Chapter 84

Sebastian glanced down at his phone screen, seeing Nathan Blackwood's name flashing.

"Mr. Blackwood," Sebastian answered in an icy tone that could freeze hell over.

Dominic immediately perked up from his chair, moving closer to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Mr. Kingsley, I need to speak with Evelyn. It's urgent." Nathan's voice carried an undercurrent of barely restrained desperation.

"Evelyn is otherwise occupied."

"Then when will she be available?"

"For you?" Sebastian's lips curled into a mirthless smile. "Never."

Though usually the epitome of diplomacy, when Sebastian decided to cut someone down, he did it with surgical precision.

Dominic pumped his fist in silent celebration. That's my brother!

On the other end, Nathan felt the verbal blow land like a physical punch. His expression darkened.

"Since Evelyn changed her number, she's made her wishes clear. Even if the divorce isn't finalized, any decent man would respect that boundary." Sebastian's voice turned dangerous. "And I know exactly what happened at the charity gala."

Nathan's breath hitched as if barbed wire had suddenly coiled around his lungs.

Dominic actually shivered at his brother's tone shift.

That was Sebastian Kingsley in a nutshell - angelic one moment, demonic the next. Most things weren't worth his anger. But family? That was his red line.

"About that incident—"

"I don't care about your boundaries, Blackwood, but you've crossed mine." Sebastian's words were razor blades, his gaze burning with protective fury. "Evelyn is my non-negotiable line. This is the first and last time I'll take your call. Consider this your only warning - control your fiancée and your family. If they harass Evelyn again, there will be consequences you can't imagine."

The call ended with finality that echoed through Cliffside Manor's study.

Nathan stood frozen before the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at the blackened screen. His grip on the phone turned white-knuckled as an invisible hand seemed to squeeze his heart.

Sebastian had been his last tenuous connection to Evelyn. With that severed, a yawning emptiness threatened to swallow him whole. For the first time in his meticulously controlled life, panic clawed at his throat.

This time, Evelyn might vanish from his world completely.

He might never see her again.

The thought sent such acute pain through his chest that Nathan fumbled open his desk drawer with uncharacteristically shaky hands. From its depths, he retrieved a nearly empty cigarette case - only two remained.

It took three attempts before he could light one, the flame trembling between his fingers. The ember glowed like a dying star as he inhaled deeply.

How pathetic, he thought bitterly. Five years of sobriety broken because of the wife he'd convinced himself he never loved.

Meanwhile, in the pre-dawn hours, Evelyn moved like a ghost through Celestial Atelier's cavernous workshop. Dressed in a black apron smeared with stone dust, she moved between piles of raw jade with single-minded focus. Sweat dotted her forehead despite the cool air.

She'd cut open hundreds of stones, painstakingly shaping them into bracelet blanks. Any one could fetch five figures at auction, yet to her they were worthless.

None possessed that elusive quality.

None could compare to the bracelet Reginald had gifted her.

Evelyn's eyes burned from exhaustion and unshed tears as she polished another piece. Her once-pristine fingers were now calloused and raw, the wound on her palm throbbing in protest. She ignored it all.

She had to recreate that perfect bracelet. Otherwise, how could she ever face Reginald again?

A sudden thunderous roar shook the warehouse's steel doors, but Evelyn didn't even glance up. Her entire world had narrowed to the jade beneath her fingers.

Then the doors burst open with enough force to make the hanging lights sway. A helicopter's blinding searchlight cut through the darkness outside, its rotor wash sending papers flying.

The hatch lowered to reveal a pair of long legs in custom Italian boots. A black trench coat billowed dramatically around a frame she'd know anywhere. That impossibly handsome face broke into a radiant smile.

"Evelyn! Did you miss me?"