Seeing the anger burning in his eyes, Evelyn froze. This wasn't what she expected; it was far from what she'd anticipated after last night.

What was wrong? Was it the phone call? Had he found out about her relationship with Michael? Or was it about Samantha?

She shook her head inwardly. It couldn't be Samantha; even her mother, who knew about Samantha, didn't know Derek was Samantha's father.

So, what was he talking about? Why did he look so angry? It had to be about her and Michael, she thought, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I would have told you, but I was scared that if I did, you wouldn't"

"I wouldn't what?" he snapped, his anger escalating at her admission.

"I bared my heart to you. I told you it had to be off the record and between us. Why would you divulge such information to the public?" he asked bitterly.

This time, Evelyn looked at him, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Divulge what information? What are you talking about?" she asked, her heart pounding as she took in his cold demeanor. "Don't play dumb with me, Evelyn! It's too late for that; you already admitted to it," he growled, deepening her frown.

"Admitted to what? What's going on? You're confusing me," Evelyn said. Derek flashed his phone's screen in her face, even though they were on opposite sides of the bed.

Evelyn squinted to see the screen. Her heart skipped a beat at the caption: "WHO IS DEREK STONE? IS HE DEAD OR ALIVE?"

"What is the news of my adoption doing all over the internet? You promised to keep it to yourself. How could you betray my trust like this?" Derek asked, his voice filled with hurt and anger. Evelyn shook her head in denial, seeing the pain in his eyes. "I didn't. I didn't tell anyone about your adoption" Her words trailed off as Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm more disappointed by your actions or the lies you're telling now. You're the only one I've ever confided in about that"

"That doesn't mean I'm the only one who knows about it," Evelyn cut in. Derek looked at her incredulously.

"You're the only person besides my parents who knows how I feel about it, and it's all written here! How could you even think of accusing my family of revealing something like that to the public?" Derek asked, his anger reaching its peak. He'd never imagined she would do this or blame his family for her actions.

"I swear to you, I didn't. I promised to keep it to myself, and I did"

"If not you, then who? My adoption has been a family secret for years, yet a couple of days after I tell you, it's national news. How convenient is that?" he asked, his voice laced with hurt and anger.

Evelyn shook her head, walking around the bed to him, her eyes glistening with tears. She'd never seen him this hurt or angry, and it pained her to see him this way because he thought she'd betrayed his trust.

Who could have done this? she asked herself, stopping in front of him.

"Believe me, Derek. I didn't tell anyone about it. I've never spoken to a soul about your adoption, I swear," she said, but Derek turned away.

"If so, why is Empowered magazine the source of the news?" he asked. Evelyn's heart skipped a beat, confusion clouding her mind. "Empowered Magazine?" she repeated. Derek watched as she reached for her phone and scrolled through it.

She understood why he was upset. The news wasn't only revealing his adoption; it was also hinting at his adoptive parents' selfishness.

How could Empowered have gotten that information if not through her? And why hadn't they contacted her to confirm the information before releasing the news?

She frowned, seeing the news had been released that morning. "This was released this morning," she said, as if that explained something. Derek raised an eyebrow. "How could I have released this if we were here together?" she asked. He shook his head.

"I'm supposed to be your alibi? Seriously? I'm not stupid, Evelyn. We both know you don't have to do it yourself. Any of your subordinates could have done it with your instructions. And even if you didn't give the instructions, there's no way they could have released this news if you didn't tell them about it in the first place," Derek said. Evelyn ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

He'd said that besides her, only his family knew about his adoption. If they'd kept quiet all this time, why was it made public the moment she knew? "I understand why you think it's me. But I'm telling you I didn't post that news, and neither did I give permission or tell anyone about it."

"Okay. Since you didn't tell anyone, can you tell me who did? Perhaps you think I did," Derek cut in, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Even though she understood why he thought she was behind it, she felt angry that he wasn't listening or giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"Don't you think, instead of assuming I'm behind this, you should listen to me, and let's solve the puzzle of how this whole thing got out?" she asked, frowning. "How can I listen to you when you admitted"

"That wasn't what I was admitting to. That was something else," she cut him off.

"I guess this isn't the only thing you've done," he said, his tone tinged with disbelief. "What is it, Evelyn? What else have you done that I should know about?" he asked wearily.