Eleanor Hollis felt a bit sorry for her, cursing Julian Sterling hundreds of times. "I told you before, you won’t be happy with him. Gloria, you’re still young. Is this really the life you want?" Gloria Galloway was silent. She was still young, not even twenty-five, yet she felt she was already full of scars. "Eleanor, I’ve come to terms with it. I won’t divorce him. Even if we have to torment each other, I want to be with him." Eleanor Hollis said nothing more, pressing her lips together. She looked up, just in time to see Ashley Dawson walk in from outside, her eyebrows knitted together. The last thing Ashley did made her very angry, but because of the old man’s rules, she didn’t do anything to her. "Is that your twin sister?" Eleanor had already told Gloria about what happened these past two days, but Gloria was still taken aback when she saw that identical face—she never knew two people could look so alike. Eleanor’s gaze was fixed on Ashley. Wherever Ashley was, nothing good would happen. Sure enough, she saw Ashley stop beside Evan Yancy. Evan had been drowning his sorrows in drink these past few days, refusing to listen to anyone. It seemed Ashley’s target had changed to Evan. She pulled Gloria slightly, heading towards them. "Hey there, handsome, drinking alone here?" Ashley’s pickup line was cliché, seeing Evan slightly drunk, she curved her lips and slid herself into his arms. Evan felt a woman in his arms, his brow furrowing as he pushed her away. These days, many people had come to flirt with him, but he hadn’t entertained any of them. No good women to be found at a bar—most likely they’re after his money. Ashley’s face stiffened, and she pulled down her collar a bit. She was well-developed, enticing to men. Evan looked up, seeing her face, both angry and irritated. "Eleanor Hollis? What were you doing just now?" Eleanor had just arrived when she heard Evan say that. Afraid of a misunderstanding, she quickly stepped forward. "Evan, that’s not me. She desperately wants to find a man to have a child with—she wouldn’t mind paying for it. You better take care of yourself." Ashley gritted her teeth at her words. "Why is it you again?" No matter where she went, she always ran into this damn woman. Eleanor’s lips curved slightly. "Unluckily for you, this friend of mine isn’t interested in kids. You should pick another target." Ashley didn’t give up and slowly approached Evan. "What if I don’t? How do you know she doesn’t like women like me?" Eleanor was about to say Evan already had someone he liked, but the next second, Evan had already pulled Ashley close, a distant look in his eyes. Eleanor was stunned, exchanging a glance with Gloria, thinking the man truly was drunk. "Ashley, let go of him!" Eleanor tried to step forward to support Evan, only to be pushed away by Ashley. "Eleanor, you’re no one to him. What right do you have to decide for him? You saw it yourself—he approached me on his own. Let’s not interrupt tonight." Ashley held him and was about to leave the hotel. Eleanor was anxious, taking out her phone intending to call Samantha Sullivan, but halfway through dialing, she hung up. Samantha was pregnant with someone else’s child, and already quite far along. Having her take care of Evan felt weird. With no choice, she called Hugo Quinn instead. When Hugo arrived, Ashley had already taken Evan away for half an hour. Hearing Evan had voluntarily approached Ashley, Hugo paused, then sighed. "He knows what he’s doing, no need to look for him. Evan isn’t a child." Eleanor was bewildered. Evan was clearly drunk, how could he know what he was doing? "Hugo, if Evan and Ashley..." She hadn’t finished speaking when Hugo interrupted her. "If something really happened, it’s something Evan wanted, Eleanor. He’s been holding everything in for too long, and his recent days have been difficult. If this makes him happy, I won’t stop it." Eleanor opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words. Ashley had already brought Evan to the hotel. She went to shower, coming out to see Evan smoking by the window. She asked nonchalantly, lighting a cigarette and standing with him. Evan said nothing, multiple cigarette butts now littered the floor. "Do you think you can really do intimate things with someone you don’t love?" He had only ever been with Samantha, but Samantha had another man’s child. It was something he couldn’t get past, as if all those years of youth were wasted on a dog. "You’ll know if you try." Ashley extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray, then wrapped her arms around his neck. The appearance of the woman before him didn’t matter to Evan; he just wanted to resolve his inner confusion. After kissing Ashley, he paused, reaching for another cigarette, but Ashley slapped his pack away. She took some clothes, directly covering Evan’s head with them. "Living isn’t about hanging on one tree alone, Evan. Those devoted don’t have a good end." Evan said nothing, only feeling his eyes sting. Ashley had real feminine charm—bold, wanton, never stopping for any man, much like Samantha used to be. But Samantha had been pretending, while Ashley was truly, genuinely herself, never putting men in her eyes. Evan didn’t want to think about anything. Maybe after tonight, everything would be beyond retrieval. The two of them quickly tangled up together. Upon waking, it was already noon. Ashley stood smoking by the floor-to-ceiling window. Seeing the sunlight below, she squinted slightly. She touched her belly, wondering if a little baby might appear there. Evan was still sleeping; she glanced at him, casually grabbed her jacket, and left. Only after she was gone did Evan slowly open his eyes, feeling a surge of emptiness in his heart. He had become the person he once most despised. He slowly got out of bed, trembling as he took a cigarette and lit it, feeling inexplicably freed, now having truly lost his most precious thing. Eleanor had already found out which hotel Evan stayed at the previous night. She called the front desk early in the morning, hearing they spent the night together and left, feeling her mind "crack"—those two were truly over, and couldn’t go back. Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽 "Mommy, what are you doing staring at your phone so early?" Marcus held a strawberry in his hand and stuffed it into her mouth. Eleanor mechanically chewed twice, grimacing at the sourness. "Isn’t it tasty? I grew this myself. It was the biggest strawberry just now." Hearing him say that, Eleanor immediately restrained her expression.