Chapter 3

The cold water closed over Evelyn in an instant. She held her breath on reflex and kicked desperately toward the shore, but Ivy had her wrist in a death grip. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't break free.

As the two of them sank together, icy water poured into Evelyn's nose until her vision went dark at the edges.

Someone shouted, "Someone's fallen in! Help!"

A figure shoved through the crowd and dove into the pond without hesitation.

Through the blur of water, Evelyn saw Julian swim past her. He wrapped an arm around Ivy's waist, pulled her close against his chest, and swam for shore without so much as a backward glance.

Evelyn froze for a second, then choked on another mouthful of water. After flailing around for a few seconds, she finally managed to steady herself and emerge from the water. When she looked up, she was met with Julian's furious gaze.

"Lady Evelyn, is this how petty you are? You can't even stand to share with her? I already promised to make you my secondary wife. Why do you keep pushing Ivy like this? You shoved her into the water! You know she can't swim!" he ranted.

Evelyn floated there, shivering all over, her lips trembling as she tried to speak.

But Ivy got there first, eyes red-rimmed as she explained, "It's not my lady's fault. I lost my footing and pulled her in with me..."

Julian let out a weary sigh. "You're still defending her. If she treats you like this now, what will happen once the two of you are living under the same roof? She'll walk all over you."

He looked back at Evelyn, his gaze hard as ice. "You like pushing Ivy into the water so much? Then, stay in there and enjoy it. Someone watch her. No one pulls her out until I say so."

With that, he swept Ivy up and walked away, giving orders as he went, "Send for a physician. Ivy's constitution is delicate. We can't risk her catching a chill."

"Lord Julian! You-"

Evelyn grabbed the stone edge again, but the moment she got a grip, one of the guards Julian left behind kicked her right back into the water.

Countless eyes bore down on her from every side. But with Julian's orders, no one dared step forward to pull her out. She floated in the freezing water and stopped fighting.

In that moment, whatever was left of her feelings for Julian died completely.

It wasn't until the garden party ended that the estate's servants finally helped Evelyn climb out, soaked and shaking. Martha went pale at the sight of her, fumbling to get her into a carriage.

That night, Evelyn came down with a raging fever.

In her delirium, she seemed to slip back to age fifteen, right after her grandfather died. That was when all those relatives who'd once doted on her for his sake suddenly turned cold and started treating her like a bargaining chip for marriage alliances.

It was Julian who had stood up for her back then, telling them all, "Lady Evelyn will be my wife one day. Anyone who wrongs her answers to the entire Sterling family."

But the scene shifted, and all that was left was a bottomless lake. She swam and swam but could never reach the shore.

Evelyn didn't know how long she slept. When she woke up, she found Martha slumped over the edge of her bed, keeping watch. Her throat was too dry to speak. She could only lift a hand and brush it against Martha's.

Martha startled awake, and the moment her eyes met Evelyn's, she burst into tears. "My lady, you're finally awake. You've been asleep for seven whole days. The physician said if you didn't wake up soon, you might not make it..."

She carefully fed Evelyn some water, her eyes still red-rimmed. "Lord Julian ordered every physician in the city to attend to that wretched girl. No one was allowed to come treat you.

"I ran myself ragged and couldn't get a single physician to come. In the end, I had to beg an old physician I've known for years. He snuck in through the back door in the middle of the night..."

Evelyn listened to her with a sharp pang in her chest, but it settled quickly.

"Martha, don't cry anymore. It's over now," she said softly.