Chapter 366
The night stretched endlessly for Jonathan. Humiliation and rage twisted inside him like twin serpents.
Christopher Montgomery's brutal exposure still burned in his memory.
He'd been strategizing how to win Evelyn back. Women always responded to sweet words and grand gestures.
But fate had other plans. Rough hands shoved him into an unmarked van before he'd taken ten steps. The world went black.
This wasn't supposed to happen outside crime dramas. Yet here he was, tasting real terror for the first time.
His screams echoed unanswered in the concrete cell. Each desperate plea earned him another blow until his body became a canvas of pain.
When the masked figure finally spoke, Jonathan's blood turned to ice. "Stay away from his wife. Next time, we take more than just your pride."
He woke on cold pavement, his broken body discovered by morning joggers. The hospital sheets offered no comfort.
Every time he closed his eyes, he relived that darkness. The nightmares left him shaking, sheets soaked with sweat.
The mystery tormented him. Whose wife? He'd designed homes for elite families, mingled with society wives.
That aging socialite who'd pursued him last spring? Impossible - he'd rejected her advances immediately.
Then Evelyn walked in, and realization struck like lightning. Her ex-husband Nathaniel Whitmore.
The pieces fit perfectly. Only a powerful man like Nathaniel would orchestrate such brutality.
But weren't they finalizing their divorce? Rumors swirled about Nathaniel's shady business dealings.
Jonathan studied Evelyn with new wariness. If Nathaniel was behind this, pursuing her meant signing his death warrant.
Evelyn shifted under his gaze. Did he suspect Christopher's involvement?
She could practically hear her cousin's threat: "Touch my cousin again, and I'll break every bone in your body."
The timing was too perfect. Even a child could connect the dots.
Judith's impatient voice cut through the tension. "Jonathan, stop daydreaming! Write your statement!"
"List every suspect," she pressed. "Help the police do their job."
Evelyn nodded. "Yes, Jonathan. Tell them everything."
When Judith rushed out to take a call, silence swallowed the hospital room.
Jonathan's pen scratched across paper: "Evelyn, why? What did I do to deserve this?"
Her apology tumbled out. "Christopher went too far protecting me. They saw those rumors you spread online."
Jonathan's eyes widened. Not Nathaniel? Her own family had done this?
The revelation changed everything.