Chapter 225

"You're never going to give up, are you?"

Evelyn's fingers tightened around the car door handle, her knuckles turning white. She inhaled sharply, her eyes burning with barely contained fury. "I've said everything I needed to say. If you refuse to believe me, that's your problem."

"Did we meet before? A long time ago?"

Nathan's voice was urgent, desperate. He stepped closer, his broad frame nearly enveloping her slender figure. "Evelyn, answer me. Did we know each other before?"

Her heart twisted violently. The color drained from her lips. "You're imagining things. The first time we met was when your grandfather introduced us and suggested we marry. Before that, we were strangers."

She couldn't let him find out.

She couldn't let him know she was the girl he'd saved thirteen years ago.

Now that they were divorced, the thought of him discovering her thirteen-year-long obsession with him made her stomach churn. It was humiliating. Pathetic.

She had to preserve what little dignity she had left.

Disappointment flickered in Nathan's eyes. He had been so sure there was more to this.

"Let me go," Evelyn whispered, her voice unsteady. "I need to get my things and leave." She pulled the car door open.

"Evelyn, you—"

"Stop!" she snapped, her voice sharp as shattered glass. "Nathan, we're divorced. Do you understand what that means? Why are you digging up the past? So what if I was obsessed with you once? I don't love you anymore. Now, every time I see you—every time I see these stupid gifts I wasted my time on—it makes me sick!"

Obsessed with me.

Those three words echoed in Nathan's mind, drowning out everything else. His grip on her shoulders tightened, and he spun her around to face him.

His breath caught.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, glistening with unshed tears.

"You can cry if you need to," he said stiffly, though his gaze softened slightly.

Evelyn let out a bitter laugh. "Cry? Can't you see I'm furious? Divorcing you was the best decision I ever made. I wake up laughing about it! Why the hell would I cry?"

Her glare was icy, her chest rising and falling with barely suppressed rage. "The moment I signed those papers, I swore I'd never waste another tear on you."

Her words struck him like a physical blow.

Before he could respond, a sharp knock interrupted them.

"Mr. Blackwood?"

The butler's voice was deferential. "Ms. Sterling is here. She's waiting for you downstairs."

Evelyn's expression darkened.

Nathan's jaw clenched.

Downstairs, Victoria paced anxiously.

The staff exchanged nervous glances, whispering among themselves.

Everyone knew Nathan's ex-wife was still in the house. If the two women crossed paths, it would be a disaster.

"Nathan!"

The moment Victoria spotted him descending the stairs, she rushed forward and threw her arms around his waist, clinging to him like a lifeline.

Nathan instinctively tried to push her away, but she held on desperately, as if letting go would mean drowning.

"I missed you so much," she sobbed into his chest. "I—I made a mistake. I was just angry, and I lost my way. But you know me, Nathan. We grew up together!"

She was playing the only card she had left—their shared history.

She had planned to give him space, as Penelope suggested, to let his anger fade.

But the moment she heard Evelyn had come to Cliffside Manor, Victoria panicked.

She had to see him.

"Victoria."

Nathan's tone was colder than she'd ever heard it. "I told you we needed time apart. You should leave."