Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 85

Hiram was stunned by what he'd just heard. When the shock wore off, fury took its place. He wrenched his arm free from Charlotte's grasp and stormed up to Tricia, voice shaking with rage. "You liar! You're the reason my sister got hurt! You promised you'd make a public apology, and now you're going back on your word?"

"Hiram, don't—"

Charlotte tried to hold him back, but it was too late.

Before Hiram could reach Tricia, Evander stepped forward and knocked him to the floor with a swift kick. At a signal from Natalie, two security guards moved in, pinning Hiram down.

"Let go of me! I didn't do anything wrong!" Hiram's voice cracked with anger and frustration. "If it weren't for her, my sister wouldn't have been attacked—she made it happen, I have the recording to prove it!"

Evander's eyes darkened as he turned to look at Tricia.

Tears streamed down Tricia's face, her voice trembling. "It's not true, Evander. He forced me to say those things. He said if I didn't, he'd kill me…"

"Miss Winthrop, I admit my brother was wrong to kidnap you. I can apologize on his behalf for that. But he's not a killer."

When she'd first heard about Hiram kidnapping Tricia, Charlotte hadn't been afraid for Tricia's life. She knew her brother—he would never go that far. Her real fear was that Hiram, reckless and impulsive as ever, might seriously hurt Tricia like he had with that college classmate, ruining his own future in the process.

"Dr. Sterling!" Tricia's voice rang out, strong and clear. "I was the one who was kidnapped! Of course you'd defend him—he's your brother!"

"That's exactly why—"

"Enough!" Evander cut her off, his patience clearly worn thin. His eyes were cold as ice.

"He kidnapped someone. That's a crime. Are you really going to defend a kidnapper?"

Charlotte fell silent, frozen where she stood. Of course—kidnapping was a crime, plain and simple. If Evander pressed charges for Tricia, Hiram would go to prison, even if he hadn't physically hurt anyone.

"Evander, he recorded me when he forced me to say those things. I'm afraid he'll use those recordings to threaten me in the future…" Tricia's jaw clenched. She couldn't let that recording become a weapon against her.

Evander nodded to the guards.

They moved in to take Hiram's phone, but he clung to it desperately. "This is the proof my sister is innocent! Don't touch it! Give it back!"

Despite his resistance, the guards eventually pried the phone from his grasp and handed it to Evander.

Charlotte caught the look and clenched her fists. "Evander, what if there's important evidence on that phone?"

Evander's reply was cold and calm. "Evidence of what? Kidnapping?"

Charlotte faltered, breathless. "Hiram wouldn't do something like this for no reason…"

"Does a kidnapper ever need a reason?" His words left no room for argument.

Whenever it came to Tricia, Evander was always this ruthless. He'd rather trust her blindly than ever question her motives.

Tricia quickly erased the phone's memory, then let it slip from her hand, sending it crashing to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" she murmured, instinctively shrinking behind Evander, as if terrified of Hiram.

Staring at the shattered phone, Hiram laughed—a hollow, broken sound.

All the evidence he'd worked so hard to collect was gone. It was all gone.