. "I don't want to see you anymore, from now on, I don't want to see you again!"

"Can't you give me this little bit of trust? Evelyn, why, why be so heartless? I love you so much! Please don't do this," Étienne held Evelyn's face, forcing her to look into his eyes.

Evelyn weakly lowered her hands. The beer in the plastic bag rolled down the steps and fell into the rain-soaked ground. The sound reminded Evelyn of her foolishness in the past.

Finally, she raised her arm and pushed Étienne away, "Love? Isn't it ridiculous? Let me make it clear to you, I don't want to see you anymore! Do you understand? I'm telling you to get lost! Go!"

Étienne forcefully moved forward and embraced Evelyn, "You're not serious about what you're saying, I know. This is not what you truly feel in your heart. You're angry, it's just venting, I understand! I love you, Evelyn, please, don't..."

Evelyn still pushed him away, "You like staying here? Then I'll leave!" After saying that, she rushed into the rain. The rain grew heavier and colder, blindly hitting her. Evelyn felt the pain of the rain hitting her body, but something deep inside her heart hurt even more.

Without thinking, Étienne dashed into the rain after her, "Evelyn, please don't do this!"

Both of them stood in the rain, locked in a standoff. Étienne endured the intense pain from his gunshot wound, holding Evelyn in his arms, whispering in her ear, "You love me, right? If you love me, can you trust me this once?"

Evelyn felt a mix of emotions.

I felt myself suffocating, as rain and tears blended together and fell. Coldly, I finally spoke, "I love you?" It wasn't an affirmative sentence, just a sarcastic question. In that moment, Étienne's heart grew colder. Evelyn continued, "Did I ever love you? You're mistaken."

Étienne finally understood, and his hands, which had been holding her tightly, went limp, releasing their grip. However, Evelyn didn't feel the expected relief. She breathed heavily and slowly spoke, "I don't love you."

Étienne couldn't accept giving up like this. He took a step forward, looking into her eyes, those beautiful eyes that shouldn't be filled with tears. He wanted to reach out but felt it was too heavy, unable to lift his hand. "Is it really true?"

As Evelyn remained silent, Étienne thought it was a turning point. "It's not real, is it? Don't lie. How could you not love me?" As he questioned, he even began to doubt himself. However, he still couldn't help but gaze at her, hoping to find a trace of clue in her eyes.

"It's true," Evelyn replied.

"I don't believe it," Étienne said. How could he dare to believe it?

"I don't love you," Evelyn emphasized each word, unusually clear. She didn't know why she did this, perhaps because she felt that this kind of love was too tormenting, and she was afraid of gradually sinking into it. Even though she couldn't escape at this point, she still held onto a bit of her dignity.

Étienne remained silent, blocking Evelyn's way. Without hesitation, she pushed Étienne away, quickly opened the door, and slammed it shut with a bang.

Evelyn lost all her strength, sitting on the floor, allowing herself to cry uncontrollably. As if all the efforts she had made during this time could be returned with her tears, as if her missing heart could be retrieved through her tears. Just let herself cry freely like this, she told herself in her heart.

Étienne was pushed down by Evelyn and fell to the ground. The red color on his chest became more pronounced, drowned in rainwater on this night. The words "I don't love you" echoed in Étienne's mind. He no longer knew what pain was. Gradually, in this cold rainy night, Étienne lost consciousness.

Leo, who was standing not far away, dropped his umbrella and lifted Étienne up from the ground. Looking at his pale face, all he could think was, "Why go through this pain again?"

The next morning, Antonio couldn't reach Evelyn on the phone no matter how many times he tried. He had no choice but to go to the front of the mansion. The umbrella and a supermarket shopping bag were scattered on the ground. A whole bag of beer bottles had fallen out. Antonio knew something was wrong.

There was no response to his knocks on the door. He quickly ran back to his car and fetched the spare key. He never expected that his hidden spare key would come in handy at this moment. When he opened the door, Antonio was stunned.

Evelyn was lying on the floor at the doorstep, with no air conditioning on in the room. The temperature was low, and she curled up on the cold ground.

Upstairs, it was as calm as death, devoid of any signs of life.

Trembling, Antonio approached and touched her breath, which was very weak. He immediately dialed 911 and carried her to the couch, adjusting the temperature and fetching a blanket from the room. How long had it been since he returned from France? The person in front of him had suddenly become so emaciated.

Antonio couldn't imagine what Evelyn had experienced in France. He felt both heartbroken and helpless, encapsulating his current state of mind.

Before falling into a coma, Evelyn had gone through a period of considerable pain. She just wanted to take a gamble with God. If she really died, it wouldn't be so bad. But if she survived, she promised herself to never be like before.

Death meant an end to everything, while survival meant rebirth.

When Evelyn woke up in the hospital, she saw Antonio and Vivian by her side. They must have stayed with her all night, evidenced by their dark eye bags, filled with remorse.

Seeing her awake, Vivian couldn't help but scold her, "Are you really looking for death? No, you simply want us dead!"

Evelyn looked at her weakly and smiled. Antonio felt a surge of pain, turning to Vivian and saying, "Enough, she's awake now." Then he told Evelyn, "The doctor said you should eat something easily digestible and warm. I'm sorry, but you'll have to drink soup again. I'll go buy it for you. Rest well."

Vivian saw Antonio leave and said, "You know what? If Antonio hadn't been unable to reach you on the phone, he would've come looking for you. You really managed to freeze yourself to death in a house with air conditioning and electricity... Did you know that? You'd be the first person to die of cold in such a comfortable environment..."

Evelyn looked at her helplessly and smiled.

Vivian couldn't stand seeing her like this and her eyes turned red as she pleaded, "Please, stop smiling like that." Evelyn wiped away her tears and said, "Okay, I won't do it again."

Vivian tightly held her ice-cold hand, "There won't be a next time, right? Wait a minute, why are your hands so cold? Is the room temperature too low? Are you feeling cold? Should I raise the temperature or bring another blanket?"

Looking at Vivian's concern, Evelyn couldn't help but find it funny and sad at the same time. "No need, I'm not cold. Don't worry, I'm really fine."

Evelyn wasn't lying this time. She felt like she had been given a new lease on life and a lot of her burden had been lifted. Compared to before, she felt much more relieved and liberated.

"Alright then, you've been asleep for a whole day and night, you must be hungry, right? Eat something and then we can go for a walk." Vivian said, concerned.

As they were speaking, Antonio returned with food, and the three of them had a meal in the hospital room. Suddenly, Vivian looked up and remarked with a serious expression, "This scene feels so familiar."

Helplessly, Evelyn turned on the television.

As soon as she turned it on, she heard her own name, "Evelyn, who returned from France after shooting a game advertisement, felt unwell and slipped into a coma yesterday morning. According to insiders, she still hasn't woken up, and the reason for her hospitalization remains a mystery..."

"People speculate all sorts of things. Some say it's due to excessive stress and fatigue, while there are also rumors claiming that it has something to do with Aron..."

"These gossip media are just talking nonsense. Don't pay attention to them," Antonio said, turning off the television.

Vivian chimed in, "Yeah, ignore them. It'll be fine in a while."

Evelyn looked up at them and asked, "Why are you guys acting like this? Did I say something?" She even smiled.

Vivian and Antonio were stunned. What was going on? In the past, if Evelyn saw news like this, she would definitely be furious. After all, she wasn't aware that Aron was going to France with her this time. But now she wasn't angry at all, and she even smiled?

"If you keep looking at me like this, I might actually get angry," Evelyn pretended to be angry.

Vivian closed her mouth and also smiled. Although she didn't know whether this was the real Evelyn or if she was just pretending, all she hoped for was that her Evelyn was safe and happy.

Antonio laughed too, "It's good that everything is fine. Leave the rest of the mess to me."

"We three are like comrades fighting together!" Vivian laughed happily, extending a hand. Antonio didn't hesitate and slapped it, while Evelyn paused for a moment before reaching out her hand too.

The three of them laughed together.

At that moment, Charles pushed the door open, holding flowers. "What are you all chatting about that makes you so happy?" He casually placed the bouquet down. "Evelyn, are you feeling better? I came to check on you."

Evelyn took a sip of soup without even looking at the person who had arrived, and calmly said, "Are you sure you're really here to check on me?"

Charles smiled, "It's all the same, isn't it?"

As soon as Vivian saw Charles, she immediately became listless and sat silently on the side.

To avoid awkwardness, Antonio had to ask Charles, "You just came like this, aren't you afraid of the reporters?"

"What's there to be afraid of? In our line of work, it's only worrisome if nobody takes our pictures," Charles said nonchalantly.

"That's true," Antonio chuckled.

Hearing this, Evelyn suddenly felt that it made sense. It's better to look at things from a different perspective.