After sleeping for several hours, Luke finally woke up when the effects of the anesthesia wore off.
"Mommy?" he called out, and Evelyne immediately heard him.
The woman smiled with relief when she saw that her son had woken up and was fine, although he was still a little weak.
"Yes, honey? Mommy's here. Don't move too much, it must still hurt," she said softly as she gently stroked his head.
She kissed his forehead, feeling very grateful that everything was over.
"My stomach hurts, Mommy!"
"Yes, Mommy knows it must hurt. So don't move around too much for now, you just had surgery."
The boy nodded and his small hand grasped his mother's hand. It was as if he was afraid his mother would leave him again.
Feeling the tight grip of Luke's hand, Evelyne understood what he was afraid of at that moment. She squeezed his hand back, reassuring him that she wasn't going anywhere.
"Mommy, where's Uncle Daniel?" he asked innocently.
"Uncle Daniel had to go to work. He'll come back later, he promised he would come to see you," Evelyn replied, rubbing his hand with her thumb.
Not long after, the nurse came and brought Luke some porridge. Evelyne began to feed him, making Luke smile again and his pale face slowly fade.
He was happy to be fed by her again, but Luke was still a little boy who wanted to be pampered by his mother.
While feeding him, Evelyne remembered what had happened that afternoon. When she met Tristan and Victoria in the elevator.
She didn't expect to see them at the hospital, especially when it had to do with Luke.
'Luckily, he didn't ask any further questions because Victoria stopped him. But I'm worried. What if he secretly asked someone to watch me and find out what I'm doing at this hospital?' she thought, knowing Tristan very well.
She remembered very well when they were teenagers, and Tristan had secretly followed her when she went to one of their friends' houses to do a class project, one of their teacher's assignments.
'Even though he's an adult now, that doesn't mean he won't do it again.'
Plus, he was now a billionaire, so he could easily get any information he wanted.
Money meant nothing to him. He could use it for anything to achieve his desires.
"Mommy," Luke called out.
"Yes, honey?" she replied, continuing to feed him warm porridge.
"Mommy always takes care of me! Mommy always loves me, right?"
She smiled when she heard the question. "Of course. Mommy will always love you."
A smile appeared on his sweet face. "I love you too, mommy! Can we stay together forever, mommy?"
She gasped in surprise, the words "Forever Together..." reappearing in her memory.
"I promise we'll always be together forever, Eve. I'll always love you."
Those words came back to her mind. For a moment, she fell silent, her eyes downcast.
'Forever? But why are we in this awful situation?' she thought.
"Mommy?" Luke looked confused by his mother's sudden silence, saying nothing.
Even though he was still young, Luke had an instinct and a connection with Evelyne as her son. He could sense that his mother was currently thinking about something or feeling something that made her look sad.
Suddenly, in the silence of the room, Evelyne muttered something he didn't understand.
"Forever is a long time. Don't promise something you can't keep, you fool."
A single tear rolled down her cheek. Luke, who saw it, immediately reached for Evelyne's cheek.
"Mommy, no, no. Don't cry," he said with trembling lips. "I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong, mommy?"
Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt his small hand on her cheek. Combined with his guilty expression and the words that came out of his mouth, Evelyne felt terrible.
"No, honey. You didn't say anything wrong." She placed the bowl of porridge down and pulled him into her embrace.
"You didn't say anything wrong. In fact, Mommy feels so lucky to have you. Mommy doesn't know what she would be like if you had never been in her life," she said, cupping his cheeks in her hands.
To her, Luke was the light when her life was completely shattered and dark after Tristan divorced her. Even raising him alone was not a problem for her, she enjoyed every second, every minute with her son.
Without him, Evelyne would probably drown in pain and loneliness because she had no one else. Luke was the only one she had right now.
Finished with his meal, Evelyne joined Luke on the bed and hugged him as he slept soundly.
"You are my light, Luke. I will do anything to keep you with me. I won't let anyone take you away from me. Not even your father," she murmured and kissed his forehead.
******
The next morning, Evelyne had to go to work to give her report to Tristan. She knew it sounded cruel because she had to leave Luke at the hospital, again with Liliana.
But she couldn't lose this job, and maybe after giving her report she would ask for permission not to work that day.
She hoped Tristan would listen to the excuse she had come up with.
Knock knock.
"Mr. Everhart, it's Evelyne. I'm here as you requested yesterday," she said firmly.
"Come in."
As soon as she entered the room, she found Tristan sitting in his chair doing his work. He immediately looked up at her and took off his glasses.
"Do you know what you did wrong?" he asked like a principal to one of his students.
"Yes, sir. I left the company without telling you about this. But I have a reason for that," she replied.
"Speak." He let her tell him why she was at the hospital yesterday.
She couldn't use the excuse of a sick family member because Tristan knew very well that Evelyne had no other family.
"Daniel said he had an accident yesterday. That's why I panicked and went straight to the hospital without thinking twice," she replied.
Hearing that man's name mentioned put Tristan in a very bad mood. He still couldn't let go of his jealousy towards that man.
"Are you trying to fool me? It's obvious to me that he wasn't even hurt at all," he said as he stood up from where he was sitting and walked closer to her.
"That's because he survived the accident. There was only a small scratch on his arm, but it was covered by the shirt he was wearing," replied Evelyne.
She knew she couldn't lie to Tristan because he knew her very well.
The man continued walking closer, then stood directly in front of her, grabbing her chin and lifting it so she would look into his eyes.
"You're still terrible at lying, Eve."