THE TRASH YOU MOCKED

10

Evan smiled and turned to her. “I thought you might know him.”

“I—I don’t,” Clara snapped. “I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

Doctor Jerry turned, eyes wide. “Ma’am, please—don't lie! You paid me to forge the report! You said he’d never find out!”

Clara’s face turned pale.

“No! He’s lying! You planned this to set me up!” she yelled,

Evan laughed.

Clara was shaking. “You… you set all this up…”

The man fell to his knees, palms raised in surrender.

“Please, Mr. Lancaster.” he cried. “She came to my clinic two weeks ago. She said she needed a report to convince you the baby was yours. I didn’t know who you were at first—I swear!”

Evan remained still, arms crossed.

“She offered money,” Doctor Jerry continued, voice trembling. “Said it was just to get you back. I forged the test under her instructions… everything in that file is fake. She's pregnant but the baby isn't yours”

Clara's face was drained of color. “He’s making this up! Evan, I’ve never met this man in my life! Please believe me”

Jerry turned to her, eyes wide. “You said you’d protect me! You said he’d believe it because of the divorce!”

Evan finally stepped forward, crouching slightly to meet the doctor’s eye.

“You have proof?”

Jerry quickly pulled out his phone. “Voice recordings. Chat logs. Bank transfer receipts. I brought everything… just don’t hurt me.”

Evan nodded at one of the guards. “Take him outside. Give him what we agreed.”

As the guards escorted Jerry away, Evan straightened and looked at Clara.

“That baby isn’t mine. For this, i have a gift for you"

Evan watched the panic flicker in Clara’s eyes, then offered a calm smile.

“Come with me,” he said. “There's something I’d like you to see.”

Still shaken, Clara followed him through the hallway, She could feel something was off.

Then they stepped outside.

There were reporters. Microphones. All waiting, facing a podium on the open lawn.

Clara froze. “What’s this?”

Evan didn’t answer right away. He motioned to a man standing nearby.

The man disappeared and returned with an older man which was her father.

“Dad?” Clara whispered, confused.

" I invited him,” Evan smiled.

Her father wouldn’t look at her. He stepped forward as Evan handed him a thick folder.

“These,” Evan said, “are records of the debts your family owes me—loans, unpaid contracts, interest. If I decide to collect them and I'm sure your great great grandchildren won't be able to pay the debts up since it will keep accumulating.”

The press kept taking shots.

Clara’s eyes widened. “Wait! what is this about?”

“But I’m feeling generous today So I've decided to clear them all... under one condition. Mr Hilton."

" You’ll be working at one of my subsidiaries as an office messenger. Uniform and shift schedule are included. I believe your daughter might need the support now that her lies have collapsed.”

“What?!” Clara shrieked.

“No, no, no!” she screamed, stumbling backward. “You can’t do this! Evan!”

Her father’s face turned pale. He looked from Evan to Clara, shame washing over him.

He had no choice but to accept if he doesn't want Evan to confiscate everything he owns and send his family into the streets.

Clara screamed. “You can’t do this! You—this is abuse! BLACKMAIL!”

Immediately Evan stopped talking, cameras began flashing from all directions.

Clara’s face twisted in disbelief. “You can’t do this! Evan, this is insane!”

But Evan remained silent.

Reporters pushed closer, flashes popping.

Clara turned to her father, eyes pleading. “Dad, say something!”

But Mr. Hilton simply looked away, shame flooding his face.

Evan gave a small nod to security, signaling them to escort the old man inside for processing.

Clara’s breathing quickened and her hands trembled.

She let out a piercing scream, loud enough to startle the crowd and collapsed.

Right there, in front of the cameras.

Flash. Flash. Flash.

The press captured every second.

Evan took one last look at her before quietly exiting the podium

Unknown to Evan, that single move changed everything.

The footage spread like wildfire.

Clara’s dramatic fainting, his cold walk away.

News outlets picked it up and social media exploded at the footage.

He went super viral, unknowingly thrust into the spotlight.

Two days later, on a gentle afternoon, Clara slowly regained consciousness.

She blinked against the soft white light filtering through the curtains. The scent of antiseptic lingered in the air and her body felt heavy and weak.

As she roamed her eyes around the room, she saw other patients lying on beds nearby.

The beeping machines, the nurses... it all told her where she was.

A hospital.

Then it all came flooding back.

Evan.

She was in his mansion.

The way he walked away without looking back.

The press capturing everything.

The shame.

The humiliation.

A single tear slid from the corner of her eye.

She tried to sit up, her lips trembling but a nurse hurried to her side and gently pressed her back down.

“You need to rest,” the nurse said softly.

“No… no,” Clara said frantically, then slowly her voice grew louder “No! I need to go! I need to find him!”

She kept screaming, thrashing weakly against the restraints of her own exhaustion until a doctor came in and administered a sedative.

Within seconds, her body began to calm.

She looked at them with a weak smile but her tears wouldn’t stop. If anything, they fell harder.

“That should help you rest,” the doctor said gently, nodding at the nurse before they both turned and walked away.

Clara lay there, silent now, but her tears streamed free, forming steady rivers down her cheeks.

She felt another presence beside her bed.

“You look disappointed,” the voice said.

There was a taint of mockery in it.

Clara swallowed nothing painfully.

Evan.

He was standing with that same smile, hands buried casually in his pockets, like he hadn’t just shattered her world two days ago.

“What are you doing here?!” she shouted, trying to force her tears from falling.

“Hmm,” Evan said calmly, tilting his head slightly. “You could say I came to see how you’ve been faring.”

Clara let out a hollow, painful laugh. “So you’re playing Mr. Nice now, huh?”

“No… I know how terrible I am at that. ”

“Then, why are you here! ” Clara fired before he could finish, her voice loud enough to startle the patient in the next bed.

Evan stared at her for a long moment.

“I’ve decided to leave you and your father alone,” he finally said, breaking the building silence.

Clara blinked, stunned. “Really? After all that humiliation?! ”

“Yes!” Evan growled. “That’s exactly what I wanted.”

His eyes narrowed.

“You should be grateful I’m letting your family off.... after everything they did to me. The lies, the insults, the way your father treated me like dirt.”

Clara's throat tightened and she stared at him painfully.

“You’ve changed.”

Evan laughed quietly then his expression changed.“ You forced me to!

“ And that humiliation? That was thank you. A parting gift.... for everything your family put me through. I wanted you all to feel the burn. To rot in the shame you once made me feel.”

He then took a deep breath.

“I’m done with all of you now. You are…” he paused for a brief seconds then continued

“Useless to me now.”

His last words punctured a hole in her heart and the tears she’d been holding finally ran down her cheeks as she watched him turn, ready to walk away.

He gave her one last smile then, turned and began walking away.

But halfway to the door, he stopped.

“Oh, and by the way… the doctors said you were never pregnant.”

He let the words sink in.

“Seems your little crafty plan didn’t work out after all.”

Clara’s heart dropped.

“I’ll pretend not to know,” he continued, still not facing her. “So I won’t press charges. Consider that my final mercy.”

“I hope we never cross paths again.”

And with that, Evan walked out.

As she watched the door close behind him, Clara broke into silent sobs, regretting it all.