Chapter 2

Evangeline's POV

Later, I stood in Theo's room, methodically folding his clothes into the suitcase. Each shirt, each pair of pants, is a small rebellion against five years of silence.

Theo sat on his bed, lining up his toy cars on the comforter. Red, blue, yellow, green. His routine, his comfort. At least I could give him that.

My phone buzzed. Jennifer Taylor, my best friend.

[I'm outside. Take your time.]

I texted back a thank you and zipped the suitcase closed. The sound felt final, like the period at the end of a very long, very painful sentence.

"Come on, sweetheart." I held out my hand to Theo. "We're going on an adventure."

He looked up at me with those serious brown eyes, so much like mine. "Cars too?"

"All of them."

He carefully gathered his toys into his backpack, and we made our way downstairs.

I'd already packed most of our things earlier while Dashiell was occupied with Sabrina. While he planned his grand romantic gesture for a dying woman, I'd been planning my exit.

Marguerite stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed like a sentinel.

"Going somewhere?" Her voice dripped with false sweetness.

"We're leaving." I kept my voice steady, my grip on Theo's hand firm.

"Leaving? Don't be ridiculous. Dashiell will be back any moment, and you two will work this out like adults." She waved her hand dismissively. "You're always so dramatic, Evangeline."

I almost laughed. Dramatic. Me. The woman who'd swallowed every insult, every slight, every cruel word for five years.

"There's nothing to work out." I moved past her toward the door. "We're already divorced."

The words hung in the air like smoke.

Marguerite's face transformed from shock, then fury, then something uglier. "What did you say?"

"Dashiell and I are divorced. He asked for it. I gave it to him." I opened the door. Jennifer's car idled in the driveway, a lifeline. "We're done here."

"You selfish, ungrateful bitch!" Marguerite's voice rose to a shriek. "After everything this family has done for you! We took you in when you had nothing! Your parents left you with nothing but debt and shame, and we—"

"Stop." The word came out sharper than I intended. Theo flinched beside me, and I softened my voice. "Go wait in the car with Aunt Jennifer, sweetheart."

He hesitated, then nodded and hurried outside.

When the door closed behind him, I turned back to Marguerite. "What were you saying about my parents?"

She lifted her chin, emboldened by my attention. "The truth. Your father's company was a disaster. Bankruptcy, scandal—they dragged the Ashford name through the mud before they died. And still, we honored that ridiculous betrothal agreement because we felt sorry for you."

My hands trembled, but I kept them at my sides. "That betrothal saved your family's company. My father invested everything when the Harts were on the verge of collapse. Or did you conveniently forget that?"

"Ancient history." She waved it away. "What matters is that we took you in. Gave you a home. Dashiell married you out of pity—"

"Obligation." My voice was ice. "He married me because your family owed mine a debt. Because when my parents died in that car accident, their last wish was that your family take care of me. Not out of kindness. Out of guilt."

Marguerite's face flushed. "How dare you—"

"No." I stepped closer, and she actually backed up. "How dare you. How dare you stand here and rewrite history to make yourself feel better about how you've treated me. My parents saved your family. And you've spent five years making me pay for it."

"You ungrateful little—"

"I'm done being grateful for crumbs." My voice rose. "I'm done accepting abuse as payment for your 'generosity.' I'm done pretending this is a real family."

The front door opened. Jennifer stepped inside, all five-foot-two inches of protective fury.

"Is everything okay here?"

"Just leaving." I grabbed my purse from the hall table.

Marguerite's eyes darted between us, calculating. "Dashiell will hear about this. About your rudeness. Your disrespect. He'll—"

"He'll what?" I laughed, and it sounded strange even to my ears. "Divorce me? Too late. Choose Sabrina over me? Already done. I have nothing left to lose, Marguerite. And that makes me very, very dangerous to people like you."

Jennifer grinned. "Damn, girl. I knew you had that in you."

"We're not finished," Marguerite sputtered, her composure cracking. "This conversation—"

"Is over." I walked past her, Jennifer at my side. "Enjoy your new daughter-in-law. I hope she appreciates what she's getting into."

***

Dashiell's POV

The house was too quiet when I returned.

"Dashiell!" My mother rushed toward me from the living room, her face blotchy with tears. Real ones, for once. "Thank God you're home. That woman! Y-your wife! She's gone completely mad!"

I glanced around. Something felt off. "What happened?"

"She attacked me!" Mom pressed a hand to her chest dramatically. "Verbally assaulted me in my own home! Said the most vile, disrespectful things about your father, about our family."

Sabrina appeared in the doorway. "Mrs. Hart, please calm down. You'll make yourself ill."

"How can I be calm?" Mom turned to Sabrina with watery eyes. "You see how we're treated? How am I disrespected in my own house?"

Sabrina's gentle voice soothed. "I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding. Evangeline seemed upset earlier. Perhaps we should give her space to cool down."

I felt a flash of irritation. Space. Evangeline was always needing space, time, understanding. Why couldn't she just be reasonable?

"Where is she?" I pulled out my phone. No messages. No calls.

"Gone." Mom spat the word. "She took Theo and left. Had that awful friend of hers come pick her up. And do you know what she said? She said you two are divorced."

The irritation sharpened into anger. I said coldly. "That's ridiculous."

"That's what I said! But she insisted. Made it sound like it was final." Mom gripped my arm. "Dashiell, on the other hand, why don't you let her go? That woman didn't bring anything but trouble."

I ignored my mom's complaint and was already dialing Evangeline's number. It rang once, twice, three times. Voicemail.

"Unbelievable." I tried again. Same result. "She's ignoring me."

"She's throwing a tantrum," Mom said. "Because of Sabrina. She's jealous."

"Dashiell..." Sabrina's voice was soft. "Perhaps I should go. I don't want to cause problems between you and your wife."

"You're not the problem," I said firmly.

Evangeline is being unreasonable. She knows this divorce is temporary. A formality. She's just being difficult! She knows I am only doing it for Sabrina.

Sabrina's face was impossibly pale in the lamplight. "I'm dying anyway. A few months at most. Maybe it's better if I just... go quietly. I don't want to be the reason your family breaks apart."

"Don't say that." I moved toward her, gently. "You're not going anywhere. Evangeline will come around. She always does."

Sabrina's eyes met mine, and something flickered there. "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course." I turned back to my phone, refreshing my messages. Nothing.

"She has nowhere to go. No job, no income. And she'd never leave Theo." I laughed, though it sounded hollow even to me. "She'll call by morning. Apologize. We'll move forward."

"And if she doesn't?" Sabrina asked quietly.

"She will," I said with certainty. With conviction. "As long as Theo is around, she will not leave."

But when I looked at Sabrina's face—at the way her expression had gone even paler, even more drawn—I felt the first whisper of doubt.

Evangeline wouldn't actually leave. Would she?