All Chapters of Never Again Beneath the Same Moon: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

"Serena Hart?"Evelyn's hand went still.Then she gave a cold laugh."What does she want?"She helped us at the last minute and now she came here to take credit for it?"I would have dug that evidence up without her."The sourness in her voice made me want to smile."Are you jealous?"Evelyn narrowed her eyes."Am I not allowed to be?"Your ex turns up at our house and I'm supposed to applaud?"The more she talked, the worse her expression got.I put my arms around her and nudged her cheek with mine."Relax."Nothing she did changes how I see her."Evelyn softened slightly.Then went right back to being sarcastic."Sure."An old flame is a dangerous thing."What if the two of you sit down, she cries and says she regrets everything, and your heart softens toward her?"I laughed out loud."Ms. Pierce, do you have so little confidence in yourself?"She leaned into my neck and spoke into my collar."It isn't a lack of confidence."I care about you too much."I rubb

How could Serena possibly know there'd been a contract between me and Evelyn?While I was still staring at her, quick footsteps came down the stairs.A second later Evelyn was in front of Serena, and she stormed up to Serena."Who told you my husband and I have a contract marriage?"Serena rose slowly, completely sure of herself."Ms. Pierce, the agreement you signed was drafted by a colleague of mine."You wanted him to act as your husband and appease your family elders."At the end of five years you'd let him go and pay him off."Have I got any of that wrong?"I dropped my eyes, and my mind went back five years whether I wanted it to or not.I'd just gotten overseas. Whatever my parents left me had been eaten alive by the lawsuits.I didn't have a cent.I worked myself into the ground just to stay alive.Then, more or less by accident, I landed an internship at a company under the Pierce umbrella.I turned out to be good at it, and it didn't take long before Harold Pier

"What are you looking at?"Evelyn's voice came from behind me, clear and bright.I came back to myself and pulled the curtains shut."Nothing."Just someone who doesn't matter."The small red glow outside vanished behind the heavy fabric.It felt like shutting it out of my life for good.Evelyn put her arms around me from behind and pressed her cheek against my back."She really doesn't matter?"I turned, took her face in my hands, and kissed her hard."She doesn't."You're the one who matters to me."The moment I said it, something in me let go completely.It was like finally saying goodbye to all of it.Evelyn's eyes lit up at once.The next second she'd pushed me back onto the bed."You're dangerously good at this tonight, Adrian. Let me return the favor."I had a vague sense of where this was going."Evelyn, don't you dare..."She didn't let me finish.By the time we stopped, the sky outside was going light.Evelyn was still wide awake.She held on to me, play

I looked into Serena's eyes for several seconds before I understood that she meant it.I immediately shot back."Serena, you want to be my mistress and I'm telling you I wouldn't want you. In what way could you ever compare to my wife?"Even after that, she wouldn't let go."What is it you like about her? I can learn it."That stopped me.The Serena I used to know was proud.Cold.Above all of this.And now she was saying things like that.Too late.I looked at her and said it plainly."Everything about her is good, because she's Evelyn Pierce."You will never come close to her."The last of the light went out of Serena's eyes.I had no patience left at all."Get out. If you're not gone I'm calling someone."Instead she locked her arms around my waist, with a strength that startled me."Adrian..."Her voice shook."You weren't like this before."You used to love me. You know you did."For a moment, my head swam.She was right.The Adrian Cole of those years real

Our wedding was magnificent.Evelyn seemed determined to laid the very best Ashford had to offer at my feet.Roses ran the length of the aisle.The crystal lights overhead were as bright as a sky full of stars.I stood there in a white suit and watched her come toward me, one step at a time, in a gown that didn't seem real.And I thought about many years ago.About the man who'd left this city alone, who had struggled simply to survive.Back then I thought the entire world had thrown me away.It never once occurred to me that someday somebody would love me like this.When it came time for the vows, even Evelyn, who was rarely nervous, seemed tense.She held on to my hands and started quietly."At the beginning, all I wanted was a suitable husband."The guests laughed."Handsome."Smart."Someone who knew where the lines were."And ideally someone my father would like."I laughed too.Evelyn didn't look away from me once.Her gaze was overflowing with tenderness."La