Chapter 5: The final declaration.

Evelyn POV

I looked at Adrian, drinking in every detail of his perfectly sculpted face—the sharp jawline, the aristocratic nose, the steel-grey eyes that had once made my heart race. Now, all I could see was the disgust that filled those beautiful features whenever he looked at me.

In my previous life, I had worked so hard to earn even a fraction of his warmth. I’d learned company management from scratch, studying late into the night until my eyes burned, all so I could be helpful in his business empire.

I’d taught myself to cook his favourite dishes, spending hours in the kitchen perfecting recipes that would make him smile. To please Adrian, I’d even taken care of his mother, Margaret. I was available at her beck and call twenty-four hours a day, hoping that maternal approval would somehow translate into his affection.

I thought I could warm Adrian’s heart by being devoted. I’d believed that if I just tried hard enough, sacrificed deeply enough, loved thoroughly enough, he would eventually see me as more than Isabella’s replacement.

Instead, I’d been kidnapped on my wedding day while Adrian went to hold his real wedding with the woman he’d always loved. All of my efforts —the business knowledge, the cooking skills, the endless servitude to his family —had been cheap performances that moved no one but myself.

How foolish I had been.

Looking at Adrian now, with his familiar expression of coldness, I felt something break free inside my chest.

Not my heart that had shattered long ago in a warehouse while he dismissed my life as meaningless.

No, this was something else. The last chain that had bound me to the dream of earning his love.

I smiled, and for the first time in either of my lives, it was genuine.

“Yes, I can’t pretend anymore, Adrian. So let’s call off the engagement.”

Before Adrian could respond, his assistant rushed over, breathing hard and looking like he’d seen a ghost.

“Mr Whitmore, there’s been a situation—”

Adrian’s brow furrowed slightly as annoyance flickered across his face. “Control yourself, Thomas,” he cut him off with a tone filled with impatience. “What could be so urgent that you’re making a scene at my engagement party? Can’t you see I am busy?”

Thomas shot me a glance before he leaned closer, whispering urgently into Adrian’s ear. His voice was so low that I couldn’t catch what he was saying to Adrian, but I didn’t need to hear them to know what had happened. The timing was exactly as I remembered from my previous life, down to the minute.

Adrian’s indifferent demeanour changed instantly. The man who had shown absolutely no reaction when I mentioned calling off our engagement suddenly looked tense, his jaw tightening, and his eyes flashed with panic.

Isabella’s suicide attempt. Right on time.

Without so much as a glance in my direction, Adrian turned to leave, as if I had ceased to exist the moment more pressing concerns arose. In his mind, I was already dismissed, forgotten and replaced by thoughts of the woman who truly mattered to him.

But I refused to be invisible this time. Nor the same pathetic girl who would stand there watching him walk away.

“Adrian,” I called out, stepping forward to block his path. “I haven’t finished talking.”

He halted instantly, his cold eyes meeting mine with irritation as his gaze swept over me. “Step aside, Evelyn, I have urgent business to attend to,” he said curtly.

The dismissal was so casual and devoid of any acknowledgement that this was supposed to be our engagement party that I almost laughed. Instead, I stood my ground, meeting his gaze.

“You are going to see Isabella, aren’t you?”

His gaze hardened as he replied coldly. “What do you think? It’s your fault that Isabella is attempting to commit suicide because of you and your petty schemes, and you still have the nerve to ask? I’m warning you, Evelyn, I can give you the position of Mrs Whitmore, but don’t fantasise about anything else.”

The self-righteous statement was so absurd that I felt a bubble of hysterical laughter rise in my throat. I had never targeted Isabella. I’d never done anything to her except exist in Adrian’s world while bearing an unfortunate resemblance to her when styled correctly.

But somehow, in Adrian’s mind, my presence in his life was an attack on his true love.

As always, I was painted as the villain in their love story. The obstacle to overcome. The sacrifice to be made for their happiness. It didn’t matter what I did or didn’t do; I would always be blamed for standing between them.

Well, if I was going to be cast as the villain anyway, I might as well play the part properly.

“Today is our engagement party,” I said loudly, making sure my voice carried to the growing crowd. “If you leave now to go to Isabella, then consider our engagement void.”

The hall quietened instantly. Most of the guests began bringing out their phones to record the drama unfolding.

Adrian sneered, his eyes filling with scorn. “Are you threatening me with calling off the engagement?” He laughed dryly. “You think far too highly of yourself, Evelyn. If you don’t want the title of Mrs Whitmore, there are plenty of other women out there who will gladly take up the position.”

With that, he pushed past me without bothering to look back, leaving me standing there alone amid the curious gazes of our guests.

I watched him leave without feeling the crushing despair I’d expected. Instead, I felt... free. Lighter than I’d been in years, as if I’d finally set down a burden I’d been carrying for so long I’d forgotten what it felt like to stand up straight.

Adrian had made his choice, just as he had in my previous life. Isabella would always come first, would always be more important than any obligation or promise he’d made to me.

At least now, everyone would see it happen in real time instead of having to piece together the truth from whispered rumours.

Straightening my posture, I walked confidently to the centre of the banquet hall, my wet dress trailing behind me as I positioned myself where everyone could see me. The whispers were growing now.

I clapped my hands. “May I have everyone’s attention, please?”

The murmurings ceased instantly as all eyes turned to me.  

I took a deep breath, feeling my heartbeat quicken with excitement. This moment would mark my rebirth, my liberation from a life bound by others’ expectations and manipulations.

“Everyone, please listen carefully, Adrian Whitmore has chosen to call off our engagement tonight for Isabella Clarke.”

Gasps filled the air as the whisperings erupted again.

At the banquet hall entrance, I noticed that Adrian had stopped. He turned back slowly, his face dark with anger as he realised what I was about to do.

Perfect. I wanted him to hear this.

I looked directly into his furious grey eyes, raised my chin with defiance, with a slight smile curving my lips and announced in a voice that carried to every corner of the ballroom:

“I, Evelyn Bennet, will willingly fulfil their wishes. From this moment forward, any engagement or relationship between me and Adrian Whitmore is completely and permanently dissolved.”