Library
Search
Home / Romance / The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all / Chapter 17

Share

Chapter 17

Author: Benita’s pen
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-18 00:52:25

Evelyn’s POV

I got home at about 1am that day, tried to beat my husband’s record but I honestly couldn’t. He was the king of coming home at ridiculous hours. I wasn’t even close.

After leaving the dinner with Theo, my mind was buzzing, too full, too heavy, too loud. I didn’t want to go home immediately and see Alfred’s face or feel his eyes drag over me like I owed him something. So I crossed the street and walked into the bar. One innocent glass turned into two, then three, then I stopped counting because the bartender kept topping it up before I even asked.

I sat there alone for a long while, pretending the dim lights and soft music were enough to drown out everything building up inside me. I kept telling myself I deserved at least one night to be in my own head, alone, without someone demanding something from me. Without thinking twice, I let myself sink into the seat, legs crossed, staring at the half-empty drink like it could give me answers.

By the time I stood up, I knew I had
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter
Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Latest chapter

  • The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all   Chapter 57

    Evelyn I woke up to voices downstairs and the sound of equipment being moved around. The crew. I’d forgotten they were coming early today. Some charity event Alfred had scheduled weeks ago, another performance in the endless parade of performances. I stayed in bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling, feeling the weight of exhaustion settle into my bones before I’d even stood up. The bathroom mirror showed a woman who looked fine. Hair that could be fixed. Eyes that could be lined. A face that could smile on command. I turned on the shower and let the water run hot enough to hurt. By the time I came downstairs, the living room had been transformed into a staging area. Cameras, lights, sound equipment scattered across the furniture. Two crew members adjusted angles while another tested audio levels. Alfred stood near the window, already dressed, phone pressed to his ear, nodding at whatever was being said on the other end. He looked at me when I entered, gestured toward the

  • The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all   Chapter 57

    Evelyn I woke up to voices downstairs and the sound of equipment being moved around. The crew. I’d forgotten they were coming early today. Some charity event Alfred had scheduled weeks ago, another performance in the endless parade of performances. I stayed in bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling, feeling the weight of exhaustion settle into my bones before I’d even stood up. The bathroom mirror showed a woman who looked fine. Hair that could be fixed. Eyes that could be lined. A face that could smile on command. I turned on the shower and let the water run hot enough to hurt. By the time I came downstairs, the living room had been transformed into a staging area. Cameras, lights, sound equipment scattered across the furniture. Two crew members adjusted angles while another tested audio levels. Alfred stood near the window, already dressed, phone pressed to his ear, nodding at whatever was being said on the other end. He looked at me when I entered, gestured toward the

  • The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all   Chapter 56

    Evelyn’s POV I didn’t sleep. I tried. Got into bed, pulled the covers up, closed my eyes, waited for my brain to shut down after a day that nearly ended with a blade in my chest. But my body wouldn’t cooperate. Every time I started to drift, I saw his face again. At some point I just gave up. I slipped out of bed. Alfred was out cold, snoring with one arm flung over his face. The house was dark and quiet in that specific way it gets after midnight. I went downstairs in bare feet and found myself drifting toward the library without really deciding to go there. The door was already open. I flipped on the small desk lamp instead of the overhead lights. The room materialized in pieces. Shelves floor to ceiling, packed with books Alfred bought by the yard because someone told him it looked distinguished. Most of them he’d never opened. A few were mine. Legal texts. Case studies. Biographies of lawyers who’d actually mattered. I used to matter. I moved along the shelves, ru

  • The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all   Chapter 55

    Evelyn’s POV By the time we got home, the house felt too big and quiet. It hadn’t caught up yet to what had happened, to the fact that a man had tried to carve me open an hour ago while screaming my name. The police cars were already there when we pulled up, parked along the curb with their lights off but engines ticking over. Two officers stepped out before my driver even cut the ignition. Clara pressed into my side the second she saw them, her fingers hooking into my sleeve hard enough to pull the fabric. Inside, it started immediately. Questions after questions, Voices overlapping, repeating themselves in slightly different registers as if rephrasing would unlock something I hadn’t already said. They wanted names, physical descriptions. What he screamed, what he wore. How close he came before security grabbed him. Where the knife was when they pinned him down. Did I know him. Had I seen him before. Did I recognize his face, his voice, anything. Had there been threats before th

  • The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all   Chapter 54

    Evelyn’s POV The cameras were already on by the time we stepped into the mall, red lights blinking softly, men walking backward in front of us, women pretending not to stare while staring anyway, and my friends slipping into that excited brightness they always wore when the crew showed up,“This place never gets old,” Lila said, adjusting her sunglasses even though we were indoors. “I swear, every time I come here with you, I forget normal life exists.”She laughed and the others followed, the sound bouncing around us, and I smiled because smiling kept things smooth and smooth kept people from asking questions I didn’t have the energy to answer.We moved from store to store without urgency, racks pulled apart, fabrics lifted and pressed against me, hands tugging at my arms, my waist, my shoulders, deciding for me what suited the wife of a man running for office. Every suggestion came with his name attached to it, every opinion tied back to what would look good beside him, what would

  • The Governor’s regret, his broken wife burned it all   Chapter 53

    Evelyn’s POV Clara was calling my name when I stepped out of the shower, her voice cutting through the house sharp enough that I didn’t even bother wrapping the towel properly, just grabbed the robe and tied it halfway while my hair dripped down my back and onto the floor, my feet already moving before my brain caught up to what that tone meant.“Mom,” she called again, louder this time, and there was something wrong in it, like she was holding herself together with her teeth.“I’m coming,” I shouted back, already halfway down the stairs, my heart doing that ugly hitch it does when it recognizes danger before logic has a chance to intervene.She was standing by the kitchen counter when I reached her, backpack open and dumped out like it had vomited everything it was holding, books scattered, loose papers everywhere, her hands shaking so badly she couldn’t even keep them still on the edge of the counter. Her eyes were glassy, unfocused, and the sight of that alone was enough to make m

More Chapters

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status