Chapter 13
Callum stood frozen for a moment, his voice barely a whisper as he murmured her name.
“Evie…”
But Evelyn’s expression was calm, her voice light and distant. “So you found me after all. What a terrible luck.”
Those last words hit Callum like a punch to the gut. He stood rooted to the spot.
She really didn’t want to see him. She had gone to such lengths to disappear.
And now, after everything he’d done to find her, all she could say was terrible luck?
But Evelyn meant every word. She had hoped for a few weeks of peace, a few quiet mornings by the sea, far away from Callum Rivers. She had underestimated him.
Before she could even take another breath, he pulled her into his arms. His chin rested against the top of her head, his voice unusually gentle. “Sweetheart, do you have any idea what I went through to find you? Come on,
let’s
go home.”
Her entire body stiffened.
Having been controlled for so long, Evelyn instinctively trembled at his commanding tone.
But she quickly steadied herself.
She’d already resolved to break free from this madman–how could she waver now?
With sudden force, she shoved him away.
He staggered back, stunned, eyes filled with disbelief.
“Callum, you and I have nothing to do with each other anymore. You don’t get to control me. Not now. Not ever again.”
His voice rose, almost panicked. “How can you say that? You’re still my wife, aren’t you?”
For the first time in his life, Callum sounded desperate.
But Evelyn met his gaze with chilling calm.
ༀ ༄ ༅ ༈ ཟ རྗ ཟླ རྗ ༤ དྷྭ ཚ ཡཾ ༀ གཽ ཞུ
“Your wife? That’s ridiculous, Watching you marry another woman while I sat in the shadows like a discarded pet–yeah, that’s some version of a wife. Maybe I was just the dog you kept around for show.”
Tears welled in her eyes despite her best effort to stay composed.
And Callum smiled.
He thought it meant she still cared.
He moved in again, arms reaching.
But Evelyn stepped back before he could even touch her. Her voice dropped, cold and final.
“That Evelyn is dead. I buried her. You need to leave now and stop chasing a ghost.”
Callum felt something collapse inside him.
She meant it,
This wasn’t one of her emotional outbursts or a temporary wall.
He saw it in her eyes. The certainty. The distance,
“Evie… you know how I feel about being defied-”
She cut him off with a bitter smile, “Then kill me. If that’s what it takes. At least I won’t have to live under your thumb.” ‘W–what?”
He was too stunned to react as she turned and disappeared inside. When she returned, there was a knife in her hand.
“You won’t do it? Fine. I will!”
“No! Don’t!” Callum stumbled forward, panie rising in his chest.
Chapter 13
The blade hovered at her throat, her grip unflinching.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to swallow the command that was clawing its way out of him.
“Evie, don’t do this. I won’t force you. I swear,
I’ll go.”
Evelyn watched him, heart racing, eyes dead.
She had finally gotten away. And yet he’d found her.
The despair made her reckless.
She couldn’t go back to that suffocating mansion, to the cold marble floors and ever–present eyes. To being his possession, not a person.
And Callum–seeing her like this, with the knife, trembling but resolved–he finally understood.
For once, he didn’t assert his usual domineering authority over her actions….
He returned to the hotel alone, exhausted and hollow.
Mason was already waiting at the door.
He had assumed Callum would bring Evelyn back with him. That was the kind of man Callum was–commanding, unstoppable.
But as he scanned the hallway and found it empty, he frowned.
“Where’s your girl?”
Callum leaned against the wall and let out a dry, lifeless laugh.
“Mason… she said she’d rather die than come back with me.”
He looked up,
eyes
blank.
“What the hell should I do now?”
