Chapter 4 Your Reputation—What Does It Have to Do with Me?

"Jealous?" Evan looked at her like he'd heard a joke, sizing her up and down with a sneer on his face. "You? Are you even worth it?"

Harper didn't hold back her laughter, the corners of her mouth curving with mockery. "Then what are you doing?"

Her gaze fell on Evan's tight grip on her wrist, which had already turned red from his grasp.

Other people on the dance floor were also looking over, their expressions subtle.

Ryan's face darkened when Evan snatched her from his arms. "Mr. Morgan, you should treat women gently and respectfully. This isn't appropriate."

Ryan grabbed Evan's wrist, trying to separate them.

Evan used his other hand to push Ryan's hand away, his tone impatient. "I'm taking my wife away. What does it have to do with you? What right do you have to criticize me?"

"Mr. Morgan, you're already divorced. Whatever Harper does has nothing to do with you! Let go!"

Ava walked over. She could tell at a glance that Evan had hurt Harper's wrist. A man who didn't know how to treat women gently—divorcing him was definitely the right choice!

More people focused their attention on them. Evan frowned, growing even more impatient. He didn't want to keep arguing here, or it would make headlines again tomorrow.

He yanked hard, pulling Harper into his arms and wrapping his arm around her waist. He looked at Ryan and Ava with a warning glare. "We haven't officially divorced yet. She's still my wife. You'd better stay out of this."

"Evan, let go of me! I already signed the divorce agreement and made way for you and Claire. What more do you want?" Harper felt uncomfortable all over. In all their time married, they'd never been this physically close, and it made her resist.

Ryan and Ava were intimidated by Evan's gaze, and since the two indeed hadn't truly divorced yet, they could only stop and watch.

Feeling Harper's slightly stiff but still struggling body in his arms, Evan decided to go all in and simply picked her up.

The sudden loss of balance startled Harper. "Evan, what are you doing?"

Evan said nothing. He walked outside the bar, opened the car door, and threw Harper inside.

By the time Harper steadied herself, the car had already started, and she could only stay inside.

Evan didn't care about her at all. She'd already initiated the divorce, yet he came looking for her. It was completely unreasonable.

Looking at the red marks on her wrist, Harper didn't feel like questioning him right now.

The car sped along and soon arrived back at the villa.

Leaving now was impossible. If she tried to force her way out, Evan would use force, and she'd be the one who got hurt. Harper chose to enter the villa on her own.

"Evan, you brought me back here—what exactly do you want?" As soon as she sat down, Harper asked impatiently.

Without getting to the bottom of this, she felt uneasy. She needed to know what his purpose was.

After throwing his coat and tie to the servant, Evan sat down across from her. "It's simple. The divorce is on hold. You need to cooperate with me to calm down the public opinion first."

"This whole thing started because of you. You have to fix it."

Evan emphasized his tone. If she hadn't talked nonsense, how would things have gotten to this point?

"I already told you, how reporters write their stories has nothing to do with me, and I can't control it." Harper's anxious heart settled down. "Also, why delay the divorce? If we don't divorce, do you want Claire's baby to become illegitimate?"

She paused, then raised her eyebrows and looked at Evan's body meaningfully. "Or is that child not yours, and you really are... unable?"

Any man questioned about his virility, especially multiple times, would get angry.

What's more, Evan was perfectly healthy. He didn't touch Harper because he didn't like her and didn't want to have a child without an emotional foundation—that would make the divorce more complicated later.

"Enough! I'm perfectly healthy!" Evan's face darkened, his eyes showing a warning. "If Grandpa didn't forbid the divorce, I would sign the divorce agreement right now!"

Harper quit while she was ahead, though she was also somewhat surprised. So the old man wouldn't allow the divorce.

However, whether Grandpa agreed or not, this marriage had to end. She didn't want to continue living like before.

Harper got up and headed upstairs, her attitude cold. "Since you want the divorce too, what does your reputation have to do with me? This is your problem to handle."

With that, without caring what expression Evan had, she went straight upstairs.

"You..." Evan wanted to get angry, but Harper didn't give him the chance.

After calming down a bit, Evan was surprised by Harper's attitude today.

Before, she had been meek and submissive, going along with everything he said and trying to please him in every way. No matter how cold or harsh his attitude was, she never changed.

When did things become different?

Since he and Claire made the trending topics, and Claire came to the door saying she was pregnant.

The image of Harper in the dance floor at the bar flashed through his mind—it was a side of her he'd never seen in three years. Had he never really understood her?

Hah, understand what?

A woman he didn't like—why waste time on that?

Or maybe this was another one of her playing-hard-to-get tricks. Pretty clumsy.

The next day, Evan had barely sat down in his office when his assistant knocked and rushed in anxiously. "Mr. Morgan, the company's stock price is dropping badly. Several shareholders have called asking if you really are..."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Evan just felt exhausted. "Reassure them. The stock price drop is only temporary."

Thinking of the rumors online, if he didn't respond, things would only get worse. He opened his computer and logged into his personal account.

Evan: I solemnly declare once again that I am in good health with no medical conditions whatsoever. If you don't believe it, you can verify my annual hospital checkup reports. Furthermore, I will pursue legal action against anyone who continues to spread false information.

At the end of this statement, he tagged several media outlets that had reported he was impotent.

"Have the company's PR department repost and pin this statement!" Evan ordered through gritted teeth.

The assistant glanced at it and immediately left to arrange it.

This statement was quickly seen by the many netizens who had been following the developments.

Evan personally getting involved was something people hadn't expected.

However, this didn't turn the tide of public opinion. The discussion in the comments section was even more intense than before.

"Mr. Morgan actually got personally involved. He must really be provoked."

"Why didn't he respond yesterday? He just tried to suppress the trending topics. Responding today—does that mean he's out of options?"

"I feel like Mr. Morgan is guilty. Harper is his wife. Even though he hasn't publicly acknowledged it, they are married, so what she said probably isn't false."

"Claire hasn't come out to respond. If it were false, why wouldn't she speak up? She should have responded immediately yesterday."

"Exactly. He should have responded to this immediately yesterday, but instead he waited a whole night. Waited for what? For the trending topic to be suppressed?"

Only a small portion of netizens believed Evan. Most didn't buy it at all and even thought he was feeling guilty.