Chapter 14 Drunk Truth, I Will Let Go and Leave

Over the next while, when Claire contacted Evan, she could clearly feel his coldness and indifference.

Every time she asked Evan to meet up, he turned her down with the excuse of being busy with work. Not once did she succeed.

Claire felt a sense of crisis rising in her heart again. Evan's sudden cold attitude toward her must have a reason.

But she couldn't and didn't dare ask what that reason was. First, she didn't want Evan to become even colder toward her. Second, she was afraid she couldn't handle the truth.

She guessed it probably had something to do with Harper.

She had invested so much effort and time in Evan—she couldn't walk away with nothing.

Claire thought about what to do. She had to find a way to make Evan's attitude toward her return to how it was before.

Near evening, Evan received a call from Claire.

"Evan, can you have dinner with me tonight? We haven't seen each other in days." Claire's gentle voice carried a hint of hope.

He had indeed been deliberately avoiding Claire these past few days. Evan was about to agree, but then he remembered what had happened before, and his mind changed instantly. "The company has been really busy lately. I have a meeting tonight. Let's do it another time."

Another rejection. Claire's expression turned particularly ugly, but she couldn't let it show. She had always maintained a gentle and considerate image in front of Evan.

Claire's slightly disappointed voice came through the phone to Evan's end. "I understand. I won't bother you then. Don't work too late—your health is important."

After hanging up, Evan didn't give it much thought. He continued handling his work.

They weren't a couple madly in love who needed to see each other every day or talk on the phone for hours.

In a long-term relationship, both had their own careers. Not seeing each other for days or even longer was perfectly normal.

Just as Evan finished signing a document and was about to take a short break, his assistant walked into the office.

The assistant looked at Evan with hesitation, as if wanting to say something but not daring to, which made Evan frown. "What is it? If you have something to say, just say it."

"Mr. Morgan, we just got a call. Miss Martinez is drinking at a bar, and she's drunk..." After speaking, the assistant lowered his head, not daring to look at Evan's expression.

His brow furrowed even more. Evan couldn't understand what Claire was doing. She was pregnant, yet she went to a bar to drink and got drunk. Didn't she know this was bad for both her and the baby?

"Which bar?" Evan stood up. Regardless of his current attitude toward Claire, she was drunk, and he had to go get her and send her home.

A drunk woman in a bar wasn't safe.

The assistant quickly provided the bar's address.

Evan left immediately and soon arrived at the bar where Claire was.

Claire was still drinking, downing each glass in one gulp. Someone had been watching her for a while, seeing that she was alone and drinking to drown her sorrows.

A single woman, and a beautiful one at that, in a bad mood—if not now, when would be the time to offer comfort?

Two men approached Claire. One of them looked at her like prey, his eyes full of appreciation. "Hello, beautiful. You seem to be in a bad mood. How about we keep you company?"

Claire turned to look at them. They weren't the person she was hoping for. They were treating her as a target for a one-night stand. Frowning, Claire rudely told them to leave. "No need. I'm fine on my own!"

With prey right in front of them, how could they let her go? The two men moved even closer. "Don't be so quick to refuse. Drinking alone is nowhere near as fun as drinking with company. I promise I can cheer you up."

"Go away! I said I don't need it!" Claire's tone was impatient as she tried to get rid of them, her already bad mood now even worse.

Being rejected so bluntly, the two men were also getting annoyed. The woman in front of them was already drunk—why be polite? One of them reached his hand directly toward Claire.

Just as his hand was about to grab Claire's arm, it was caught by another hand that appeared suddenly.

Evan arrived at just that moment. Fortunately, he came in time. If he'd been any later, who knows what might have happened.

"What are you doing?" The man struggled but couldn't break free. He frowned and snapped at Evan, looking at him with displeasure.

Evan released the man's arm. "I'd like to ask what you think you're doing!"

Seeing Evan, Claire leaned into his embrace, her eyes hazy with drunkenness as she murmured, "Evan, what took you so long?"

It was obvious they knew each other. The man immediately understood why he'd been stopped. Seeing Evan's expensive suit and the assistant behind him, he quickly put on a smile and explained, "Misunderstanding! You've got it wrong. I saw she was drunk and was worried she'd fall, so I wanted to help her. Since she has someone to look after her, I'm relieved. We won't disturb you two."

Then he quickly pulled his companion away to avoid getting in trouble with Evan.

Seeing they knew their place, Evan didn't pursue the matter.

He snatched away the glass Claire was bringing to her lips and set it down, then scooped up the person leaning against him and carried her out of the bar. Throughout this, Claire kept asking for more drinks, mumbling that she wasn't drunk.

After taking Claire home, Evan was about to leave when Claire hugged him from behind, her voice full of grievance and reluctance. "Stay with me. Just this once. I won't bother you again after this."

Evan sighed and turned around to pick Claire up. She was so drunk she could barely stand. He'd better take her to the bedroom.

Claire held tightly to Evan's neck, tears falling without warning. "Evan, I really love you... But you're already married. If I keep clinging to you... it's not good for you, for Miss Wilson, or for me..."

"I've thought it through. I'll leave with the baby and won't bother you anymore... Stay with me one more time... please..." As Claire spoke, her grip loosened.

Evan placed her on the bed, guilt welling up from the bottom of his heart. Although what she'd done before was indeed wrong, she'd only done it because she wanted to be with him.

If he hadn't married Harper, Claire would have been his wife.

Evan looked at Claire, still mumbling, and ultimately chose to stay with her.

--

The next day, as soon as Evan arrived at the company, his assistant gave him the investigation report about Harper and Sean's collaboration.

Evan suddenly understood. "So that's what Sean is after."

Because Harper knew Ruby, Sean wanted to use Harper to get to Ruby.

Now that he knew, there was no reason to let Sean take advantage. Evan immediately arranged to meet with Harper to discuss the details of the equity transfer.

Since it concerned her own interests, Harper agreed to meet. This time they arranged to meet at an Italian restaurant.

They had nothing to chat about. Harper got straight to the point. "You agree to transfer 15% of the shares to me?"

"Is there really nothing else we can talk about?" Evan paused, looking at Harper with pleading eyes. "Can you help me? I want to meet Ruby and discuss a collaboration with her."

Harper's lips curved into a smile as she looked at Evan.

Her husband still didn't know that the Ruby he wanted to work with was none other than Harper herself.