Evelyne sat back down at her desk, silent after her conversation with Tristan a few minutes earlier in his office. She still couldn't quite believe what they had discussed.
The man had scolded her, saying she was being very unprofessional to leave her job just for someone like Daniel.
However, that wasn't what was on her mind right now.
Instead, it was a question that truly silenced Evelyne when she heard it.
"Why Daniel? Why, even at a time like this, do you still choose him over me?"
'Has Tristan been thinking all this time that I always choose Daniel over him? Did I always prioritize Daniel over him in the past? Is that why he thinks I'm cheating on him?' she thought at that moment.
She didn't understand why Tristan had to think that way. But why did she have to think about it again?
Their marriage was over, she could prioritize whoever she wanted without having to think about her ex-husband.
Isabella, who was sitting across from her, realized that the woman was still daydreaming with a pale face due to exhaustion.
"Evelyne! Evelyne!" she called out.
"Y-yes?" she replied when her name was called.
"Are you okay? Your face looks pale, like you just saw a ghost. It seems like Mr. Everhart is really scary, especially when he's angry," said Isabella.
She could only chuckle in response to her words, because right now she didn't want to talk about him.
What was certain was that after that conversation, Evelyne was not allowed to take a day off. Considering that they were currently very busy working on several projects at the same time. He needed her for that.
In his mind, he did this on purpose so that Evelyne would rarely see Daniel.
But for her, this meant she couldn't accompany Luke, who was still in the hospital.
"I'm sorry, Luke. Mommy can't be with you today," she muttered.
In the afternoon after work, Evelyn went straight to the hospital to see her son.
When she entered his room, she saw Luke watching TV while eating plain cake without cream. He was already allowed to eat foods other than porridge, but still something soft.
"Mommy!" he said happily when he saw her.
"Hi, honey. How was your day? I'm sorry I couldn't take the day off from work today. My boss didn't give me permission," she said, then sat on the edge of the bed.
"Why? Your boss is so stingy! He should have given you permission, right?" Luke puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. His pouting lips made him look even cuter.
He kept saying bad things about his mother's boss for not allowing her to take a day off.
But Evelyne immediately reminded them that they shouldn't say bad things about other people. Especially without him knowing that his mother's boss was his own father.
Only she never knew about it.
Not long after, Liliana came back after going to the cafeteria to buy food for herself.
"Ms. Evelyne, you're here. You could have rested at home after work. You must be very tired," said the girl when she saw Evelyne still wearing her work clothes.
"It's okay. You must also be tired after taking care of Luke at the hospital all day. I'll take care of him now, you can go home and come back tomorrow morning," she said.
Even though Liliana tried to persuade her, Evelyne still wanted to stay at the hospital to accompany her son. She could only resign herself to the situation, then took her things and went home that night.
"Oh right, the doctor said Luke can go home the day after tomorrow. So he wants you to finish all the administrative as soon as possible," she said.
"Okay, thank you, Liliana."
The 19 year old girl left the room and called her uncle. She told him about Evelyne's current condition.
"I understand. I'll come over after I finish my business. Thank you for letting me know," he said over the phone.
"This is a great opportunity for you to win her heart! I'm sure she'll notice the attention you're giving them, and she might start to like you too!"
He chuckled when he heard this, then said that he would take care of the matter himself. Although what his niece said was true, this was a good opportunity to make a good impression on Evelyne, so that she would eventually realize how caring Daniel was towards them.
But what he did was not entirely to get her attention. He couldn't let anything happen to them, and his heart was moved to do it.
He sat in his office chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
Sometimes he wondered whether he was helping Evelyne because he liked her or because he genuinely wanted to help her.
The feelings he had harbored for her for so long grew stronger every time they met.
"But why do you keep thinking about a man who doesn't even care about you?" he muttered.
Not wanting to think about it too much, he took his jacket and car keys and left the company to meet the woman.
*****
A few days later, Evelyne walked into her boss's office. But she didn't see the man anywhere.
"Where is he? He left without telling me?" she muttered, somewhat annoyed because she needed his signature.
She checked her phone and saw a message from Tristan saying that the man had gone out for a while.
[STUPID TRISTAN]
I'm out picking up Victoria. I'll be back in 2 hours.
At the same time, Luke was finally able to go home with Liliana. Since Evelyne was very busy at work, Liliana took Luke home.
"Can we buy ice cream before we go home?" Luke asked her.
"No! Do you remember what your mommy said? You can't eat ice cream for a few days after coming home from the hospital. Let's just buy some coin cookies, okay?" asked Liliana, holding Luke's hand.
The boy agreed because he really liked the coin cookies with cheese inside.
When they were in the hospital hallway, Liliana felt like she needed to pee, so she asked Luke to wait in front of the restroom.
"Wait here with your bag. I'll be back in 5 minutes, okay?"
"Okay!" he replied as he waited in front of the door.
Liliana, who really needed to pee, ran into the bathroom and almost bumped into a blonde woman.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I almost bumped into you!" she said. She was amazed by the woman because she looked very beautiful and felt like she had seen her somewhere before.
The blonde woman kindly dismissed it. "It's okay, you're lucky you didn't hit my foot, which just recovered from a sprain."
They both nodded to each other, then Liliana entered one of the bathroom stalls.
In front of the restroom, Luke stood alone with his bag, waiting for his babysitter to finish in the bathroom.
While waiting, a man wearing a black suit with dark hair, walked towards the women's bathroom as if looking for someone.
Because he kept looking at his cell phone, he almost bumped into Luke who was standing there.
"Sir! Sir, you almost bumped into me!" he exclaimed, causing the man to immediately turn to the boy.
Their eyes met, as if something connected them.
'This boy... He looks familiar,' the man thought as he looked at him.
They both stood there silently, staring at each other until a woman came out of the women's restroom.
"Tristan?"