EVELYN

"I do not want you to be my mommy!" little boy Simon shouted, his small hands clenched into fists. "I want Aunt Clara, she is pretty, beautiful, and a famous actress! Unlike you, piggy fat and Ugly! My classmates will laugh at me if they know you are my mother!"

Evelyn’s face froze, her eyes glistening with tears she refused to let fall.

Alexander slammed his hand on the table, his voice sharp with anger. "Do not embarrass me and my son! Clara is my first love and will always be my last love. I only married you because you got pregnant after you seduced me when I was drunk!"

Evelyn’s chest rose and fell, her voice trembling yet steady. "Then I want a divorce. You will never see me again."

Simon and Alexander exchanged mocking laughter, their voices echoing cruelly through the room. "You are not a loss," Alexander said coldly.

Evelyn’s lips curved into a bitter smile as she turned away. "Let’s see…"

******

It was already three in the morning, but I was still awake, staring at the clock. Alexander and my eight-year-old son Simon had not come home since yesterday. He said he had a business meeting, but I knew it was a lie. Ever since we married, he often stayed out late, sometimes coming home drunk. But when Clara Dawson—his first love, the woman who truly held his heart—returned from abroad, he almost stopped coming home at all. The worst part was that he began bringing Simon with him, saying he wanted our boy to have fun.

I have no memory of us ever going out as a family. To them, I was nothing. Still, I tried to show my love—I cooked, I helped Simon with his assignments, I cleaned when I wasn’t working at the hospital. I am a doctor, and yet, in my own home, I felt invisible.

That night, I baked bread, knowing Simon loved it. But before it cooled, the hospital called. “Doctor, we need you. There’s been a big car accident.”

When I arrived, chaos filled the halls. I grabbed a chart—and froze. Alexander Blackwood. Simon Blackwood.

“No, please, Lord!” I cried, my knees weak. I rushed to the treatment room, but as I reached for the door, my heart stopped.

The name on it read—Clara Dawson.

My hands trembled as I stood in the corridor. So it was true—Alexander and Simon were with Clara when the accident happened. Relief washed over me when I heard from inside that Simon didn’t seem badly hurt, and even Alexander was fine.

A nurse approached, greeting me warmly. “Doctor Evelyn, I already checked the three patients. Mr. Blackwood and his son are fine, just a few bruises. But according to the report, Miss Dawson has a fractured left foot. She needs to stay at least three days.”

The nurse’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “It’s Clara Dawson—the famous actress! So she has a husband and son secretly? Strange though… Mr. Alexander Blackwood is a billionaire. Maybe she hid her family to protect her career?”

I stayed silent, frowning. No one here knew I was Alexander’s wife. They secretly married for eight years now. But no ring, no ceremony, just paper. He wanted it that way. At the hospital, I still used my maiden name, Evelyn Johnson.

I steadied my voice. “Get back to work. And make sure no media gets in here.”

The nurse nodded and hurried off. I opened the door slowly—and my heart shattered.

Simon clung to Clara, tears in his little eyes. “Mommy, are you okay?”

Mommy. He never called me that. Sometimes he didn’t even call me mother—just Evelyn.

Clara hugged him tenderly, whispering, “Don’t worry, Simon. Please don’t cry. I’m fine.”

“Simon, careful,” Alexander said, gently pulling Clara closer. He pinched her cheeks and smiled like a man deeply in love. “I’m sorry, hon. If only I could’ve stopped the car…”

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” Clara answered sweetly. “At least we’re alive.”

“Me and Daddy will take care of you,” Simon declared proudly.

Their words pierced me like knives. Then Clara’s eyes met mine—cunning, victorious. Like saying you lose them they are mine now

Yet she quickly feigned surprise. “Evelyn?”

And I knew. She wanted me to see. She wanted me broken.

Alexander’s face went cold the moment his eyes met mine, his expression sharp as ice. “Why are you here?” he asked, his tone cutting.

Even Simon moved instantly, stepping between Clara and me, his little body shielding her. “What are you doing?” His glare was so fierce, so protective—not for me, his mother, but for her. The father and son both looked at me like I was the intruder, the villain destroying their perfect little world.

It felt like my chest was being ripped open. Every breath tasted like blood. After all these years, I finally understood how unbearable it was to be cast aside by the ones you love most.

“I’m your attending doctor,” I forced out, gripping my chart tightly.

“I want the head doctor,” Alexander snapped. “The one who’ll check Clara.”

But Clara reached for his hand sweetly. “No, please. Evelyn is fine. She’s still a doctor.”

I frowned, “So your business meeting was with Miss Dawson.”

His brow furrowed. Before he could speak, Clara’s eyes shimmered with fake tears. “Please, Evelyn… don’t be angry. I was the one who asked Alex and Simon to join me. We only went to an event before the accident.”

Simon’s little voice was sharp as a blade. “Go home! Don’t make Mommy Clara cry!”

Alexander’s frown deepened. “Call the head doctor. I don’t want you here.”

I straightened. “Don’t you know? I’m the new head doctor.”

“Then get someone else,” he shot back.

I looked at Simon. His eyes burned with anger, as though I might hurt Clara. She held him close, smirking when only I could see.

I set the chart down. “Will you go home tonight?”

“Hell no!” Alexander barked. “We’re not leaving Clara alone.”

“Me too!” Simon added. “You should go home. Stop disturbing us!”

When I turned, Clara was already grinning in triumph.

I stepped out, but lingered by the door.

“Please go,” Clara whispered, feigning fear. “Evelyn might get mad.”

Alexander’s laugh was cruel. “Don’t mind her. She’s like just a servant to me and Simon.”

Simon’s words crushed me. “That piggy fat ugly woman cooks so bad. I don’t want her as my Mommy. Only Mommy Clara.”

My hands clasped together. I trembled so hard I thought I would collapse. Yet no one saw me breaking.

I went straight to the nurse station, my voice steady though my chest was collapsing inside. “Call Doctor Ruiz to check on Miss Dawson,” I said. Without waiting for their reply, I turned and walked away.

In my office, I grabbed my bag, forcing myself not to cry until I was out of the hospital. But the moment I was alone in the car, the tears came. They blurred the road as I drove back to the Blackwood mansion—our mansion, though it never felt like mine.

The house was silent when I entered. Too silent. I went to my room and nearly collapsed onto the floor, sobbing until I had no strength. When I finally changed clothes, something slipped from the wardrobe—a large envelope. My trembling hands opened it. Divorce papers.

So Alex had already planned to end this loveless marriage.

The memories hit me like knives. Meeting him on that mountain hike, when he collapsed from heat stroke and I saved his life. The drinks after, his drunken touch, the night that bound me to him. His anger the next morning, calling me a seducer. My pregnancy. His father’s command that he marry me so he could inherit. His mother Leah’s hatred. Clara’s tears before she left abroad. Eight years of being unwanted. Eight years of being blamed.

My tears fell freely. Yet in the back of my mind, a voice whispered—there’s still a chance. A hospital abroad had offered me a position as head surgeon. Better pay, a new life, a chance to rebuild what I lost.

Simon doesn’t need me. He never wanted me.

Eight years is enough.

With shaking hands, I signed the papers and left them on the table. Then I packed my luggage and carried it to the car.

Before leaving, I knocked on the maid’s room. “Agnes, I’ll be leaving now.”

She yawned softly. “Yes, Mrs. Blackwood. Going to the hospital?”

I smiled weakly. “Something like that. Please prepare Simon’s breakfast later.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she nodded.

I looked one last time at the Blackwood mansion. Then I drove away—this time for good.