Chapter 9
“That punch–was for Eve. Ten years of her being mistreated.”
I was pressed into the corner, watching Magnus’s shirt buttons scatter across the floor, Sven’s brow split and bleeding.
Suddenly, a memory slammed into me. It was the night of my eighteenth birthday. Magnus had looked just like this, tearing off his tie–but back then, his eyes burned with a different kind of fire.
“Stop it!” I shouted. I grabbed Magnus’s raised arm, my nails digging hard into his palm. “If you thought I was so beneath you, then why did you marry me?”
I barked, “You knew how much I loved you back then!”
My words hit like a hammer and for the first time, both of them froze.
Silence swallowed the living room, except for the rising sound of rain pounding against the windows.
Magnus stared at me. His throat worked as if trying to find the right words. A flicker of panic crossed his face. He reached out, hesitant, as if trying to touch me–then stopped, his hand hanging midair.
“Eve… that’s not what I meant-”
“Enough.” Sven stepped in front of me, his jaw clenched, his voice cold. “She doesn’t want to hear it.”
Magnus shoved him. “You need to back off–she’s my wife!”
Sven didn’t respond. He had no ground to stand on. Not really.
Magnus’s face was bruised, his expression wrecked. He reached for me. “Come with me.” “I’m not going,” I said without hesitation. “I meant what I said about the divorce.”
Magnus locked eyes with me and I could see the turmoil there–rage, regret and something ugly he didn’t want to name.
Finally, he let out a bitter, hollow laugh and turned toward the door.
But just as he reached it, his phone rang. He answered–and in an instant, his expression shifted.
His knuckles whitened around the phone.
He turned back to me, voice low. “Grandpa’s in the hospital. Come with me.”
Just like that, memories began to rush back. Before I married Magnus, his grandfather had always been kind to me. When I first arrived at the Finck estate, the old man treated me like I belonged.
Magnus had forbidden me from eating sweets, so his grandfather used to sneak me into the study and gave a small cake into my hands with a conspiratorial wink.
He’d hide game controllers in his desk drawer and play with me in secret, pretending not to
He a nice game controllers in nis desk drawer and play with me in secret, pretendin hear Magnus scolding outside the door.
He knew I’d lost my parents young. He always treated me gently, like I was something breakable–but precious.
I clutched the strap of my bag and I followed Magnus to the hospital in the end. Outside the hospital room, Seraphina stood with red–rimmed eyes, sobbing loudly. The moment she saw me, she pointed and cried out like I was the villain in some melodrama. “This is all your fault, Eve! Grandpa heard you were getting divorced–his blood pressure spiked from the shock!”
Grandma Bella didn’t even wait. She grabbed her cane and came at me, her voice shrilled with fury.
“Eve, how could you be so heartless? That man treated you like his own granddaughter- and this is how you repay him?”
She added, “A walking curse! We should’ve never let Magnus marry you in the first place!” I instinctively stepped back, but the cane still clipped my shin hard.
Apparently that wasn’t enough–she raised it again to strike me. I turned and walked away. As I reached the corridor, I heard Magnus call out behind me. “Eve!”
I paused–but only for a second–then kept walking.
At the staircase landing, Seraphina suddenly blocked my way. The tears were still clinging to her lashes, but now up close, I could see how fake they were.
“Evelyn, you really should take the hint and leave. Magnus never loved you. Do you have any idea how much he cares about me?”
“Do you know how he cried–cried–begging me to be with him? Promised he’d leave you?” She leaned in, voice thick with venom. “Face it. You already lost.”
Before I could even respond, she glanced behind her quickly–then stumbled backward in dramatic slow motion, tumbling down the stairs like a scene out of a bad soap opera. Right on cue, Magnus appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Sera!” he yelled, rushing forward to catch her. Then he turned on me, eyes cold as frost. “Evelyn, how many times do I have to tell you? Apologize!”
I let out a short, bitter laugh. “She staged the whole thing–and you actually bought it?”
I didn’t wait for his reply. I didn’t want to watch them play out their little tragedy.
I turned to leave, but before I could take another step, Seraphina’s hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
