Chapter Three
Evelyn's POV
I lower my hand.
“I don't have to prove anything to you.”
My father looks even angrier, as if I've just talked back to him.
“Of course you do! Mason has always taken care of you. You're the one who ruined a perfectly good engagement party with your tantrum. Now you're using a fake ring to accuse him of something he didn't do?”
“I'm not accusing him of anything.”
“Then tell us who gave it to you.”
I don't answer.
Even if I tell them it was Nate, they'll only say I made him up to keep my story going.
My silence only makes Mason angrier.
“That's enough, Evelyn.”
He reaches for my wrist, but I step aside. His hand stops in midair.
Sophie gently takes his arm.
“Let it go. Evelyn just acted without thinking. She only did this because she wants to marry you so badly. Don't push her any further.”
She sounds as if she's defending me, but all she's really doing is making sure everyone believes I'm desperate to marry Mason.
My mother immediately takes her side.
“Sophie, you're too kind. Evelyn will use anyone to get what she wants, including you, and you're still defending her.”
“I've never considered her family,” I say calmly, looking at Sophie.
Sophie's eyes turn red as if I've deeply wounded her.
Mason immediately steps in front of her, his gaze cold.
“What are you up to now?”
“Nothing.”
I turn and leave the ballroom.
Behind me, I hear my mother comforting Sophie, Mason trying to soothe her, and Ryan calling me ungrateful.
Not one of them tries to stop me.
It's already dark when I step outside.
The night wind dries the tears on my cheeks, but it does nothing to ease the dull ache in my chest.
After I return home, I avoid all of them for the next few days. I don't speak to any of them. I simply wait for Nate to come for me.
I return everything my mother sends through the butler.
I don't respond to a single message from Mason.
Ryan berates me for being unreasonable in the family group chat, while my father orders me to come back and apologize. I put my phone on silent and ignore them both.
I thought keeping my distance would be enough to make my life peaceful again.
But one evening, I walk into the side parlor of the main house and find Sophie there.
She's wearing a pale dress and trimming flowers by the window. When she hears my footsteps, she slowly turns. Her eyes settle on me, and she gives me a faint smile.
“I thought you couldn't stand being around us. What happened? Couldn't take it when no one came running after you?”
I stop, then move to walk past her.
“What? Too scared to talk now?”
Sophie sets the scissors on the table, and her voice grows sharper.
“You really think that ring changes anything? So what if you're the Parkers' biological daughter? Mom and Dad love me more. Ryan will always protect me. And Mason loves me.”
She walks up to me and lowers her voice.
“You've had the title of the Parker family's eldest daughter all these years, but everyone knows I'll be the one in charge of this family someday.”
I look at her without reacting.
“If you've already won, why do you need to tell me?”
Her smile falters.
I continue, “My parents dote on you. Ryan protects you. Mason always puts you first. But even now, they still assume I'm the one Mason will eventually marry. Being their favorite doesn't mean you've actually replaced me.”
Her face goes white.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“Shut up!”
Sophie suddenly sweeps the vase off the table.
The moment it shatters, she lunges toward the broken pieces and deliberately drags her arm across a jagged shard.
Blood quickly seeps from the wound. Then she screams.
“Evelyn, why would you hurt me?”
Before I can respond, I hear hurried footsteps coming from the end of the hall.
Mason and my parents rush in together.
Clutching her bleeding arm, Sophie stumbles into Mason's arms, trembling as she cries.
“Mason, I only wanted to talk to Evelyn. But she suddenly smashed the vase and tried to cut me with it.”
Her words break between sobs as blood runs between her fingers.
Mason holds her and turns a grim look on me.
“Evelyn, why would you do this?”
I look down at the broken pieces on the floor.
“She did it to herself.”
“And you're still making excuses?” Richard cuts me off angrily. “The evidence is right in front of us, and you still won't even apologize!”
“I didn't do it. Why should I apologize?”
My mother, Diana, steadies Sophie and looks at me with open disappointment.
“Is this really who you've become? Sophie is bleeding, and you still refuse to admit what you did.”
Ryan steps in front of Sophie, his jaw clenched.
“She's spent her whole life letting you have your way. You've never once appreciated it, and you keep going after her. If we don't teach you a lesson today, you'll never understand what you did wrong.”
