Pampered by my Billionaire CEO Husband
Chapter 136: Unexpected news

Chapter 136: Chapter 136: Unexpected news

Evelyn shrieked as she stumbled back a couple of steps and held onto her hand as her features contorted into a pained expression that masked her features.

The audience sitting below collectively sucked in a gasp of air through their teeth and their eyes widened in shock and surprise as they witnessed the scene unravel before their own eyes. Whispers and murmurs filled the air once again as people started to gossip among themselves and pointing fingers at us.

Almost immediately, I heard Xavier’s deep voice reach my ears as my name left his lips in a panic, his voice laced with concern.

"Aurelia!"

I whipped my head around to look at him among the crowd and we locked eyes from a distance. I could barely feel the pain that coursed through my body, nor did I notice the blood that was the colour of my dress, it was trickling down my palm as I was frozen to the ground, shock and disbelief swirling in the depths of my eyes.

The thoughts were swirling inside of my head like a damn hurricane and I chide myself for not seeing this coming. I should have known that she was up to no good, that she definitely had something up her sleeve. How could I be so stupid?

Everything was a blur as my mind struggled to comprehend what was happening.

Then a familiar voice broke me out of my little reverie, snapping me right back to reality. I felt someone’s fingers wrap around me. "Aurelia, are you okay?"

With a shock look still plastered across my face, I turned to look into his eyes blankly, still seemingly in a daze. "Xavier... I..." I muttered under my breath, my voice barely above a whisper.

He held my hand in his and his eyes flickered down to look at my palm. "Oh my god, you are bleeding. I need to take you to the clinic." As he tried to pull me away, another familiar voice sliced through the noise that filled the ballroom.

"Where do you think you are going?" The voice hissed with a disdainful scorn. We turned to find ourselves looking right into James’ dark eyes as he glared at us with his eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Did you think she could just leave after she injured my daughter?" He snarled, the words that left his lips were filled with malice.

I didn’t notice it but her parents must have also rushed up on stage sometime before Xavier, the moment they saw what happened.

"Aurelia is bleeding and she is injured too," Xavier announced through gritted teeth as he clenched his jaw tightly, his tone carrying a hint of impatience and anger as they locked eyes.

"She needs to apologise to Evelyn!" He demanded, not caring if anyone was judging him, after all, he was one of the richest men in this country, he could care less about what others thought of him and his family. All he wanted at that point in time was to defend his daughter and fight for what he thought was justice. Meanwhile, Natalie stood beside her daughter, holding her with a concerned and worried expression that was stretched across her face.

"Aurelia will not be apolosing. It was an accident," Xavier said, his voice remained unwavering and everyone knew he wasn’t going to budge or give in. He simply didn’t care about anything besides myself.

A low chuckle left James’ parted lips this time as he kept his gaze steady, an incredulous plastered across his face. "An accident?" He repeated, tossing the words right back at him. "It doesn’t seem like an accident to me!" He spat the words out like they were poison in his mouth, his voice dripping with accusation.

Tension continued to brew in the air between us as the host stood aside watching nervously while everyone else watched on like it was a drama show, anticipation and excitement swimming in the depths of their eyes.

"Are you seriously trying to put the blame on Aurelia right now?!" Xavier snapped. "Why would she even drop the plague on purpose? What could her motive be?" He retorted as his gaze hardened.

James stepped forward, closing the gap between them as he leaned in closer, their faces dangerously close to one another. "You know exactly what her motive is," he sneered with a disdainful scorn. "She is jealous of my daughter and she wants to harm her on purpose and play it off as an accident. I know people like her all too well," he snarled, his tone carrying a sharp edge to it.

"What exactly do you mean by people like her? You better take those words back," Xavier warned as he clenched his fists tightly beside him and his voice trembling with anger that was spreading inside of him like a wildfire he couldn’t seem to control.

A smirk tugged at the corners of James’ lips as he stared at him. "Or else what?" He challenged with a look of defiance gleaming in his dark eyes while Natalie watched on with a tiny frown lingering between her brows.

Silence lapsed between them for a moment as tension hung in the air like a thick blanket.

It was at this moment when Evelyn spoke up, her words breaking the silence as people held their breaths.

"Daddy, it’s... fine... I’m okay, it’s not a big deal..." she said but grimaced in pain the next second. "I know Aurelia doesn’t like me but I’m sure she didn’t mean to," she added, then I watched as her knees buckled as she collapsed and a gasp erupted from the crowd but her mother quickly caught her and held her steady.

A frown crept onto Natalie’s face as she looked over at Evelyn, her eyes swimming with a mixture of worry and concern while James rushed over to her side in a hurry, a flustered expression crossed his face.

"Eve, are you okay?" Her mother asked in a worried tone.

"I’m... I’m really fine," Evelyn said weakly, her voice was barely above a whisper.

James’ gaze flickered down to glance at his daughter’s injury and the blood trickling down her arm. "No, you are not fine, you don’t have to act tough. You are hurt. Let me get you to the hospital," He said as he escorted Evelyn down the stairs of the stage, he snapped his head back around to glare at us with a fiery blaze burning in the depths of his eyes. He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth. "This isn’t over, you will pay for what you did to my daughter," he snarled before turning around to leave with Evelyn and his wife.

Xavier was unfazed by James’ supposedly intimidating demeanour. Without a single warning, he picked me up effortlessly as a soft gasp left my parted lips. He carried me in his strong arms as he walked down the steps.

His worried eyes glanced down to meet my gaze.

"Don’t worry about your hand, I’m bringing you to the clinic. You will be okay."

***

Third Person POV

The cut that slid across Evelyn’s palm was now hidden under the bandage that was wrapped around her hand. She turned to look at her dad with a slight smile plastered across her face. "Daddy, I’m really okay. I don’t need to be at the hospital."

"Ah... no arguing with me," he said with a soft gaze as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips despite the stern look that was etched onto his face. "I’m your father, of course I would want the best for you. Your mother and I need to make sure that everything is really okay before I let them discharge you from the hospital. After all... it’s better to be..."

"To be safe than sorry," she chimed in, finishing the sentence for her father with a cheeky grin lingering on her lips. "I know daddy, but..." she continued to whine with a small pout resting on her lips.

"No more buts, young lady."

As soon as the words left the tip of his tongue, the door to the private ward was pushed open and they immediately whipped their heads around. Their eyes landed on the doctor and nurse that had just walked through the door. The doctor was a family friend, he had always been the one treating her illness ever since Evelyn was a baby.

The family observed their faces carefully, noticed that the doctor and nurse both had a concerned and serious expression that masked their features. They stopped at the edge of the bed Evelyn was sitting in, the atmosphere feeling more tense than usual.

Natalie was the first to speak up, breaking the uncomfortable silence that settled among them. "Kelvin, is everything okay with our little girl?" She asked, her voice laced with a hint of worry as she looked up at them with a slight frown resting between her brows.

James stood up from the seat. "Yeah, is everything alright? Eve is fine, right, Kelvin?"

Kelvin cleared his throat audibly, and the gears in his head were shifting as he thought of how to break the news to them. An uncomfortable expression rested on his face as the frown on his face deepened, forming creases in his forehead.

"Your daughter..." he began, his voice trailing off. "I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this but, she’s diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer."