Chapter 31
“I specifically instructed Mrs. Winthrop not to touch the keepsake box on the headboard, knowing how much it means to you,” Beatrice said, studying Vanessa’s stormy expression with calculated ambiguity.
The housekeeper had deliberately emphasized Zachary’s attachment to Evelyn’s parting gift, baiting Vanessa into an emotional outburst.
“I tossed it out,” Vanessa snapped, her confession dripping with venom—exactly as Beatrice had predicted.
Zachary’s emerald eyes darkened with barely restrained fury. “Where is it now?”
“Darling, why obsess over some trinket from Evelyn? The divorce is final. I’m your fiancée!” Her voice cracked with practiced anguish, tears welling on command—a skill honed under Isabella’s tutelage. “Do my feelings mean nothing when you cherish her mementos?”
“Location. Now.” His glacial tone sliced through her theatrics.
The abrupt dismissal startled Vanessa into dropping her act. “The—the backyard dumpster,” she stammered.
Zachary sprinted into the torrential rain without hesitation. Within seconds, his tailored shirt clung to his torso like a second skin. Rolling up soaked sleeves, he plunged hands into the reeking bin.
“Stop this madness! It’s disgusting!” Vanessa shrieked from the covered patio.
Disgusting? The Blackwood heiress would never understand how many trash heaps a five-year-old Zachary had scavenged to survive. As the bastard son of Alistair Blackwood, recycling scraps with his mother had been their only income.
The dumpster was his childhood playground.
His fingers closed around the mud-caked box. A relieved exhale escaped him—until he lifted the lid.
Rage ignited his veins.
Evelyn’s meticulously hand-sewn suit—once pressed to perfection—now lay in tattered ribbons.
Vanessa recoiled as Zachary’s murderous gaze pinned her against the doorframe. The sheer intensity stole her breath.
Wordlessly, he brushed past her, cradling the ruined gift.
“Tell me the truth,” she demanded, throwing herself at him. “Have you fallen for Evelyn? Regret leaving her?”
“No.” His chest heaved with suppressed emotion.
“Then why?” Her nails dug into his arms. “That box was a constant reminder of your three years together! I had to destroy it! Do you know how it feels seeing you treasure her—”
“Enough.” Zachary peeled her off with terrifying calm. “I divorced her. Chose you. Defied Grandfather’s wishes to marry you. But this?” He shook the box. “Cutting up her work? Spreading vile rumors? Turning the media against her?”
A cruel laugh escaped him. “She’s gone from my life, Vanessa. Yet you’re the one who can’t move on.”
Her face blanched. The unspoken threat in his words slithered down her spine.
Vanessa suddenly understood—he knew everything.
“I only did it because I love you!”
His expression softened marginally, but the distance remained. “Come to me with your problems. I’ll help—provided it doesn’t harm others.”
Cold fury laced his next words. “But manipulating situations under the pretense of love? Especially involving people I care about?” He stepped back. “Announcing our wedding to salvage Delacroix Industries? Fine. But cross this line again, and our engagement dissolves.”
The slam of the front door echoed Vanessa’s shattered composure. Rage crystallized into one lethal resolve—Evelyn Sinclair needed to disappear. Permanently.
Across town, Tristan Gallagher set aside his whiskey. “Ms. Sinclair, urgent update. Isabelle was intercepted by Mr. Blackwood tonight. He knows she’s your plant.”
Noticing Evelyn’s tired rub at her ankles, he knelt to massage her feet. The CEO sighed contentedly, arching like a pampered cat.
“Expected, though faster than anticipated.” Her lips curved. “Once Delacroix crumbles, Blackwood Enterprises is next. Since Zachary has—”
