Chapter 2

Benjamin spun around the moment he heard her voice. He was standing at a higher level, looking down at her with cold eyes, his presence overwhelming.

"What did you say?"

His voice cut through the silence, low and sharp.

Evelyn met his gaze, her tone calm but firm as she repeated herself. "I said, let's get a divorce."

"Just because I told you to apologize?"

"Yes."

She nodded.

She didn't need a man whose heart belonged entirely to Amelia.

Benjamin's expression darkened instantly. The authority he'd carried for years pressed down on her, and Evelyn found herself holding her breath without even realizing it.

"Evelyn, divorce isn't something you throw around when you're upset." He stepped closer. "This is the first and last time. Don't ever let me hear that again."

Evelyn shook her head. "I'm not upset. I mean it."

Something she said must have hit a nerve, because the air around Benjamin turned ice cold.

But Evelyn didn't back down. "Benjamin, I'm letting you go. You and Amelia."

He suddenly grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head. "Letting me go? Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to decide anything about my life?"

Evelyn laughed bitterly to herself.

He was right. Benjamin had never needed her permission for anything.

He was no longer the man who had lain motionless, unaware of the world around him.

Three years of marriage. Even after doctors said the chances of him waking up were almost zero, Evelyn never stopped his treatment. She stayed by his side day and night, turning him over on schedule, massaging his limbs, talking to him. And against all odds, he woke up.

After that, she stayed to help him through rehabilitation.

There were times Benjamin would lose control of his body and explode in rage, screaming at her to get out. She never left.

Six months later, he finally stood on his own two feet.

The news shocked everyone in their social circle. People started envying Evelyn's luck for marrying the heir to one of Silverlight City's most powerful families, then quickly moved on to speculating how long it would take before Benjamin tossed her aside.

But in the middle of all that gossip, Benjamin chose to listen to Gwendolyn and throw Evelyn a proper wedding ceremony.

He personally went with her to choose the venue, style, dress, and menu. He seemed genuinely invested in every detail.

Evelyn had thought that meant something. That she at least had a place in his heart.

But she'd been fooling herself the whole time.

She looked down. "I'm sorry. I overstepped. In that case, we might as well end this sooner rather than later."

"Evelyn!"

Benjamin snapped.

Evelyn kept her voice casual, almost indifferent. "What, Mr. White? Don't tell me you'll actually miss me. Too bad. I'm done with you."

Benjamin's face went dark. He stared at her, his jaw tight. "Fine. Fine. Then you'd better not regret this."

He slammed the door on his way out.

Evelyn stood frozen for a moment, then felt all the strength drain out of her at once.

She sank onto the couch. Tears slid down her face without a sound.

Half an hour later, she called her lawyer. "Mr. Lopez, I need you to draw up divorce papers. I'm walking away with nothing. As for the reason... write that the husband has a sexual dysfunction and is unable to meet the wife's basic physical needs."

After she hung up, she started packing.

She'd made her decision. Better to make a clean break now, because Evelyn knew herself well enough to know that if she dragged it out, she might not have the strength to go through with it.

But it was almost funny.

In this huge house, almost nothing actually belonged to her.

Just the clothes she'd brought with her when she moved in, and half a box of books on rehabilitation and nutrition. She hadn't known anything about any of it back then. She'd forced herself to learn so that she could take proper care of Benjamin.

She was still packing when the door flew open.

Benjamin was back. He stood in the doorway holding a copy of the divorce papers, a cold smirk on his face.

"Sexual dysfunction? Unable to meet the wife's basic physical needs?" He let out a short, humorless laugh. "So Mrs. White's whole little act was because she wanted to sleep with me? Fine. I'll give you what you want."

He walked straight in without giving her a chance to speak and threw her onto the bed.

"Benjamin, what are you doing?" Evelyn's voice came out in a panic.

He leaned over her. The faint scent of cedarwood hit her, sharp and clean, and her whole body went rigid.

"Let go of me!" she cried out.

He pinned both her wrists above her head with ease. The position forced her body up toward his.

The figure she always kept hidden under her clothes was suddenly impossible to ignore. The curve of her chest, the narrow pull of her waist, the line of her collarbone exposed by her struggling.

Something shifted in Benjamin's eyes.

He hadn't expected this.

"Benjamin, let go of me!"

She kept fighting, and the movement of her body against his stirred something in him. His breathing grew heavier. His hand slipped under the hem of her shirt.

His fingertips, rough at the edges, found their way to her chest and pressed in, kneading slowly, reshaping her with deliberate ease.

Benjamin's lips hovered near her ear. "How am I supposed to satisfy you if I let go, Mrs. White?"

His voice was low and cruel.

He drew out each word and let his warm breath spill directly against her ear. The sensation sent a shiver running through her body every single time.

"I don't need this," Evelyn said through gritted teeth.

Benjamin ignored her. His hand shifted direction and moved lower, pressing lightly between her legs.

A soft sound escaped her before she could stop it.

Her reaction seemed to please him. The darkness in his expression eased slightly.

Evelyn's face burned. She was furious and humiliated all at once. "Benjamin, get off me. If you want someone so badly, go find Amelia. You disgust me."

The words cut through everything like a blade.

The warmth in the room vanished.

Benjamin's face went cold. "What did you just say?"

Evelyn's heart was pounding, but she held her ground. "I said you disgust me."

Every time she thought about his hands touching Amelia the same way, her stomach turned.

"Aren't you something." Benjamin let out a short laugh, more anger than amusement.

He pulled away and stood up, gave her one cold look, then walked out.

The heat that had built up between them faded fast. Evelyn slowly curled onto her side, pulling her knees in. After a while, she reached for the necklace she always wore and opened the locket.

Inside was a photo. The two of them as children, her and Benjamin.

The boy in that picture, the one who had looked at her with such seriousness and promised to protect her, felt like someone from another lifetime. All that was left now was a man in love with Amelia.

The tears came before she could stop them.

She had been the only one still living in the past.

Her parents, Benjamin, had all moved on. They had new lives, better lives, waiting for them.

Evelyn stared at the photo for a long moment, then dropped the necklace into the trash.

She got up, folded the last piece of clothing into her suitcase, and took one final look at the house before walking out the door without looking back.