Chapter 279: The Truck of Fate

Eve paced inside the restroom. She checked each stall before making her call. Although she wasn't wearing contacts today and was technically not posing as Evangeline, the chances were that people would still perceive her as such—especially with Ambryan around.

Once the coast was clear, she dialled the most familiar number she has ever known.

"Hello, you've reached Andie Summers, future Mrs. Jarrett Calhoun."

Eve scrunched her nose, "Ew, please don't let that be your voicemail."

"But it is one way to spread the word that I am engaged," Andie pointed out. She sat on the couch with her feet up, eating from a bowl of cereal on her knees. "A bit more creative than just posting it on social media. Plus my old relatives don't use the internet and remain old-fashioned."

"Do they even call you?"

"No, but they call the house so mom changed the voicemail to make sure they know." She chuckled. Then, she took a bite of cereal. "So why did you call? Aren't you supposed to be busy being intimate with your beau?"

"Andie, hear me out," Eve began to say. She slowed down her speech, easing her into it. "I'm not asking much. I'm just in the middle of something and I need your help."

Andie placed the bowl on the coffee table and unfolded her legs. "What is it?" 

"I need you to coax Rose."

"..."

The line went quiet for a few seconds. Eve counted it inside her head while waiting for her best friend to reply. They both knew that Rose rarely got upset. If she did, it was usually hard to bring her back into a good mood. 

They could get lucky that she'll get over it quickly.

But, most of the time, it needed some dedicated enticing and charm.

"What did you do?" Andie finally said. 

Eve sighed and scratched the back of her head. "I'm in town and I didn't tell her. In my defense, I didn't even know I was gonna be in town! It hasn't been an hour since I got here too."

"What are you even doing in town?"

"Well, Ambryan—thought—that—I needed a change of scenery so instead of going somewhere foreign to me, he figured a familiar place would be good." Her heart almost jumped out of her mouth. That probably wasn't something she could share just yet. 

Andie's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Hearing about the town visit suddenly made her want to come over. She and Jarrett had plans to do it since his family still lived there but it was way too long. It would also be nice to have Eve and Ambryan around. Maybe even bring her family too.

Her mind started working on a plan.

"Yes, we're talking to Madame Isabelle now," Eve said, unaware that her best friend was distracted. She leaned on the sink counter and closed her eyes briefly. "And Rose almost brought my dual identity so I told her to shut up."

"Eve!" Andie exclaimed in protest.

"It's not a conversation I wanted to have in public, okay?!" Eve retorted with the same tone. If she hadn't done that, Rose would have dragged the subject on and so they would have to address it. "Plus we have some things to discuss and I don't want to be worrying about Rose."

Andie plopped backwards on the couch. She slipped down the backrest until her head rested against it. "Ugh, fine. I'll help you."

"You are an amazing woman, you know that?" 

She rolled her stormy blue eyes. "What things do you have to discuss anyway?"

Eve felt her throat clog up. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. She needed to come up with something quick. "Oh, you know just things." 

"Things like what?" Andie challenged. Her gaze narrowed at the coffee table. 

Detecting the suspicion, Eve hurried. She pushed herself off the sink counter and scrambled to stimulate her wits. There had to be something she could say was true. Something that would become part of the conversation outside of how Ambryan and Noah were the same person.

Then, it clicked. 

"I have a feeling that Madame Isabelle will bring up my childhood with Noah," Eve said, her heart hammering in her chest. She immediately stopped walking and held onto the counter.

Andie made a face. "In front of Ambryan? That's not something for him to be jealous about. The annoying bastard must be kissing up to his boss somewhere for a promotion. He always acted like he was smarter than anyone else."

Eve contorted her face. If anyone walked in right now, they'd think she was in pain. But, in reality, she strongly resisted the urge to laugh. "I think Ambryan would appreciate that thought. You should tell it to him sometime."

"I'll probably bring it up eventually."

"Please don't do it while I'm not around. Anyway, I have to go."

Nodding, Andie checked on her cereal. She raised a spoonful to her lips. "Leave Rose to me. But you still need to remember to talk to her every once in a while."

"Yeah, I know. If she starts talking to me again, we'll arrange a weekly catch up."

"Oh, invite me too."

"Of course." Eve chuckled and ended the call.

As she walked back to the table, she observed Madame Isabelle and Ambryan. This had to be the first time she had been alone to digest what just happened. Not only did her childhood frenemy turn out to be her current boyfriend but also it took a trip to town for her to realize it.

The black hair and violet eyes combination should have been enough to trigger that.

Guess Ambryan wasn't the only one slow at this.

Eve sat back down on her spot and smiled at the two. "You didn't start anything without me, did you? Because I will be greatly offended and only a lifetime supply of free coffee will fix that."

Ambryan snorted, pushing the coffee cup closer towards her. "You didn't miss anything really. I was trying to figure out how to start the story. That's all."

"Let me get one thing straight first," Eve cut in, pointing her finger upwards. "Who is your biological mother—though now that question came out of my mouth, I realized it has to be Avery since you look alike."

Madame Isabelle chuckled across from her. "That is true. N—Ambryan is a Hathaway through and through. Their blood runs in his veins. I'm not someone who has been blessed with a family of my own, Little Swan. My lover died in a war and I never got the chance to open my heart to someone else."

Her indigo eyes glazed as she walked down memory lane. "It was late afternoon back then. Taylor who stayed next door to the studio never told anyone this but his vegetable and fruit deliveries usually came near sunset. The ones he kept fresh everyday were only the meat and fish."

"Since I knew this, I always asked him to sell some to me once they arrived." The corner of her lips curled upwards. "I even threatened to tell everyone about it just so he would give in. Then, one day, I caught him and the delivery truck driver talking in the back."

"I immediately ran over to see what the fuss was about. And, lo and behold," she paused, flickering her gaze in Ambryan's direction. "There was a baby inside the truck."

"How—" Eve blinked. "Huh? What??"

"I think you need to take a drink." Ambryan frowned.

Eve sipped the coffee, drinking half of it all at once. She stared at the table as the information sank in. "How did you end up in the truck? And, Madame Isabelle, didn't you file a report that you found a baby? I feel like Avery would have found Ambryan right away with their influence."

Ambryan chose to answer first. "My parents hired a nanny months after I was born. Mother was going back to show business because she wasn't quite done yet. The nanny turned out to be just a cover. She was an accomplice to a kidnapping."

He drank a bit of his tea, seeming nonchalant about the story. "Everyday she walked me around the park to know which time would be the crowdest and best time for the bodyguards to accidentally lose sight of her"

"When the day finally came for her to do it, they had lost sight of her like she predicted but they also found her quickly too. They yelled for her to stop and she ran faster. Panicked, her accomplices didn't come out since they'd also get caught. She decided to leave the baby near the drop off and the truck…"

"... happened to be there. She thought they were watching her by this point and used the truck's enclosure to block the baby from the bodyguards. By the time security caught up to her, she was holding a lump of cloth," Ambryan sneaked a peek at Eve. Her brown eyes stared back in shock and alarm. 

He smirked and found it amusing as always. "Except her accomplices didn't see her put the baby inside the truck. They only knew which direction she went. The truck workers came back before the accomplices could and left."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Eve breathed out. Her head shook slowly. "Your parents must have been devastated to know what happened. A kidnapping meant there would be a ransom so they needed you safe… but, for you to vanish completely? No one knows what could happen."

Madame Isabelle nodded. "The men didn't know what to do about the baby until I joined them. I instantly checked on Ambryan, worrying about how long he had been in that truck."

She would never forgive the two blockheads that day. The driver tried to insist that Taylor should take the baby to the police since he still had a few more deliveries to do. The latter shoved the responsibility back since the baby was in his truck. 

Their selfishness needed to come first.

It made her sick.

"Then, it turned out that he had a fever."