로그인Evelyn's POV“So basically,” I said slowly, finally feeling the tension in my chest loosen enough for a real smile to appear, “we’re more like each other’s therapists.”Julian looked at me for a second before smiling too, softer this time, the kind of smile that felt rare on him.“Then let’s consider that night in Seattle our first session.”A quiet laugh escaped me before I could stop it, and for the first time all evening, breathing didn’t feel quite so difficult.But then another thought resurfaced.“Wait.” I looked at him again, my brows drawing together slightly. “How did you know my hand was injured because of Sebastian?”Julian’s expression barely changed.“He bragged about it once,” he said flatly.My smile disappeared instantly.That bastard.Of course he had.The last traces of sunset stretched across Julian’s face then, warm gold slipping over the sharp lines of his features, and only now did I properly notice how swollen the bruise near his cheekbone looked beneath the fad
Evelyn's POV“Do you like me, Julian?”The question left my mouth before my heart had time to stop it.And the second the words were out there between us, hanging in the cold ocean air, I wanted to take them back.Because honestly, this couldn’t just be my imagination anymore. Somewhere along the way, I had started believing Julian liked me—really liked me—and otherwise none of this made sense. Not Seattle. Not tonight. Not the way he kept showing up for me even after I tried so hard to push him away.Hope rose inside me before I could stop it, sudden and dangerous, like water breaking through cracked stone.And at the exact same time, fear followed right behind it.Because my life was already a disaster. My marriage had collapsed, my emotions were a wreck, and if I was being honest with myself, I barely even trusted my own judgment anymore. I didn’t know how to handle another complicated relationship. I didn’t know how to handle being cared for by someone again without immediately wa
Evelyn's POV“Why?” A shaky laugh escaped me before I could stop it, and even to my own ears my voice already sounded dangerously close to unraveling. “Because I’m using you, Julian. How do you still not understand that?”The words came faster and faster after that, emotions spilling out before I could force them back down.“How are you still standing there acting calm enough to worry about whether I’m forcing myself? I’m selfish. I’m a mess. I dragged you into this whole disaster because I was angry and humiliated and wanted revenge!” I could hear the instability creeping into my voice now, raw and trembling beneath every sentence. “You should be furious at me. You should yell at me, tell me I’m awful, and then walk away so you can go back to being that perfect, untouchable Julian everyone else sees!”But Julian barely reacted.“I already told you,” he said quietly, “I don’t mind being used.”“That’s impossible!” I snapped immediately, my throat tightening so hard it almost hurt. “Ev
Evelyn's POV“So what if we got along?” I let out a small laugh at my own expense, the sound thin and bitter against the crashing waves behind us. “What exactly did you expect me to do? Keep acting like some pathetic woman crying herself apart over a failed marriage, clinging to you because I needed someone to stay beside me?”“That’s not what I meant.” Julian inhaled slowly, like he was deliberately forcing himself to stay calm before speaking again. “But disappearing without a word? At the very least, you could’ve answered me. I contacted you so many times, Eve. You never replied once.”“Why should I have replied?”I curled my fingers so tightly that my nails bit into my palm, grounding myself with the pain as I forced the cruel words out anyway.“Our relationship is over.”“Over?” Julian stared at me as if he genuinely couldn’t process what he’d just heard. “What the hell does that mean?”“It means exactly what it sounds like.” I forced myself to hold his gaze, even though every wo
Evelyn's POVHe took me to an underwater restaurant because he knew I loved dolphins, and somewhere beneath all that shifting blue light, with the glass walls glowing around us and sea creatures drifting silently past like something out of a dream, he got down on one knee beside the tank and told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life making it up to me.He talked about taking care of me.About guilt.About how he owed me everything.At the time, I believed him. Completely.Or maybe I wanted to believe him badly enough that I mistook it for love.I remember sitting there with tears in my eyes, staring at him through the soft blue reflections dancing across his face, genuinely thinking that maybe this was what people meant when they talked about life-changing love, the kind so deep it rewrote the course of your future.So I said yes.I put on the ring.And now, looking back, it was probably the worst decision I had ever made in my life.What made it even more pathetic was that, bac
Evelyn's POVI knew Julian was following behind me, but I didn’t have the energy to deal with him anymore.None of this was really his fault. Rationally, I knew that. But after everything that had happened, my emotions felt scraped raw, and even his presence—steady, patient, infuriatingly calm—had started to feel like one more thing pressing against my already collapsing nerves.So I ignored him.I walked straight to my car, yanked the door open harder than necessary, and slid into the driver’s seat with the kind of anger that made every movement sharp around the edges. Even starting the engine felt aggressive. By the time I properly came back to myself, I was already speeding down the wide LA roads, the fading gold of sunset stretching endlessly across the horizon like a fire slowly burning itself out.The city was slipping into dusk.Palm trees blurred past the windows in dark silhouettes, traffic lights flickered awake one by one, and the sky over LA glowed with that unreal mixture







