The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot

"Yes, Mom!" Evelyn nodded, a smile forming on her face. Wiping away her tears, she held onto her hand and added, "It’s me! Your Bunny..."

A flicker of sadness crossed Gracia’s face before she laughed out loud. "Bunny? Bunbiyo boo boo!" she started shouting loudly, confusing Evelyn and Rita.

"Hahaha! Bunny bunbiyo boo~" Gracia took a step back, laughing out loud and dancing animatedly.

"You recognize me, don’t you?" Evelyn pressed on, not understanding if her mind were playing emotional tricks and Gracia was simply repeating the word *Bunny*. Panic filled her heart when Gracia slapped the hand she held. Evelyn tried to hold it again, but Gracia retracted, her eyes narrowing at her.

"Mom... please... you know it’s me!" Evelyn begged, tears trickling down her cheeks. Her intuition screamed that Gracia had recognized her—the softness in her voice when she called her Bunny was all too familiar.

"Ma’am..." Rita stepped forward, stopping Evelyn from pressuring Gracia further, knowing it might lead to a disaster. The doctors had warned against aggravating her, as it could alarm the controlling staff.

"I think she was just repeating after you, Ma’am. Let’s get out of here," Rita said again, grabbing Evelyn’s arm as she reached for Gracia once more.

"No, Rita!" Evelyn snapped, shrugging away her hand. Stepping forward, she held onto Gracia again, but much to her horror, the woman’s eyes widened with frustration.

"Ma’am... she might hurt—" Rita didn’t get the chance to finish as Gracia attacked Evelyn, scratching her face with her unhygienic nails.

"Argh," Evelyn groaned, stumbling back as the nails left marks on her cheeks. Rita instantly stepped forward, shielding her with her body.

"Hisssss~" Gracia hissed, retreating under Rita’s glare. Her eyes glanced at Evelyn, softening with a tinge of worry before she climbed onto the bed. Standing in front of the camera, she started making faces, screaming, and crying, completely ignoring the two women.

Evelyn stared at her back, her petite figure etched in her mind, and tears kept flooding from her eyes. Her heart ached unbearably, her chest tightened with pain, making it suffocating to breathe as she slowly digested the fact that Gracia hadn’t truly recognized her. Her mom hadn’t recognized her Bunny.

"Let’s go. She might do something and alert her controllers," Rita suggested, wrapping her arms securely around Evelyn. When Evelyn didn’t budge, her teary eyes fixed on Gracia, Rita forcefully turned her around.

Hearing a noise from inside, the janitor quickly opened the sliding gate before unlocking the iron door. "Oh my goodness!" the middle-aged woman gasped, seeing the scratches on Evelyn’s face.

"I told you! She’s a gone case," she grumbled to Rita, having been in their place multiple times. Gracia was hard for anyone to handle, and interacting with her was a constant risk. The janitor couldn’t understand why this patient hadn’t been moved to a higher-grade center after over a decade.

"Thanks for your help. You will be paid later," Rita replied, guiding Evelyn away.

The janitor smiled as they left and, locking the chains on the gates, whistled her way back to her office. Her kids would love the big gifts she’d bring home with this extra money.

Inside the cell, Gracia stopped when silence fell outside. She glanced at the door, the earlier scene replaying in her mind. Tears formed in her deep brown eyes, her lips quivering as she tried to suppress the cries threatening to escape. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The CCTV light flickered back on, indicated by the red dot monitoring her closely. Gracia reverted to her usual self, making faces at the camera, screaming and cursing as she did every day.

---

Evelyn was escorted out of the old building along with the doctor’s team. Damien’s men led her to a car, while the actual doctors and their staff got into another vehicle, following the same route before parting ways down a distant lane.

The trio waited impatiently at a nearby gas station. When a familiar car arrived, they quickly straightened, rushing forward as the driver stopped ahead of them. Rita got down first, helping a dazed Evelyn out of the car.

"What happened?" Damien asked his team, who began detailing the events scene by scene. Ronan moved closer, absorbing every detail carefully.

But Zevian didn’t need any explanation to guess that their mission had failed. Gracia hadn’t reacted positively to Evelyn. Her expression was enough, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

Evelyn clutched the back of his coat tightly, her tears breaking free. Zevian caressed her back, letting her pour out the suffocating sadness.

"She didn’t recognize me, Ian," Evelyn murmured softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Her cries grew louder, raw and painful, making everyone feel for her.

Rita nearly teared up too, and Damien rubbed her back, silently conveying his pride in her effort. Ronan observed Evelyn’s breakdown, his fists clenching tightly in his pockets. Relationships were such shitty things, he thought, turning anyone weak and miserable, especially bonds too deep to describe in mere words.

"Arrange a flight for this evening," Damien ordered his team. There was no point in keeping Evelyn here anymore. They had hoped that bringing Kiana might trigger Gracia’s recovery by reminding her of her six-year-old daughter. But it seemed Gracia had been tortured to the point of losing even her own identity.

Evelyn paused her crying at Damien’s words. Looking in his direction, she pleaded, "Can I try one more time?" Something flickered in her heart, urging her not to give up just yet.

"We’re not giving up on her, Eva," Zevian murmured, understanding her fears. "They’ll bring her back to us eventually. Going there again might risk not just your life but hers too. We can’t afford it."

Damien and Ronan nodded in agreement. If they involved Evelyn again, her supervisors might grow suspicious, escalating the situation to dangerous levels.

"She’ll come back safe, I promise," Zevian said firmly, holding her hand tightly.

Evelyn looked at Damien and Ronan for confirmation, and they nodded. They would do everything in their power to keep Gracia safe and help her recover enough to interact normally.

Heaving a shaky breath, Evelyn nodded, giving up on the idea. She closed her eyes and buried her head in Zevian’s chest again, barely holding back fresh tears. As long as Gracia was alive, she would do everything to help her recall their precious moments. Even if she had to travel the world to find the best doctors, she was ready! But for now, dealing with Annabelle’s case was more pressing.

"We’ll work this out. Trust me," Zevian murmured, kissing the top of her head. Evelyn nodded, grateful for his strength.

---

"But can’t we stay one more day?" Kiana grumbled to her daddy. Their vacation had barely begun, and now they were leaving.

"Your mommy has important battles to fight, Kia," Zevian replied, covering Kiana with a jacket. He picked her up and walked toward the jet as Rita and Evelyn headed to the restroom. Damien and Ronan were busy planning, leaving only their men to send them off.

"But what about Grandma? Isn’t she coming with us?" When Zevian shook his head, the little girl pouted. "But I wanted to see her once."

Zevian smiled apologetically, entering the jet. They settled in, and a few minutes later, the women joined them, with John close behind.

"Then I won’t go to school!" Kiana declared with a pout. Her rebellion brought a smile to Evelyn’s face as she took the seat beside them. Rita, sitting adjacent, listened to the little girl’s complaints.

"Why?" Zevian asked with a frown. "We’ll arrive at night, and there’s no reason for you to skip school."

Kiana blinked innocently, then started coughing loudly. When her parents didn’t fall for it, she sneezed and murmured, "I... I think I’m sick. I might catch a fever soon."

Zevian broke into a smile while Evelyn shook her head, familiar with this act. Rita, witnessing it for the first time, chuckled.

"Even I used to pretend to be sick to skip school," Rita admitted, lightening the mood. "Once, I even pretended to fall down the stairs to avoid a math test."

"Right? Math is so hard," Kiana immediately replied, scowling. She bit her tongue, realizing she had slipped out of character.

Her cute expression made everyone chuckle, and Evelyn playfully pinched her nose. But suddenly, Rita’s words echoed in her mind, and her eyes widened in realization.

"We... we can’t leave, Ian!" Evelyn shot up from her seat, startling everyone. "Stop the jet! Right now!" she urged John, who frowned at her sudden outburst.

"What’s wrong, Eva?" Zevian asked, holding her hand. Even Kiana looked at her mommy worriedly, noting how pale she’d turned.

"What if Mom is just pretending to be sick?" Evelyn blurted out, her mind replaying how Gracia had called her Bunny. When Zevian blinked in confusion, Evelyn rushed to explain, "Ian, she called me Bunny before going crazy. And it was exactly how she called me when I was a child. I know it by heart, I cannot be wrong in recognizing it! She might be pretending to avoid the people around her! We need to go back!"

Everyone fell silent, processing her words.

"Eva..." Zevian trailed off, feeling her emotions to be behind such thoughts.

"She isn’t sick!" Evelyn pressed again, not giving up. "She is just trying to stay alive by pretending to have gone mad, just like they want her to be."

Evelyn’s words hit everyone like a thunderbolt. Yes, that might be a case too! Rita thought, recalling how Gracia’s expression had changed for a flickering second this morning.