Chapter 4
The next day, Damon seemed to be truly trying to make it up to me.
He had the wedding schedule sent over again and removed every last trace of the old prank setup.
"This time, it's real."
He stood at the study door, his voice low.
"Evelyn, don't be angry anymore."
I looked up at him.
If not for the miscarriage report I had hidden away,
if not for the child no one had ever known about,
I might have believed him.
Damon's phone rang soon after.
He went out to the balcony to answer it.
When the glass door closed, only Selene and I remained in the room.
She set down her teacup, and the softness on her face vanished.
"You're still not leaving?"
I looked at her.
She laughed.
"Honestly, I've never seen anyone put up with as much as you."
"Seven times."
"All I had to do was say one word, and Damon turned a wedding into a divorce ceremony."
"How are you still here?"
My fingers tightened slightly around the cup.
"And what are you?"
"No matter how much Damon protects you, I'm still the one standing beside him."
"Who do you think you are, coming here to flaunt yourself in front of me?"
Selene raised her brows, as if I had said something very funny.
She glanced at Damon, whose back was turned to us on the balcony, then leaned closer.
"What am I?"
"Evelyn, you don't really think you win just because he gives you a wedding, do you?"
My expression went still.
"What do you mean?"
Selene's voice was light.
"After the wedding, Damon is giving me the North Port line."
"And part of the Voss family's voting rights."
"He said he owes me."
I froze.
North Port was one of Damon's most important routes.
It was a line I had spent three years helping him wrestle away from several old families.
It was also the foundation he had once said would belong to us after we married.
Now he was going to hand it to Selene as compensation.
I thought of the child I had never even known.
I thought of the doctor saying, in that grave voice, a hard impact to the abdomen.
I thought of Damon lifting Selene into his arms without even looking at me.
So it was not only my dignity.
Even seven years of my work had become something he could spend to repay her.
Selene was still smiling.
"That night, I fell on purpose."
"But would you dare say it?"
"Would Damon believe you?"
"To him, you were just jealous of me and pushed me on purpose."
I looked at her.
The hatred inside me slowly cooled into something harder.
If this had been before, I would have lunged forward and torn that smile off her face.
Now, I only asked calmly,
"Are you done?"
Selene's expression froze.
I set down the cup.
"If you are, get away from me."
Her expression shifted, and she was about to speak when the balcony door opened.
Damon came in, immediately noticing the tension between us.
"What happened?"
Selene's eyes reddened in an instant.
"Nothing."
"I only wanted to talk to Evelyn properly, but... but it seems she just doesn't like me."
Damon looked at me.
That same warning was still in his eyes.
All at once, even explaining felt pointless.
"I'm tired."
I stood and went back to my room.
Behind me, Damon seemed to want to follow.
Then Selene called softly,
"Damon, I feel a little dizzy."
His footsteps stopped, exactly as I knew they would.
I did not turn back.
The following morning, the wedding dress was wheeled into the master bedroom.
Damon stood at the door, his voice unusually gentle.
"I brought the dress for you to see first."
"It's heavy, so you'll change at the venue."
"I'll go ahead and wait for you there."
I turned my face aside, avoiding his hand.
"I don't feel well."
"You go first."
He hesitated, but eventually nodded.
"All right."
"It starts at noon. I'll wait for you."
I watched him leave, almost smiling.
I tore up every photograph of us in the house and scattered the pieces everywhere.
Thinking of the gift I had prepared for him at the wedding venue, I almost smiled.
After I was done, I pulled the SIM card from my phone and threw my ring onto the floor.
Then I placed the farewell letter I had written on top of the miscarriage report.
I took one last look at the estate and left without turning back.
Meanwhile, in the wedding hall, unease settled deep in Damon’s chest.
He checked the time.
Eleven fifty.
He turned to his assistant.
"Go see if Evelyn has arrived."
The assistant left at once.
Less than two minutes later, he rushed back in, his face white.
He had run so fast that even his voice was shaking.
"Don... something happened."
Damon's heart dropped. For a second, everything around him went quiet.
"Say it clearly."
The assistant trembled under his gaze.
"Don... you may want to see the bridal lounge for yourself."
Damon looked afraid for the first time.
The calm he had worn for years finally cracked.
He rushed out, no longer caring about composure, and shoved the door open with a shaking hand.
The lounge was empty.
No Evelyn.
Only the ruined wedding dress remained.
Pieces of torn photographs lay scattered across the floor.
A farewell letter sat on the table.
Beneath the letter was a hospital report.
Damon's gaze fell on it.
The next second, his breathing stopped.
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