Chapter 187

The words kept pouring from Isabella's lips like venom. Her jaw clenched so tight I thought she might shatter her own teeth. That murderous glare she fixed on Evelyn could have burned through steel.

Nathan recoiled instantly at her threat. He wasn't shocked - he'd known the darkness lurking beneath Isabella's polished exterior. But this time, he wouldn't let it slide.

Without a backward glance, Nathan strode from the hospital room. Isabella's shrill screams followed him down the corridor, but he might as well have been deaf.

At the corridor's end stood Alistair, looking every bit his seventy years. The once-proud patriarch's temples had gone silver, deep grooves of exhaustion framing his eyes. He hadn't witnessed his granddaughter's unraveling.

Alistair actually smiled when Nathan approached, that familiar calculating gleam returning to his eyes. "An eye for an eye seems fair, don't you think?"

Nathan's hand slid into his pocket, his smirk dripping with disdain. "You're too old for this game, Alistair. Shouldn't you be enjoying retirement instead of meddling in affairs you can't win?"

The barb hit its mark. Alistair's face purpled with rage. "You arrogant little—"

But Nathan was already walking away, leaving the sputtering old man behind.

Alone in his car, Nathan stared blankly at the passing cityscape. Three years. Three damn years he'd pushed Evelyn away, all for Isabella's lies. The weight of his mistakes pressed down like physical pain.

God, he needed to see Evelyn. Now.

The engine roared to life.

Across town, Evelyn was floating on cloud nine. Landing the lead designer role for Sterling Enterprises' fashion show was huge. Even better? Professor Whitaker had agreed to use Kingsley Industries' factory for production.

Her fingers flew across her phone screen: "Harrison! Got the lead designer spot AND the manufacturing contract!"

Harrison's reply came before she could lock her screen: "Congratulations! Looks like you're one step closer to winning that bet with Hawthorne."

Evelyn's cheeks warmed. "Couldn't have done it without you."

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."

Friends. The word sent an unexpected flutter through her chest. Before she could overthink it, she typed: "Let me take you to dinner tonight. My treat."

"Deal."

Evelyn practically skipped to her car, completely missing the black sedan idling nearby. Its driver watched her with predatory intensity, hands white-knuckled on the wheel.