Accueil / Romance / Before I Became His Wife / Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 6

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6

EVELYN

EVELYN"Some things don't stay buried forever."I read the message three times. Three times, and my hands still would not stop shaking.The restaurant was warm. The kind of warm that wraps around your shoulders like a blanket. Chivido's was full of Saturday afternoon noise, couples leaning close, children laughing too loud, waitresses weaving between tables with practiced ease. Life, moving the way life does.My chicken was getting cold.I didn't care."Eve." Mia's voice cut through the noise. "You've been staring at that phone for four minutes. I've been counting."I locked the screen without thinking."It's nothing," I said. "Social media trolls."Mia tilted her head. Slowly. The way she did when she already knew I was lying and was giving me one last chance to fix it."Evelyn."Just my name. That was all it took. Mia had a way of saying my name that made it sound like a question, a warning, and a hug all at once.I put the phone face-down on the table. "I'm fine.""You keep saying

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-06-13

CHAPTER TWO

EVELYNThe morning of my wedding arrived like it had somewhere better to be. Too fast and bright. Too full of other people's joy.I sat in the white silk chair in front of the mirror while my makeup artist worked around me with the quiet confidence of someone who had made many brides beautiful. Brushes moved across my cheekbones. Someone adjusted my veil. One of my little bridesmaids shrieked with laughter in the corner, and the sound of it, pure and unaware, loosened something in my chest.Children knew nothing about the past. Lucky them."You look stunning," Mia said from beside me.I looked at my reflection.The woman in the mirror was dressed for a love story. White gown, delicate lace at the collar, hair swept up the way I had always imagined. She looked exactly the way a bride should look.I just couldn't figure out if she was happy."Mia." I kept my voice low so only she could hear.She leaned closer. "Yeah?""He messaged me again last night."Her hand, which had been adjusting

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-06-13

CHAPTER THREE

EVELYNThe reception was beautiful. I know that because everyone kept telling me."You look stunning, Evelyn.""This venue, my God.""Oscar is so handsome. You two are perfect."I smiled every time. I lifted my glass and toasted and laughed at the right moments. I danced the first dance with my husband and felt his hand on my waist and told myself that this was enough, this was real, this was the life I had chosen. But I could feel him watching me from across the room.Eden didn't stare. That would have been too obvious. He sat at his table and talked to the people around him like he belonged there, like this was just another event on his calendar and yet every time I turned my head, my eyes found him before I could stop them."I need some air," I told Oscar.He squeezed my hand without looking up from the conversation he was having. "I'll be right there."I slipped through the side door.* * *The pool area was empty. The night air was cool and still and tasted nothing like the insid

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-06-13

CHAPTER FOUR

EVELYNThree days into marriage, and I had already learned the sound of a silent lie.It lived in the spaces between sentences. In the pause before I'm fine. In the way I rolled to face the wall every night before Oscar's breathing slowed, so I could let my face do whatever it needed to without him seeing.He was a good man. He deserved better than a wife who lay beside him thinking about someone else. The problem was, I couldn't stop.* * *The first message came on day two. Unknown Number: We need to talk. I blocked it. Within sixty seconds, another number.Unknown Number: Blocking me won't make this go away. My fingers typed before I could think about it.Me: Stop.The dots appeared. Disappeared. Then…Eden: Seven days, Evelyn.My stomach dropped.Me: Seven days for what?Eden: For you to remember who you are.I put the phone down. Picked it up. Put it down again. Then I threw it onto the other couch and stood in the middle of my living room with my arms crossed, furious at myself

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-06-13

CHAPTER FIVE

EDENSeven days.. I had exactly seven days to produce a wife or watch my stepbrother take the biggest deal of my career and dismantle everything I had spent a decade building.Mr. Dan had delivered the news with the calm of a man who enjoyed delivering impossible things. He had sat across my desk, expensive suit, cold eyes, and laid it out like a verdict."Seven of the richest countries. Long-term. Global reach. This deal makes you untouchable, Eden." He had paused. "There is one condition.""Name it.""You must be married."I had laughed. Not because it was funny. Because sometimes the world does something so perfectly cruel that laughter is the only honest response."Married," I repeated."They want stability. A family man. Someone with roots." He had folded his hands. "You have seven days. If you cannot present a wife, the deal transfers to Nathan."Nathan. My stepbrother. The one who had walked into my father's house after my mother's funeral and never left. The one my father intr

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-06-13

CHAPTER. SIX

OSCARI found out the way husbands always find out too late, and from the wrong person. Mia came to my office on a Wednesday morning with red eyes and a guilty conscience she had apparently been carrying so long she was ready to set it down anywhere.She sat across from me and told me everything. Eden Blackwood and Evelyn. Seven years ago. A message she had buried. A relationship she had convinced my wife was already dead before it had finished living.I listened without interrupting. I was good at that. Being still, being patient, waiting for the whole shape of a thing before I reacted. It had always served me well in business.It felt entirely useless right now."Why are you telling me this?" I asked, when she finished.She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Because he's not going to stop. And because Eve deserves better than to be caught between two things she didn't choose." She looked at me steadily. "And because you deserve to know what you're dealing with."After she le

Dernière mise à jour : 2026-06-14

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