5

Evelyn's POV

After Zeke's words, the whole house felt even more tense. I tried to shake it off, but the unease gnawed at me until I couldn’t keep still. My hand went to my phone almost on its own.

I hadn’t heard from Damien in five days. Five long, echoing days. The moment his name lit up my screen, my heart lifted just a little. Just to hear his voice, just to know he was still mine would be enough.

Truthfully, I also wanted to ask, had he truly done the things Zeke claimed? Had he stolen? Betrayed? If he had, then surely it was under his father’s hand. Damien was not perfect, but he wasn’t rotten to the core.

But the call didn’t go through.

I frowned and tried again. Still there was nothing. The line was dead. My fingers trembled when I tapped Genevieve’s name next. Her number, too, was unreachable. Eventually, I pressed the contact I had avoided the most, Mr. Blackwood. My father-in-law.

The call connected.

“Mr. Blackwood,” I whispered, clutching the phone tight.

“Evelyn, what do you want?”

“Please… I-I want to come back home. Damien isn’t picking his calls. Genevieve too. I promise I won’t make trouble. I’ll agree to whatever Damien said. I’ll wait. I’ll stay until Genevieve delivers, and then… then she can leave. I’ll even take care of the baby myself. Since I…” My throat closed. “…since I haven’t been able to give Damien a child.”

On the other side, a rich laugh spilled into my ear.

Across from me, Zeke lounged lazily on the couch, grapes in hand, dressed in soft gray sweatpants and a black sweatshirt. The picture of ease, infuriatingly handsome even in something so casual. He didn’t look at me and he didn’t interrupt.

He had told me not to mention he was back in town to his father or Damien. So I didn’t.

“Mr. Blackwood…” I pressed, “Please let me come home.”

There was a pause. Then, his voice came through.

“There’s been a change of plans.”

My heart stuttered. “What… What kind of change of plans?”

His sigh rattled through the line, patient but cold.

“It has been decided,” he said, “that it would not be proper for Damien to cast Genevieve aside after the child is born. Marriage is sacred, Evelyn. A holy covenant. Divorce immediately after childbirth is…..not the Blackwood way.”

The words nearly made me drop my phone.

Not the Blackwood way?.

“There will be no divorce. No separation. When the divorce papers arrive, Evelyn, you will sign them. Do not condemn yourself to being thrown into the street for resisting the inevitable.”

My mouth opened, words trembling at the edge of my tongue, but the line turned dead before I could even breathe them out.

I just stood there, my phone pressed against my ear, staring at nothing.

“What?” My voice cracked. “What did he mean? No….no, this can’t be happening”

A divorce????

Zeke’s gaze turned toward me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

But I didn’t answer. My hands were already shaking as I dialed Damien’s number again.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

By the tenth, my chest was hammering so violently it hurt.

Then not later than a minute after. An email notification slid across my screen. My blood went cold.

It was from Damien’s assistant.

The subject line, DIVORCE PAPERS.

I opened it with numb fingers, and there it was, the formal petition, Damien’s signature slinged across the bottom like the final stroke of a knife. A note beneath it also stated that I should sign immediately.

“No… no, no, no…”

Desperation clawed through me. I grabbed Zeke’s phone from the table before he could stop me, punched in Damien’s number.

And this time, he answered.

His voice was bright, and there was laughter in the background. Including Genevieve.

“Damien,” she teased. “You promised me a foot massage.”

His laugh joined hers, careless, intimate, cruel in its ease. “I’ll get to it, love. Just relax.”

The sound hit me like a blade.

The phone slipped from my hands, clattering onto the floor. My knees gave way, and I collapsed beside it. My palms covered my face as sobs broke free from my throat. Zeke just stood there, silently watching.

I used to think revenge was for bitter people. Wasted energy. A black hole of obsession that swallowed you whole while your enemies went on sipping champagne.

But tonight….. I finally understood. They hadn’t just stripped me of love, they’d stripped me of dignity. My marriage was reduced to an email. My worth, signed away in a prenup I once agreed to because I thought love was enough. Even though I helped him build.

Fool.

I wanted to claw back what was mine. Not just what I lost, and I wanted to hurt them.

Zeke watched me quietly as I spiraled, and when my sobs turned feral, he finally spoke.

“You married Damien. You lived in that house. You know their secrets, and other important things.

He leaned forward, eyes catching mine with a spark I didn’t understand yet. “Use it, and together….we’ll make them pay.”

And slowly, I found myself agreeing with him.

Childish or not, I wanted blood.

“What do we do?” I whispered, my voice not trembling anymore. “Tell me how to make Damien regret it. Tell me how to make Genevieve regret ever stepping into my place. I’m ready.”

Zeke’s smile curved dangerously. “Good. Because I know ways to not only take back what’s yours, but to make sure they choke on the loss.”

I swallowed hard, my pulse thrumming. “And how exactly do we do that?”

He stood, walked toward me, and for the first time, I realized how close he was.

He reached into his coat pocket, pulled something out, and then bent slightly, his voice dropping low along with his knees

“Evelyn Banner,” he said, black eyes burning into mine.

“Will you do me the honors of marrying me?.”