CHAPTER 5

Though her legs felt like lead, Evelyn dragged herself toward the stairs. She knew the protocol of this house; Julian had what he wanted now. 

If she lingered for even a moment of recovery, he would return to the room and physically throw her out. 

That was a humiliation she wouldn't survive.

She reached the bottom of the grand staircase, the five-million-dollar card clutched in her hand like a piece of jagged glass.

“What are you doing?”

The voice made her flinch. Julian stood there, arms folded across his chest, a deep frown carving lines into his face. 

Claire was nowhere in sight.

“What does it look like?” Evelyn countered. 

She leaned heavily against the banister, pulling her bag down the final step.

Her hair was a matted nest, her clothes were soaked through, and mascara ran down her cheeks in dark, ugly rivers. She looked like a woman who hadn't slept in days or perhaps like one who had just survived a shipwreck.

Julian’s brows twitched.

“I was asking to be sure you were actually leaving and not trying to cling to me,” he replied, his eyes darkening with a familiar cruelty. “Claire is pregnant. I don’t want her seeing you here anymore.”

“I’m leaving, Julian,” Evelyn rasped. Her voice sounded like glass grinding against stone. “Your precious Claire won’t have to set eyes on me for a second longer. You have my word.”

She began to walk. 

Passing him should have been the hardest part of her life, but her heart had already been hollowed out; there was nothing left to break.

A flicker of confusion crossed Julian’s face. 

He watched her move past him without stopping to beg, without a single plea for mercy. He had expected her to crawl; instead, she treated him with the same coldness he had shown her.

A violent stagger sent her shoulder clipping against the wall.

“Still acting, Evelyn?” Julian’s voice drifted after her, laced with a smirk. “Give up the theatrics. The 'weak victim' routine won't win me back. It just makes you look even more pathetic.”

Ignoring him took every ounce of her remaining willpower. She glanced back once, her eyes so devoid of life that his smirk wavered for a fraction of a second. 

Words were too expensive for a man like him.

She turned her gaze to the entrance. Bright morning light poured through the open door, illuminating Claire. 

The woman stood on the porch, finishing a phone call with a soft, melodic giggle. 

When she saw Evelyn approaching, Claire tucked her phone away and instantly wiped the joy from her face, replacing it with a mask of deep, pitiful concern.

“Oh, Evelyn,” Claire sighed, stepping directly into her path. “Are you leaving already? In this state? You look so unwell.”

Evelyn tried to sidestep her, wanting only for the nightmare to end. But a manicured hand reached out, firmly grasping Evelyn’s wrist.

“Wait, please,” Claire urged, her voice rising so it would carry back into the house. “I’m so sorry for Julian’s behavior. He’s just so protective of the baby... please, don't be angry with him. It's my fault for coming here so soon.”

Fury flared in Evelyn’s chest, burning through the fog of exhaustion. She snatched her arm back with a sudden, sharp jerk.

“Don’t touch me!” Evelyn hissed.

A soft grunt escaped Claire as she suddenly stumbled backward. 

To an outsider, it looked like a violent shove, but Evelyn knew her pull hadn't been that strong. 

Claire collapsed onto the porch, clutching her stomach with a practiced wail.

“My baby!”

Before Evelyn could blink, a blur of motion swept past her. Julian was there in an instant, his face a mask of homicidal rage.

“You monster!”

A powerful shove sent Evelyn flying. Her feet left the floor as she was launched backward through the doorway. Her body crashed onto the hard marble of the foyer.

Crack.

The sound of her skull hitting the stone echoed through the hall. 

The world began to spin in sickening, jagged circles. 

Warmth spread across the back of her head, and a dark, crimson pool began to bloom against the white floor.

“Julian... no,” Claire whimpered from the porch, her voice trembling with terror. “It wasn't her fault... don't be so hard on her...”

“Be quiet, Claire!” Julian yelled, though his voice softened when he looked at his mistress. “She tried to kill my child! She’s jealous and bitter because she’s a failure!”

He turned back to Evelyn. His eyes were cold enough to freeze the blood spilling from her head.

“You want to play the killer, Evelyn? If anything happens to this baby, I will make sure you never see the light of day again.”

He didn't look at the blood. He didn't look at her flickering eyes. He lifted Claire into his arms with the utmost care and hurried toward the car, shouting for the driver.

“Julian...” Evelyn’s hand reached out, her fingers trembling in the pool of her own life force. “Help... please...”

The car door slammed. The engine roared, and the tires screeched as the vehicle peeled away from the estate.

Darkness closed in from the edges of her vision. The grand chandelier above blurred into a single, mocking light. 

As the silence of the house settled over her like a shroud, Evelyn’s hand fell limp against the cold stone.

Abandoned by the man she had loved for five years, she finally let the darkness take her.