The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot-Chapter 39: Scapegoat

’Dead.’

The word struck like a lightning bolt, sending Zevian’s head spinning, his vision blurred with a mix of rage and despair. He stormed towards the operating room, his mind a chaotic whirl of disbelief and determination. No, he couldn’t lose her!

Inside the operating room, chaos reigned. Doctors barked urgent orders, nurses moved frantically, and the beeping of machines created a dissonant symphony of impending doom. Evelyn was surrounded all around by medical professionals, her body jolting with every shock of the defibrillators.

"Zev!" Avery’s voice cut through the turmoil, tears streaming down her face. Her friend was lying on the brink of death, and she stood there, feeling utterly helpless.

Zevian shoved past his team, reaching the glass wall, his eyes locking on Evelyn’s still form. He quickly went to the door, trying to barge in but his men stopped him.

"Get out of my way!" Zevian roared, his voice breaking with raw emotion. He tried to bang on the door, shrieking both the doctors inside and his family standing in a mess.

Damien quickly reached his friend, hugging from behind, he dragged him back. "She isn’t dead! The doctors are still trying! Calm down!" He glared at his assistant whose panic fumble had unleashed Zevian completely.

"Your actions will only scare them, Zevian! Let them do their job!" Damien grumbled, trying to pull back his friend who tried to break through the room.

Rosalind and Natalie held onto each other, panic and tears filled in their eyes. When Zevian pulled back, they heaved a sigh before focusing back on Evelyn inside.

Zevian rushed back to the glass wall, his trembling hand touching the glass. "You can’t leave me, Eva Not now, not ever," he whispered, tears threatening to break out of his face. "Don’t give up! Fight for me, idiot! Please" His fervent words broke Rosalind into tears, even Damien teared up feeling for him.

"Do something!" Zevian bellowed at the doctors inside, his voice echoing with a mix of authority and desperation.

The head doctor, a man seasoned in dealing with life-and-death situations, took a deep breath and asked to increase the voltage. "On the count of three," he said, rubbing the defibrillator together.

The seconds dragged on, each one excruciatingly long. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the heart monitor beeped—a single, fragile sound that signaled hope.

"We have a pulse!" a nurse cried, her voice breaking the tension.

Their prayers seemed to have worked as Evelyn’s pulse flickered lightly, before following up in normal spikes. The doctor who was on standby, covered in sweats while CPR, got down, everyone in the room sighing before they resumed keeping her alive.

The thick air outside the room melted down, and everyone sighed the breath they had been holding until now. Avery thanked the heavens, hugging her aunt tightly who had moved forward to console her.

A tear slipped down Zevian’s eye, relief washing over his face. Closing his eyes, he pressed his head on the glass, his body trembling with the release of pent-up dread. His heart, which had felt like it had stopped beating, resumed its rhythm. Evelyn was alive, and that was enough to keep it fighting with everything he had.

Damien took a step forward and patted Zevian’s back. His every action proved how much he still loved Evelyn, and whoever do this, he swore to bring them to him! At even the cost of a fucking hell!

"We’ll get him, dude! Whoever did this will pay," Damien vowed, his voice low but brimming with icy determination.

Zevian nodded, his eyes never leaving Evelyn’s face. "And they’ll suffer for every second she fought to live."

———

While in one of the darkest alleys near the airport, Sophia adjusted the keffiyeh on Maverick’s head, ensuring it was wrapped securely and looked authentic. She then meticulously attached the false beard to his face, making sure it blended seamlessly with his skin.

Taking out an Arab citizenship card, she handed it to him along with his new identity as Khalid Al-Mahmoud, which they had prepared a couple of years ago as a safety measure. Passing him the passport and other important documents, she warned, "Stay low and don’t mess up."

"For how long?" Maverick grumbled, still audacious despite the chaos he had caused. He hated wearing this disguise and, worse, the thought of staying in a desert with no proper high-tech facilities.

"Until I reach you through someone," Sophia replied, her eyes scanning his disguise one last time to ensure everything was perfect. "It might take weeks, even months."

Maverick scowled but didn’t complain, knowing it might take some time to find a suitable scapegoat who could take the fall for his crimes and face that devil.

"Go!" she urged, ushering him into the van before waving him off and taking a narrow turn. She quickly changed her outfit, tossing the old clothes into a trash bin before reaching the main street. Getting into her car, she drove swiftly into the night, heading back to the Wright Mansion.

Once she was at the garage, she quickly walked to the small room attached to it, containing all the necessary mechanic stuff. Opening one of the cupboards, she searched through the tools and took out another burner phone.

Unlocking it, Sophia quickly contacted one of her moles to arrange a man with the same physique as Maverick. Zevian and his friend would be busy at the hospital, and she needed to use this time to her advantage to quickly cover up and save them from becoming that devil’s direct targets.

"I need someone close to people in our circle. Make sure they have photos taken with not just me but also other influential families," she ordered, to which the person on the other side nodded.

Discussing a few more things, Sophia ended the call, turned off the phone, and hid it in a new secret spot. She made sure to delete the footage from the mansion’s CCTV, located in the security room, before walking back into the mansion.

A sigh escaped her lips as she found the house dark and completely empty. It was past midnight, and she was sure everyone was already locked in their rooms.

But as she walked upstairs, the corridor lights suddenly flicked on. Before she could escape, Elias caught sight of her, and their eyes locked in mutual confusion.

"Why are you still up?" Sophia scolded her son, her grim expression masking her fear.

Elias, still angry at her for spiking his drinks and sending him to an island during Evelyn’s wedding crisis as per his father’s orders, glared back. "I should be asking the same," he said, his voice serious.

"I went downstairs to drink water," Sophia lied, her eyes cold but flickering with tension.

"In shoes?" Elias questioned, frowning. Sophia’s eyes widened, quickly looked down at her feet. She cursed herself internally, realizing she had only changed into her nightwear and forgotten to swap her shoes for slippers.

"I couldn’t sleep and took a stroll in the garden," Sophia babbled, her confident words not matching her tone. Yawning loudly, she added, "I am sleepy. You should sleep too, honey. Goodnight."

With that, she patted his shoulder and walked past, hoping her son would forget by morning. But just as she crossed him, his words shocked her.

"Did you go out to meet that man, Mom?"

Sophia turned around, shock filling her face. Her eyes met Elias’s narrowed gaze, his expression suspicious and angry. He couldn’t possibly be talking about Maverick, right? In fact, her son had no clue that he existed, at least that’s what she believed.

"Who would I meet at this hour, darling?" Sophia forced a chuckle. "Don’t think too much. Go sleep," she said, turning to leave.

"Maverick! You went to meet him, right?"