Chapter 5 Don't Think You Can Use A Pregnancy As Leverage

Evelina trailed the butler up the grand staircase, her nerves tightening with every step along the dimly lit, vintage hallway. Her ruined dress whispered over the polished wood, each soft swish echoing in the hush.

At the final door, the butler paused, then glanced back at her. "You'll find fresh clothes inside. Please make yourself comfortable."

Evelina signed her appreciation with a subtle smile. "Thank you."

He offered a polite nod and retreated down the corridor, his footsteps fading until she was alone with her unease. She stared at the door, bracing herself. With a steadying breath, she pushed open the door.

The scent of sandalwood greeted her-crisp, masculine, oddly comforting. The room was steeped in old-world elegance: heavy velvet drapes, dark paneled walls, a vast bed, and, just off to the side, a walk-in closet lined with pristine white shirts and sleek, tailored suits. Behind glass, an array of luxury watches caught the faint light, their polished faces glinting.

It hit her then-this was a man's bedroom, and she was trespassing. Evelina froze on the threshold, her posture wary, not daring to venture further.

A deep, sardonic voice broke the silence. "Are you planning to stand there in that filthy dress all night, or do you intend to change?"

A wave of memories crashed over her, and Evelina instantly recognized the man's unmistakable voice from that night. Instinctively, she took a step back, her pulse thudding in her throat.

Andreas moved fast, blocking her escape, eyes narrowing as he scanned her from head to toe. For a split second their gazes collided, and all color drained from Evelina's cheeks. She recoiled, putting another step between them.

He caught her wrist in an unyielding grip, his stare dropping from her trembling face to her stomach. His jaw tightened, an unreadable storm flickering across his features as he ground out, almost against his will. "Whose is it?"

Baffled, Evelina could only stare back, confusion clouding her expression.

Andreas didn't let up. Instead, he pressed forward, trapping her between his body and the cabinet behind her. The difference in their height made her attempts to resist feel almost laughable. She twisted away, stubbornly turning her face from the heat of his breath, refusing to meet his searching eyes.

In one swift movement, Andreas' strong hands circled her waist, effortlessly lifting her onto the cabinet so she was eye-level with him.

He braced both arms on either side of her, caging her in, his gaze boring into her soul. "Are you pregnant? Who is the father of your baby?"

Evelina's cheeks flushed with humiliation and anger as the implication dawned on her. She shot Andreas a fierce glare, instinctively shielding her belly with both hands.

She stared him down, but Andreas had little patience for silent defiance. He dug his thumb into the delicate bones of her wrist, voice low and forceful. "Look at me. Answer me."

The cramped air was thick with the sticky reek of spilled wine and caviar.

Nausea crashed over her, and she wrenched herself free, stumbling to the bathroom. Gripping the edge of the sink, Evelina doubled over and retched, her body trembling with each wave.

Andreas lingered in the doorway, his eyes unreadable as he watched her. The truth was plain-he remembered clearly that neither of them had bothered with precautions that night, lost in reckless abandon.

For a moment, his hand drifted toward his jacket pocket, seeking the comfort of a cigarette. Catching sight of her colorless face, he hesitated, then flicked the pack away.

"Don't try to pull that act on me-I know how women like you operate." His voice was cool, almost detached. "Don't think you can use a pregnancy as leverage. I remember using a condom that night."

He threw out a lie just to dismiss her, never bothering to mention that a strange illness made it difficult for him to father a child.

After shutting off the tap, Evelina caught sight of his cold, hard expression reflected in the mirror. His earlier question-about who the father of her baby was-still rang in her ears.

She pivoted, offered him a thin, almost mocking smile, and signed her response. "I'm not pregnant, and I'd never want to have a child with someone like you."

Andreas' brows knitted in frustration, his temper starting to fray. "I don't know sign language, and I don't care. Don't think you can trap me by showing up pregnant and expecting me to take responsibility for it."

A brittle calm settled over him as he remembered Erick's careless remarks-about the stack of cash he'd supposedly handed her that night.

In his eyes, she'd taken Erick's money, slept with him, then played the wounded innocent the next morning.

Now she'd shown up at Harold's birthday party, as if trying to force his hand with another calculated scheme. To Andreas, it all reeked of manipulation-a relentless game of seduction and retreat.

Evelina's hands faltered mid-sign. Spotting a stack of notepaper and a fountain pen, she seated herself at the desk, every line of her posture radiating focus as she wrote. "Don't worry. I have no interest in clinging to you, and I don't want to have a child with you at all."

Her penmanship was sharp and elegant, every stroke confident-an unexpected contrast to her delicate frame. Andreas lingered for a moment, his eyes flickering between the page and the woman before him, confused by the disparity.

Without another word, he balled up the note and flicked it into the trash. "Fresh clothes are on the bed. Get changed and come out," he instructed aloofly.

Evelina didn't decline his offer of clothes, wanting to avoid prolonging her misery. She waited until the door clicked shut before slipping into the bathroom with the fresh clothes.

There were no youthful outfits to be found in the Wright family residence, but the butler had carefully followed Ruby's instructions and had someone bring back a dress from a boutique. The dress, though simple in design, was crafted from immaculate silk and tailored to perfection. The open-front cut hugged her figure in all the right places, transforming Evelina's delicate beauty into something quietly magnetic.

Evelina stepped out with a bundle of dirty clothes clutched in her arms and immediately noticed Andreas stationed by the wall, radiating impatience as his eyes tracked her every move.

He stood there, cigarette smoldering between his fingers, exhaling smoke in slow, bored tendrils.

As boredom had weighed down his features, her presence only seemed to irritate him further. He watched her in silence, each drag of his cigarette punctuating the tension in the hallway. His gaze drifted over her, lingering in a way that felt almost predatory.

Evelina's skin, impossibly soft, seemed even more luminous beneath the hallway's shadowy light. The elegant line of her neck and the neat, low ponytail framing her face drew his attention to the aqua blue dress that skimmed her form.

His eyes followed the graceful slope of her collarbone, down the subtle curve of her waist, and finally to the delicate arch of her ankles. Unsettled by his scrutiny, Evelina instinctively hugged the clothes to her chest.

The movement tugged something buried in Andreas-a flicker of memory from that passionate night. He couldn't help but picture the way her damp lashes had fluttered shut, her lips flushed and trembling, her hair spread out against his skin.

The phantom sensation of her nails scraping down his back, the faint ache where she'd bitten his shoulder, the scent of her breath tangled with his-all of it came rushing back, vivid and intense.

Andreas' Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, the woman standing before him blurring into the haunting memory of that night-an intoxicating siren he'd never quite shaken.

Her presence sparked the desires he'd kept buried for so long. After that incident, he had kept his distance from intimacy, and that night was nothing but an accident fueled by alcohol.

But now, Evelina-her every detail, from the silky fall of her hair to the delicate curve of her neck-lit a slow, smoldering hunger in his chest.

He crushed his cigarette, dropping it carelessly into a garbage bin in the hallway.

His gaze landed on Evelina with a cold, almost mocking amusement. "What are you doing here? Did you sneak in somehow?"

Evelina hesitated, weighing whether to explain she was here on business for Rise Bank.

Her hands started to move, but Andreas cut her off with a wave, voice flat with annoyance. "Spare me the sign language-I'm not interested. Just remember what you promised."

He didn't give her a chance to reply. His eyes swept down to her belly, cold and dismissive, before he pivoted and strode away.

She hung back, careful to match his pace without drawing attention, trailing him down the corridor in wary silence.