Chapter 71 Just Taking Back What’s Mine
The shade under the locust tree was cool, but Evelyn’s cheeks still burned faintly.
+8 Pearls
Quade had just finished his 20 laps and looked at her in confusion, “Evelyn, I just finished 20 laps, but why does your face look redder than mine?”
“I’m freezing,” Evelyn blurted without thinking.
That only confused him more.
Freezing? In this weather? Sitting under the shade of a tree, sure, it was cooler. But saying she was “freezing” in this season sounded nuts.
He was about to press her when she cut in briskly. “Alright, warm–up’s done, right? Now give me 50 push–ups and a 100 sit–ups. I’ll count for you.”
Faced with that brutal regimen, Quade quickly lost all interest in gossip. Groaning, he dropped down and kept grinding through the exercises.
By the time she finished drilling Quade, dusk had already set in.
He was worn out, but still followed Philip’s orders to see Evelyn out and make sure she got into a cab safely before Quade could return to his dorm.
But tonight, Evelyn wasn’t taking a cab.
She borrowed Quade’s bike. It was the latest model, way smaller than the old–school ones, perfect for students.
“Evelyn, riding all the way home’s gotta be exhausting. Why not just grab a cab? Unless you’re short on cash, I can cover it for you,” Quade offered.
Evelyn waved him off with a small smile. “No need. My place isn’t far, and riding’s fine. Besides, it’s almost dark now. It’s actually cooler on a bike. I’ll bring it back to you tomorrow.”
Quade grinned and tried to cut a deal. “If you go easy on me during training, forget borrowing. I’ll just give you the bike.”
All he got in return was Evelyn’s smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I will return the bike, and the training will still be hard. That’s it. See you tomorrow.”
With that, she hopped onto the bike, pedaled into the crowd, and disappeared in an instant.
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Chapter 71 Just Taking Back What’s Mine
Quade suddenly thought that Evelyn was starting to resemble Philip more and more.
No doubt she learned that kind of toughness from him.
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Riding back home, Evelyn spotted the old clunky bike tossed carelessly in a corner of the yard.
Even before she got close, she caught a whiff of the stench.
Keeping her face calm, she rolled Quade’s bike up beside the other bike and finally saw the pig shit smeared all over it.
Looked like Yvonne hadn’t had such a pleasant trip home.
With that thought, she strolled into the house.
There was Yvonne in the living room, practically scrubbing herself raw with lotion. The thick, suffocating scent filled the whole place, but it still couldn’t mask the reek of pig shit clinging to her.
No contest. Stench always beats perfume.
That afternoon alone, Yvonne had showered eight times and gone through who knew how much snow cream, yet the smell still wouldn’t come off.
Seething, she glanced up just as Evelyn walked in.
She hurled the lotion jar aside and lunged at her, rage twisting her face. “Evelyn, you little bitch! This is all your fault. Look at what you’ve done! Are you happy now?”
“You smell bad. How could that possibly be a good thing? Yvonne, don’t tell me you really can’t tell the difference between right and wrong,” Evelyn asked, blinking.
Yvonne was about to explode.
She wouldn’t have such misfortune if it hadn’t been for Evelyn.
With that big bicycle in tow, no cab would take her. And out in the suburbs, traffic was scarce to begin with. In the end, the only way back to the city was on a hog hauler. It was a truck pulling a cart full of pigs.
To be exact, it was actually a tractor.
There was no room in the front, so Yvonne had been forced to cram herself in the back, squeezed in with the pigs and her bike.
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Chapter 71 Just Taking Back What’s Mine
All thanks to Evelyn.
But Evelyn just let out a quiet, mocking laugh that made Yvonne’s stomach knot.
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“You had other options,” Evelyn said calmly. “You could’ve pushed the bike home, or ridden it, or waited for another car. You picked the truck full of pigs. So tell me. How is that my fault? Did I force you onto it?”
“You … you … ” Yvonne stammered, tongue–tied, unable to retort.
Evelyn pressed on, “Oh, and make sure you wash the bike. However it was when you borrowed it, that’s how it should look when you return it. Otherwise, when Bill hears about it from the neighbors, he’ll take out the embarrassment on you. Not me.”
What kind of logic was that?
She’d already been humiliated by Evelyn, and now she was expected to wash a bike covered in pig shit on top of it?
She was on the verge of losing it when Evelyn started up the stairs.
Yvonne grabbed her arm in a rush.
The prank was one thing, but the real score between them still had to be settled.
“Yvonne, what else do you need?” Evelyn asked, glancing back at her.
Yvonne’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I found out something today. The ad in the paper was filed under my name, and the money supposedly came from me. How did you manage that?”
The answer was obvious. Evelyn had a connection with the editor.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Evelyn shot back. “Now the whole city’s helping you search for Alice, and it didn’t cost you a cent. Shouldn’t you be happy?”
No.
Of course not.
If the ad had really been filed under her name, that would mean Zaid had approved it. She could search freely without fear.
But this wasn’t the same.
Zaid still hadn’t fully let go of what happened before. If he found out the notice had been
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Chapter 71 Just Taking Back What’s Mine
published in her name, he’d blow up.
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And when that happened, not only would finding Alice become impossible, she’d also lose the only support she had in this house. Facing Evelyn alone would be even harder.
“This is your plan, isn’t it? You’re trying to push me out of this family, aren’t you?” Yvonne demanded.
Evelyn just smiled and shook her head. “That’s not what I’m after. Why would I bother throwing you out?”
“You’re lying! Of course that’s what you want. You’ve already started. Once I’m gone and Alice isn’t found, you’ll take over the whole family and steal everything that belongs to me and Alice!”
Yvonne was getting worked up, her face twisted with emotion.
Evelyn’s smile faded. She stared at Yvonne like she was making a fool of herself.
At last she said quietly, “You’re wrong. I’m not going to throw you out. That would be too easy, too meaningless. What I want… is for you to walk out of here on your own, just like Alice did.”
She paused, then added, “And you’re wrong about one more thing. I’m not stealing what’s yours. You and Alice stole from me. I’m only taking back what was mine in the first place.”
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Reborn for Love and Revenge
