LOGINShe woke up that morning not knowing how the day would end, not knowing she would find herself walking into a hospital to see someone she technically had no reason to know, let alone care about. The day had started like any other day she forced herself through, a body moving forward while her mind lagged behind, heavy with thoughts she didn’t want to name, and when the idea crossed her mind again that she should go see Theo’s mother, it felt necessary in the way hunger feels necessaryEvelyn didn’t want cameras. She didn’t want aides whispering about optics or favors or timing. She didn’t even tell anyone where she was going, only asked the driver to take her to the hospital and left it at that, her tone flat enough to shut down questions before they could form. This wasn’t something she wanted documented or remembered publicly. This was something she needed to do because she’d seen what the weight of worry was doing to Theo, the way he carried it around like an extra limb he couldn’t
Evelyn’s POVThat plan was to do something else entirely, something quieter and far more damaging, something that hit him right where he always failed and never learned, so I set out to meet Diana.She was just a regular girl Alfred had been involved with before. Nothing special, nothing strategic, just someone who had been available when he wanted her, and somehow that made her useful now. Getting her contact was hard, harder than I expected, but getting her to agree to meet me was worse, because she obviously thought I wanted to attack her or pull her hair out or humiliate her the way wives are expected to. I had to spell it out, slowly, clearly, that I wasn’t interested in drama or apologies or explanations, that I didn’t care what she thought of me or my marriage, and that this was strictly business. Even then, she agreed like someone stepping into something she didn’t trust but couldn’t ignore.She chose the place. An open bar. Somewhere public enough that she felt safe, like tha
Evelyn My phone was still in my hand when I left the dressing room, screen dark, reflection warped across the glass, my own face staring back at me like it was waiting to see what I’d do next. Meeting Sam felt like the obvious move. It also felt like the worst one. If Theo was wrong, confronting Sam would insult years of trust and hand Alfred another fracture he could exploit. If Theo was right, meeting Sam without knowing exactly where he stood would be walking into a room blind, smiling, offering him my throat and calling it loyalty. I moved through the house on autopilot when I got home, heels abandoned near the door, fingers loosening my hair without looking in a mirror. The chef asked what I wanted for lunch. I told him whatever was easiest. He nodded, already used to my non-answers. I sat at the kitchen counter and stared at nothing, my mind replaying Theo’s face, not dramatic, not accusatory, just certain. Sam’s voice followed after, steady, familiar, the man who had talke
Evelyn’s POVThey were already filming when I walked in, which meant no one asked how I was feeling and no one cared if I needed a minute to settle myself before becoming whatever version of me they had decided the audience preferred this week. Alfred smiled the moment he saw me, the public one, wide and practiced, and reached for my waist like it was muscle memory, like my body existed for continuity. His hand landed there easily, too easily, fingers pressing in just enough to remind me that this was expected, that this was part of the story we were selling. “Morning,” he said brightly, voice pitched for microphones, leaning in to brush a kiss against my cheek that missed by an inch but still counted on camera. I stiffened anyway. The producer gave a thumbs-up. Someone adjusted a lens. Someone else reminded us to repeat the greeting once more, just in case. “Morning,” Alfred said again, his hand sliding slightly as he repositioned himself beside me, his smile never faltering. I
THEO I hadn’t realized how much I hated hospitals until I walked back into one with the weight of money sitting in my chest like a debt I could never outrun. Not just the bills, not just the numbers on paper, but the idea that love now came with receipts and expiration dates and conversations with doctors who never looked me in the eye long enough to say something good to me. My mother was propped up on pillows when I stepped inside, hair wrapped in the scarf she wore only when she wanted to feel like herself again, smiling at something on her phone like she hadn’t already decided to hide half of what today was doing to her. “There you are,” she said, voice lighter than it had been the last time I saw her. “I was beginning to think you got lost.” “I know the way,” I replied, dragging the chair closer and sitting without asking, because asking felt too much like admitting how temporary all of this was. “You’re smiling.” She shrugged, careful. “I woke up without pain this morning.
Evelyn POVI got in early enough that the house was still half-empty. The chef was in the kitchen, moving with quiet precision, chopping vegetables for dinner, and I gave a few instructions, mostly out of habit, mostly because I needed the motion to steady my hands.“Dinner should be ready by seven, and make the lamb with the rosemary,” I said, and he nodded, the way he always did, without comment.Nathan passed by on his way out, keys jingling in his hand, music already pulsing from somewhere in the hall. “I’m going out,” he said over his shoulder, not really looking at me.“Okay,” I said, though my voice carried more weight than I intended. I didn’t follow. I didn’t chase. It wasn’t worth it. Not today. Not with the tension gnawing at my chest.He didn’t notice, and maybe that was the point. Nathan and I had always had a quiet distance, a gap I’d tried for years to bridge, to turn into something more than the short conversations and shared space. I had tried dinners, small gifts, as







