LOGINEvelyn's POVThe familiar feeling of betrayal and anguish slammed into my chest like an unrelenting wave. It felt like whatever was left of my beating heart had been completely ripped out of me.What had I done to deserve this? What was I being punished for?Had I pissed someone off? Why was this happening to me?The questions replayed in my head alongside the ones I had with Zane. There had to have been something that hinted towards this outcome. How come I hadn't seen this coming?I cycled through every word, every action, and every little touch we shared, and not ONCE did it ever occur to me that he had intentions to use me in this way. Not once did I ever get the impression that he was out to hurt me.Then I thought about it…Little dove, I remembered he would call me. The way it rolled off his tongue so sweet and so enticing. To anyone else, it should've been endearing.At the time, to me, it actually was.Now that I had time to think… Maybe that was the sign.Doves were somethin
Evelyn's POV"Evelyn, wait! Stop!" Adrian called for me desperately. His footsteps chased me out the door, but I didn't want to stop.I couldn't stop.This went beyond cruel in ways I hadn't imagined.As the cool breeze of the night hit my skin, I tried to make myself breathe, but all that came out were angry, frantic heaves that were desperate to cling onto something that wasn't Adrian's neck.I turned around and shoved my finger straight into his chest, driving my nail into his skin. "You fucking KNEW, didn't you?! YOU DID THIS TO ME! HOW FUCKING COULD—"I was immediately swept up by Nathan as he used himself to shield me from Adrian, and to also put some space between us."Hey, hey, hey…" Nathan spoke soothingly, but not with any less urgency than the situation called for. "What did he do to you? Talk to me."The momentary break and the space admittedly was enough for me to form my thoughts. "HE was the one that fucking drugged me!"Nathan's eyes widened with malice as he immediate
Evelyn's POVWhat a cruel joke. I wasn't too much of a religious person, but I must have pissed off God if this was His way of getting me to heal.Out of ANYONE who could've taken my dress, it just HAD to be him. I suppose there was no way forward than to confront one's demons.And over a damn dress.I let out a heavy, very displeased sigh, and dragged my feet up the stairs to make myself semi-presentable. "Well, I guess we should go get it back.""You don't have to go!" Mila called up to me. "I can definitely go get it myself!""And I can go with her," Nathan chimed in. "Just for some added muscle that Mila definitely doesn't need."I stopped midway up the stairs. "I don't need protection, but I appreciate the sentiment. What happened, happened, and I'm not going to just cower and hide because he decided he wanted to be a piece of shit and cheat on me.""Besides, I want to make sure that the dress I paid for is still in one piece," I added. "If it's not, then I'll make sure he compen
Evelyn's POVIt seemed I was just as frozen as I couldn't will my legs to move forward. The last time we had seen each other, things didn't exactly end well.So, while I wanted to do nothing more than to simply leave and never look back, there was something about his appearance that made me feel genuine concern for his well-being.I'd seen him look bad before, but not like this."Hi, Adrian…" I greeted him warily."Hey," he greeted me with the same cautious tone, but there was a hint of softness and tenderness underneath. His eyes shifted towards Nathan, but there was no hostility behind them. "Nathan.""Adrian," Nathan greeted in a flat, neutral tone."Is everything okay?" Adrian's attention veered back to me."Yeah, just doing a check-up is all. How about you?""Well… I've definitely been better." He tried to laugh, but it fell flat, and it felt hollow. "My head's spinning, and it just kind of feels like I've been hit by a truck.""I'm sorry to hear that," I said genuinely. "You didn
Evelyn's POVI was really starting to hate hospitals. At this point, I may have well just lived in one and became a resident with how often I'd been to one. I wondered if the doctors would recognize me.The check-in process was mostly a blur. Maybe it was a good thing Mila had suggested we come here. After answering some questions and having her fill out the paperwork for me, we ended up finally getting a room in the back."Can you stay with her?" Mila turned to Nathan. "I'm going to drop off her dress at the dry cleaners.""Yeah, I'll stay with her."Mila narrowed her eyes at him."I promise." He sucked in a deep breath. "Everything's been settled on my end.""Hmph." It was the only response Mila would dignify his statement with before walking out of the room.I laid on the stiff, uncomfortable examination table in a gown, feeling more embarrassed and somewhat angry with myself.For the last few months, I'd been starved of any kind of touch and affection. While it had begun to slightl
Evelyn's POVWhen I opened my eyes, everything was a blurry, fuzzy mess. And my god was my mouth dry as hell. I rolled over to try and find something to drink, only to realize that I was in a bed that I didn't recognize.The revelation immediately sent me into a panic as I shot up in the bed with the sound of my own heart drumming along in my ears. My head immediately began to spin, and a wave of nausea crashed into me, but I had to swallow the bile that threatened to spill from my mouth.I forced myself to calm down and take in my surroundings. A bed. A nightstand. An oak desk across the room with a TV mounted just above it.This was a hotel room; I came to the conclusion quickly.What the hell was I doing in a hotel room?As I flopped around and struggled to find my clutch, I turned over the pillow and saw it tucked inside of the case. I rummaged through it, trying to find my phone, and saw that I had 56 missed calls in total.28 from Mila, and 28 from Nathan respectively.My eyes wi
Evelyn's POVMy mind was a complete fucking mess. The thought of having been lied to, AGAIN, after everything we just went through was pushing me to the edge. I couldn't wrap my head around why Adrian would do something like this! He was supposed to be a man of his word—or at least, that's what he'd
Evelyn's POVI stared at Adrian to gauge what his reaction was going to be. With the way Bianca was acting—giving him those puppy-dog eyes and playing the loyal, pitiful younger sister role so perfectly—it wouldn't surprise me if he decided to give in. It's not like it took any of that for him to co
Evelyn's POVNothing Adrian told me had lined up with what Sofia was saying now. Even though I didn't want to believe another person over my own husband, again, I couldn't help but feel suspicious about this. It was just too damning to ignore.I needed to get to the bottom of this quickly.As I went
Evelyn's POV"So, now that you two are unfortunately on speaking terms again, does that mean you'll be going to that investor meeting you mentioned the other day?" Mila raised a brow. "I don't think I need to tell you how imperative it is that you DON'T leave Adrian and Bianca alone together under a







