جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Eva's POV The silence that followed my question didn’t break immediately, and that alone told me everything I needed to know.Adrian stood there, caught in the middle of it all, his gaze shifting between Livia and me. For the first time since I had known him, he hesitated and that hesitation was everything.Livia felt it too. I saw it in the way her fingers tightened around his arm, the way her posture straightened just slightly despite the trembling act she had been maintaining, the way her gaze sharpened for a brief second as it flicked toward me before returning to him. She wasn’t as fragile as she looked, not even close, and beneath the soft facade she was already calculating, already adjusting, already trying to pull him back to her side before the moment slipped too far.“Adrian…” Her voice came out softer now, quieter, threaded with something pleading as she leaned into him just a little more. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble, I just… I didn’t know who else to rely on.”She sai

Eva's POV I picked up my things and left the hotel, getting into a cab. I leaned back slightly against the seat, my gaze drifting outward, though I wasn’t really looking at anything.My mind was elsewhere. I couldn't stop thinking of everything that just happened, A faint, humorless smile touched my lips before fading just as quickly.My phone suddenly buzzed in my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts. I glanced down absentmindedly at first, expecting something trivial, something I could ignore until later, but the moment I saw the name on the screen, something in me stilled.Nora.For a second, I didn’t move. Because of all the people I expected to hear from tonight, she wasn’t one of them. My fingers tightened slightly around the phone, the faint vibration continuing against my palm, insistent, persistent, as if the device itself was urging me to respond.Slowly, I exhaled and then I answered.“Eva!” Her voice came through immediately. “Finally, you picked up. I’ve been trying to re

Eva's POV I got in the car and headed home. The moment the mansion came into view, I stiffened, remembering what had happened the last time I was here. I couldn't help but look towards the direction of the garden where I had caught Livia and Adrian in my former life. It was a bitter memory. I swallowed hard and looked away, trying to push the thought out of my mind.The driver stopped at the front entrance, stepping out immediately to open the door for me, his expression carefully neutral as I stepped onto the polished stone, the cool air brushing faintly against my skin. “Miss Eva.” His voice was polite but I didn't answer.Instead, I walked forward, my steps steady, unhurried, my gaze fixed ahead as the doors opened before I could reach for them. The busy staffs that were hurrying around to get things done paused to bow respectfully to me on seeing me.I stepped past them without a word, waking towards where I knew my parents were. I couldn't help but think about what Livia had rev

Eva's POVThe door closed behind dad angrily. Mom stood there and didn’t move immediately.She stood there for a moment, her back still angled toward the door, as if she was listening to his footsteps fade down the hall, as if she was making sure he was far enough away before she allowed whatever she was holding back to surface.Then she turned and all the softness was gone.“What were you thinking?” She snapped at me. “Do you have any idea how reckless that was?”I didn’t answer right away. I let all traces of warmth vanish from her face until she was glaring at me so violently like she wanted to hit me. Gone was the mom who spoke softly in front of dadl This was the real version of her.“I didn’t know what else to do.” My tone softened deliberately, my gaze dropping just slightly, letting uncertainty creep into my posture, into my voice, into the way I held myself. “Everything happened so fast, and they were already asking questions…”“Then you should have kept your mouth shut.” She

Eva's POV I saw Livia looked like a ghost and a small smile graced my lips before I stepped out. I closed the door and made sounds to make my footsteps loud, but I didn’t leave.I stopped just beyond the door, where the wall curved slightly, where the angle created a narrow blind spot that shielded me from immediate view if someone stepped out too quickly. It wasn’t something I had paid attention to before, not in my previous life, not when I had never thought to stay behind, never thought to listen, never thought that what happened after I walked away could matter more than what happened in front of me. Now, I knew better.My fingers slipped into my bag without looking, finding the small device easily. I had prepared it for this day. Without hesitation, I activated it, the faint vibration confirming what I already knew before I tucked it back into place, positioning it just enough that the microphone would pick up everything on the other side of the door. Then I waited. I knew they