Chapter 259

Nathan's lips curled into a sardonic smile. "What's so amusing, Leonard? Did my words strike you as humorous?"

"Indeed."

"Nathan Blackwood! How dare you!" Leonard's face flushed crimson with rage as he slammed his fist against the mahogany desk.

"Rather than pretending this marriage is about love, why not admit it's to salvage Blackwood Industries' reputation?" Nathan's voice dripped with disdain. "At least then I might respect your honesty. But to lecture me about character? The acorn never falls far from the tree."

The bitter irony in his laughter hung thick in the air.

Nathan wasn't certain whether he mocked Leonard or himself more in that moment.

"Explain yourself!" Leonard's eye twitched violently, his entire frame trembling with barely contained fury.

"I wanted to marry the Victoria I grew up with." Nathan's long lashes cast shadows over his hollow cheeks. "The woman she's become? I can no longer stomach the thought."

His fingers tightened around the armrests. "Yet she did save my life. Without her intervention that night, I wouldn't be standing here. So I'll play the devoted fiancé until her depression stabilizes. Then I'll end it properly."

"You—you'd actually leave Rosalind?" Leonard's voice cracked with disbelief.

"Without hesitation." The finality in Nathan's tone left no room for debate.

"Have you lost your mind? Victoria slit her wrists when you postponed the wedding! A breakup would destroy her completely!" Leonard's face purpled with apoplectic rage.

"Precisely why I'm waiting." Nathan's glacial gaze met his father's. "Once her doctors confirm recovery, I'll sever ties cleanly."

Leonard's pupils contracted sharply. He collapsed into his leather throne, studying his son with sudden shrewdness. "This sudden change of heart... does Evelyn Kingsley have anything to do with it?"

Nathan's pulse stuttered, yet his response came razor-sharp. "She's irrelevant."

"Don't lie to me, boy!" Leonard's mocking laugh echoed through the study. "I saw how you watched Evelyn leave Reginald's birthday gala. How you brought her home that night and humiliated Victoria before her. You've never been indecisive—if something didn't interest you, you'd discard it without a glance. Yet you keep making exceptions for Evelyn. Spare me the denials."

Nathan shot to his feet, veins bulging along his throat. "This isn't about Evelyn!"

His knuckles turned white against the desk. "Even if it were another woman entirely, Victoria had no right to target innocents. Her actions are inexcusable."

"All because she loves you!" Leonard's voice took on a strange fervor. "If she only cared about your wealth and status, why bother with Evelyn? Jealousy proves devotion! And after three years of marriage, isn't it natural she'd feel threatened?"

As he spoke, Leonard's mind flashed to Penelope—how she'd wept and schemed to keep him, how her desperate love had ensnared him completely. To him, this was love's true face.

"Evelyn loved me once too." The words tore from Nathan's throat like shards of glass. "In all our years together, she never harmed a soul. Since when did love justify cruelty?"

He turned toward the door, cutting off further debate.

"Nathan! You'd sacrifice Blackwood Industries for—"

"The company isn't yours alone to gamble with." Nathan didn't bother turning around. "My personal life won't affect our bottom line."

The door slammed with finality, leaving Leonard clutching the remnants of his shattered plans.