Chapter 75 Pretense
+8 Pearls
Evelyn never expected her first day at the hospital to put her at the center of attention.
Part of it came from her placement under Rowan, but she kept that thought to herself.
After some light conversation, the group slowly warmed up to her.
The hours moved quickly, and soon it was almost six.
She said goodbye and stepped outside.
Philip’s military pickup sat at the curb.
He was as punctual as ever.
She walked over and climbed inside.
The truck pulled smoothly toward the Song family home.
On the drive, Philip asked, “How was your first day?”
“Pretty smooth. Everyone’s friendly. Tomorrow’s my actual first day. At first it’ll just be observation and assistance, so it won’t be too heavy on me,” Evelyn answered.
“That’s good.”
Philip nodded. He paused before speaking again.
“I can’t pick you up tomorrow. The unit has urgent training for next month’s rookie competition. I’ll be stuck on base the whole time.”
He spelled out his schedule in full detail, including his meals, which made Evelyn fight back a laugh.
“You don’t need to give me a full report,” she teased. “You’re making yourself look henpecked.”
Philip corrected her calmly. His sapphire–blue eyes were steady. “I don’t look henpecked. I am henpecked.”
His deep blue eyes held an unshakable sincerity.
Evelyn’s face grew hot. She turned toward the window, watching the streets and lights stream backward in a blur. Her tone softened. “Say what you want, but just remember I didn’t make you do this. I just don’t want people thinking I’m some kind of bossy wife.”
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Philip chuckled quietly and gave a small nod. “I know. This is my decision. I actually like it this way. Isn’t that reason enough?”
Whatever she said, Philip always agreed without hesitation.
Evelyn found that deeply reassuring.
The ride felt easy. They talked, they laughed, and before long the truck rolled up to the Schmidt Residence’s front gate.
Evelyn had already made up her mind. She would never pull Philip into the tangled mess with the Schmidts until everything was resolved.
That fight belonged to her, not him.
So she said goodbye at the door.
When she stepped inside, it was only a little after seven. The house was quiet. Yvonne and Zaid were still at work, which left Evelyn with a rare moment of peace. She went upstairs, calm and at ease, and began packing.
The hospital sat on the outskirts of town, and the commute drained her.
On top of that, she had overnight shifts. Her rest was precious, and losing two hours a day to driving was a waste she could not afford.
That morning she had applied for a dorm room. It was right across the hall from a nurse called Myrtle Noble, which gave her the comfort of knowing she would not be alone.
Because money was tight back in 1983, Evelyn gathered whatever she could from the house to take with her.
Halfway through sorting, she heard Yvonne’s voice carrying up from the entryway.
It sounded strained, like she was struggling under a heavy load.
By the time Evelyn came down, Yvonne stood in the doorway with her arms full of bags, breathing hard.
It looked more staged than real.
Yvonne had been calling her name for five full minutes. There was no way it had taken her that long to walk from the door to the living room.
Evelyn lifted her eyes lazily, playing along. She walked over slowly, just as Yvonne wanted, and glanced at the pile on the floor. “What’s all this?”
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Yvonne pulled the bags open with a proud smile. “Soap, shampoo, toiletries. These aren’t cheap, so make sure you use them sparingly.”
The items themselves were nothing remarkable. What stood out was Yvonne’s sudden generosity.
In this house, nothing came easily. Those supplies required ration coupons, which were limited, even when Zaid’s portion was included.
For Yvonne to spend them on Evelyn was out of character.
Evelyn gave a thin smile. “You know what they say about free lunches. This feels like that kind of situation.”
She said it on purpose.
If she pretended to be touched, Yvonne would see through her acting instantly.
It was safer to press her and see what she said.
Yvonne sighed. “I know you don’t think much of me. But after everything that’s happened, I understand now. I can’t beat you. I’m giving up.”
“You’re giving up?” Evelyn’s guard tightened. “When you’ve got so much to lose?”
Yvonne shook her head. “Honestly, I hate it. But I don’t have a choice. I can’t win. These things are just my way of asking for peace. I want us to get along. Let’s leave the past where it is. Can we do that?”
Before Evelyn could respond, Yvonne rushed to add, “I mean it. If you don’t believe me, I’ll even put it in writing.”
Evelyn almost laughed. A written promise was worthless.
It carried no weight. Laws made no provision for it. If Yvonne changed her mind down the line, the written promise would be worth less than a scrap of paper.
Her lies might fool a child, but not her.
After a pause, Evelyn spoke quietly. “I can buy your story, but you need to give me something real. Something that proves you’re serious.”
It was Yvonne’s mistake to make such an open offer, and Evelyn was not about to waste it.
Yvonne, eager to move things along, nodded quickly. “Tell me what you need. If I can give it
to you, I will.”
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“Grandpa gave me a pair of emerald bracelets on his hundredth birthday. You said I was too young to hold them and might break them, so you kept them. I’m grown now. I want them
back.”
Those bracelets were worth a small fortune, and they both knew it.
Evelyn had already decided that she would make Yvonne return everything that belonged to the Schmidts, bit by bit.
Yvonne’s jaw tightened.
She knew Bill would never be cheap enough to give her own granddaughter crude bracelets, so she stole them from Evelyn. She had planned to save those bracelets as Alice’s wedding gift, since they were valuable. But to convince Evelyn, she had no choice.
She clenched her teeth. “Fine. I’ll get them. Wait here.”
After a few minutes upstairs, Yvonne returned with a small box and pushed it into Evelyn’s hands. “Here. Does this prove I mean it?”
Evelyn examined the bracelets carefully to make sure nothing had been swapped. Then she nodded. “Given that you’re handing these back to me, I’ll trust you for now. But I’m not giving you the photos. If you break your word, I’d have nothing to fall back on. A promise on paper isn’t enough. I’d be too easy to take advantage of.”
Her eyes glistened with a mix of sincerity and hurt as she looked directly at Yvonne.
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Reborn for Love and Revenge
