Chapter 2

After hanging up, Evelyn hailed a taxi and returned to her rundown suburban apartment.

She flicked on the dim yellow light, illuminating a small space filled with memories of their past sweetness.

Matching slippers, keychains, and violets symbolizing unwavering love surrounded her.

Everywhere she looked, traces of Kristian lingered.

Once a source of joy, these now stirred only disgust, threatening to overwhelm her.

She turned and headed downstairs, through the corridor's corner, and knocked on the junkyard owner's door.

Under his puzzled gaze, she said flatly, "Everything in apartment 1603 is yours for free. Take it all, but leave nothing behind."

Eager for the deal, the owner nodded and called his workers to clear the place.

Evelyn watched expressionlessly as they emptied the once-cozy home.

Oddly, love had felt heavy, but letting go brought relief.

This was for the best.

Tears for Kristian weren't worth shedding.

When the apartment was finally bare, Kristian rushed in, trailed by two bodyguards.

"Evelyn, I'm back, you..." He trailed off, noticing the emptiness.

He looked around in disbelief. "Evelyn, the flowers we planted, our things-where are they?"

She scoffed, her face dripping with mockery. "Kristian, they're at the junkyard where trash belongs. And so do you."

His expression froze, speechless.

Her gaze fell on his left hand, where a ring-another woman's mark-now sat on his once-slender finger.

Catching her stare, he guiltily slipped off the ring and pocketed it, then signaled the bodyguards.

Moments later, they carried in a pink-diamond-encrusted wedding dress.

He flashed a warm smile, reaching for her hand. "Evelyn, this is for you. Remember how we used to stare at it in the shop window? Now it's yours."

His tone dripped with affection, as if nothing had changed.

Her eyelashes fluttered, anger surging. She yanked her hand away and stepped back. "You're sick. You marry Laura in the morning and bring me a wedding dress at night. Do you think we can go back to how things were?"

Her resolve shook him. Panic crept in, and he dismissed the bodyguards before dropping to his knees.

Clutching her waist as he once did, he said shakily, "Now that I'm married to Laura, everything's different. Her family will back me, and my father will add me to the family registry. I'll be a legitimate Dobson heir. Don't worry, she's just my wife in name. I still love you. Can't you just be my kept darling?"

He was certain she'd agree-three years together couldn't be discarded so easily.

But in his hopeful gaze, Evelyn smiled faintly, raised her hand, and slapped him with all her strength.

The sharp crack echoed clearly.

He reeled, clutching his face in shock. "Evelyn, stop this. If your family had money to help me, I wouldn't have needed to marry Laura."

He stood, feigning patience. "I'll spend Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with Laura, and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with you. Fair, right?"

She stared at his face, searching for the man she once knew.

In college, when Laura offered millions to steal him away, he returned her gifts and swore he'd never bow to money.

Now, he not only bowed but made absurd promises.

She didn't respond. Instead, she pulled a lighter from her bag, lit a cigarette, and exhaled slowly.

Smoke curled between them. He frowned, about to speak, when she startled him. "Evelyn, are you crazy?"

She ignored him, leaning down to press the still-lit cigarette to the dress's hem.

Smiling innocently, she said, "I'm burning filthy things. This dress is as disgusting as you, isn't it, Kristian?"

She brushed past him, leaving the fire to consume the dress she once dreamed of wearing.

Kristian ordered the bodyguards to douse the flames and started to chase her, but Laura's call interrupted.

...

Evelyn used the black card her father had given her to book a presidential suite downtown.

Lying on the soft mattress, she felt out of place.

For three years, to hide her identity, she slept on a hard bed and worked as a server to avoid relying on her father.

All her sacrifices were to prove their love, to show her father was wrong.

But parents plan deeply for their children, and he hadn't been mistaken.

Her error was failing to see the ambition beneath Kristian's charming exterior.

Thankfully, as the sole heiress of the city's richest man, she could afford mistakes.

Kristian mistook a pearl for a pebble. She looked forward to the day he'd regret it.