Chapter 144

Oliver wiped the sweat from his brow nervously. "Sir, if you still have feelings for Ms. Evelyn, why don't you just tell her?"

"Tell her?" Nathan let out a bitter laugh, his jaw tightening. "I've made my decision. I will never remarry Evelyn Carter."

"Then why did you go to see her tonight?"

"Just drive!"

Nathan's voice was rough with suppressed fury, startling Oliver into silence.

Slumping back into the leather seat, Nathan suddenly winced as a sharp pain shot through his palm.

Only then did he remember—he had been clutching the shattered fragment of the violet jade bracelet this entire time.

Now, the jagged edge had cut deep, staining his skin with dark crimson.

Nathan didn't understand himself. Tonight, he had wanted to drag Evelyn away, to tear her from Sebastian's side by any means necessary. He just needed them apart.

After saying goodbye to Maxwell, Evelyn returned to finish dinner with Sebastian and Dominic, comforting her father before finally stepping out of the study, utterly drained.

Pausing in the hallway, she pulled out her phone and sent identical messages to Lillian, Camille, and Sophia.

[Meet me in the garden pavilion. We need to talk.]

Fifteen minutes later, the three women arrived, their usual lively chatter replaced by uneasy silence.

Evelyn sat with her arms crossed, her expression stern—like a headmistress about to discipline unruly students.

Lillian and Camille remained quiet.

Sophia, however, broke first. "Evelyn, didn't you call us here? Why are you interrogating us?"

Evelyn pinched the bridge of her nose. Sophia can be so dense sometimes.

"You ambushed Nathan earlier. Don’t you have anything to say for yourselves?"

"Pfft. What’s there to say?" Sophia plopped down inelegantly, one leg swinging over the other.

"If Lillian and Camille hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve skewered that bastard a thousand times and fed him to Bruno!"

"Who’s Bruno?" Evelyn asked.

Lillian sighed. "Sophia’s pet alligator. Harrison gave it to her last birthday."

Evelyn stared.

Camille, sensing Evelyn’s rising anger, tugged at Sophia’s sleeve. "Sophia, stop—"

"Everything I say comes from the heart! We shouldn’t lie to family!"

Sophia’s eyes burned with fury. "Evelyn, Nathan Blackwood is heartless! Even Bruno has more humanity than him! You gave everything to the Blackwoods for three years—a pampered princess reduced to his miserable wife and personal maid! And how did he repay you? He forced a divorce for his own selfish desires and married another woman the second he could! He’s worse than an animal! Even if he never loved you, he had no right to destroy you like this! Why hasn’t lightning struck him dead yet?!"

"He told me from the beginning he didn’t love me. Him marrying his 'true love' was inevitable." Evelyn’s voice was hollow. "I lost. I can walk away. Why do you keep dragging me back into this? It only makes it harder."

She pressed her fingers to her temples, exhaustion etched into every word. "The more I linger, the more it hurts. I just want to let go and move on."

"Move on?!"

Sophia shot up, gripping Evelyn’s shoulders. "How can you say that?! After everything he took from you—after you carried his child—and that monster didn’t even care—!"

Evelyn’s face drained of color. Sophia’s words were a blade, carving open old wounds. The pain radiated through her bones.

"Sophia! We agreed never to bring that up!" Lillian lunged forward, pulling her back.

"Stop it, Sophia! Don’t make her relive that!" Camille pleaded.

"He never knew."

Evelyn lifted her gaze, tears glistening but unshed. "I never told Nathan about the baby."