Chapter 52
Evelyn’s breath hitched. Her pulse stuttered to a stop.
Her piercing gaze locked onto Sebastian’s.
Those mesmerizing eyes burned with an intensity that could melt steel.
The raw emotion in her expression was almost suffocating.
Even a man as formidable as Sebastian found himself momentarily faltering, his dark eyes flickering away as if scorched by her fire.
After a beat, Evelyn’s lips curled into a smile—but it was distant, detached. As if she had already severed every thread tying her to him.
“So, Mr. Blackwood,” she drawled, voice laced with icy amusement, “you stormed all the way here just to take your frustrations out on your dear ex-wife? How… predictable.”
Sebastian had pushed too far. Evelyn had given him everything—three years of devotion, three years of love—only to be repaid with scorn. His relentless cruelty was the final insult.
She didn’t belong to him anymore. She never truly had.
And yet, here he was, treating her like some stray he could kick whenever he pleased.
Did he really expect her to just take it?
“Sebastian,” she said, tilting her chin up, “as impressive as your connections are, even you can’t save the Delacroix family now. The evidence against Raphael is undeniable—embezzlement, bribery, fraud. Face it. He’s finished.”
Her lips curved into a smirk, sharp and devastating. “But since you can’t change that, you’d rather take it out on me. How pathetic.”
Evelyn had made her choice. She would burn the Delacroix empire to the ground, consequences be damned. And if Sebastian stood in her way?
She’d burn him too.
Sebastian’s jaw clenched. The veins in his hands stood out like cords. “You’re ruthless,” he bit out.
“Ruthless?” She laughed, the sound like shattering glass. “Coming from you, that’s almost a compliment.”
She turned to leave, but Sebastian’s hand shot out, fingers digging into the exact spot where her injury had barely healed.
“Let go!” She winced, pain flaring.
“Evelyn,” he growled, voice rough. “What am I to you?”
His grip was bruising, his eyes burning with something she couldn’t—wouldn’t—name.
She met his gaze without flinching. “Nothing. Just a mistake I’ve moved on from.”
Sebastian’s eyes darkened.
“Evelyn!”
Tristan shoved between them, shielding her. His glare at Sebastian was lethal.
“Relax,” Evelyn said coolly, though her pulse still raced. “Mr. Blackwood was just leaving.”
Tristan wasn’t fooled. “He hurt you again.”
Sebastian’s fingers twitched at his sides.
Evelyn shot Tristan a warning look. She didn’t need his pity—especially not in front of him.
But the damage was done.
And Sebastian?
He looked like a man who’d just realized he’d lost something irreplaceable.
