Chapter17
Dinner that night was a quiet affair–no one really had the appetite.
Adrian, who had planned to leave, suddenly changed his mind and stayed. During the entire meal, his eyes barely left Eveline.
Martin frowned slightly at first, but chose not to confront him at the table.
Only after Eveline left to return to work did Martin finally speak up.
“Adrian. We need to talk.”
Now that there was a sliver of hope, Adrian was in much better spirits, no longer the broken man he’d been
before.
Martin sensed trouble. Recalling the way Adrian had been staring at Eveline all night, he quickly dropped
his voice into a warning tone.
“Adrian, if you still care about her, then don’t-”
“You lied to her too, didn’t you?”
Adrian cut him off with a smile, his expression brazenly challenging. “At the very least, I think she deserves
to know the truth.”
Martin froze for a moment before understanding what Adrian meant.
A wave of unease crashed over him. But there was no denying it–he had no ground to stand on.
He gave Adrian a cold, sharp look. “Then do what you must.”
With that, he turned and left, forcing himself to appear calm. But his heart was pounding.
It felt like something precious was slipping through his fingers.
And for the first time, Martin felt a twinge of regret.
Maybe… maybe he shouldn’t have secretly helped Adrian.
Even if the fake crash had fallen through, Adrian would’ve found some other way to stage a
disappearance.
But if he had done that, Eveline wouldn’t have found out the truth early. She wouldn’t have come to him.
She would’ve stood at the altar and been crushed all over again.
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And that… he couldn’t bear.
But now, he had deceived her too.
Was he really any different from Adrian?
Martin sat in his car, overwhelmed.
He didn’t know how long he stayed like that. Only when dusk fell did he finally muster the courage to call
her.
But just as he lit up his phone screen, a message from Eveline popped up.
“Martin, I’m heading out to clear my head. Just boarded. Don’t worry about me.”
Boarded?
Martin’s heart nearly stopped. He immediately dialed her number.
But he was too late.
The line rang once, then a cold, mechanical voice played: “The number you’ve dialed is unavailable.”
He hung up in despair, the rational part of him snapping under pressure.
He got out of the car, stormed into the house, and without a word, punched Adrian straight in the face.
Adrian, not one to back down, fought back.
The two of them were brawling in the living room when Mr. Whitmore’s furious voice finally broke them
apart.
Once the chaos settled and they explained, both men got thoroughly scolded.
Martin, knowing he was in the wrong, remained quiet, sitting stiffly on the couch.
Adrian, however, refused to admit fault. Just as his father was about to shout again, he sneered.
“Dad, this is between us. Stay out of it.”
“Ask him–ask my uncle if he’s really worried about Eveline, or just afraid she might pick me.”
“He’s scared. He’s afraid she’ll choose me! He-”
“That’s enough!”
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Mr. Whitmore snapped. He couldn’t understand how the son he had raised turned out so selfish, so blind.
Just as he was about to continue, Martin suddenly stood up.
Mr. Whitmore immediately noticed something was wrong.
“What is it?” he asked.
Martin’s face was visibly pale. He took a deep breath, trying to stay composed, but the worry in his voice betrayed him.
“I called Eveline’s assistant. She said Eveline went to the desert.”
The desert?
Everyone in the room froze.
People at the office might not understand what that meant, but the family did.
They all knew what the desert represented to Eveline–her deepest trauma. A place she had vowed never
to return to.
Why now? Why would she go back there?
didn’t dare finish the thought.
ssing panic, he quickly arranged for a private jet to the desert.
rian, equally rattled, followed without hesitation.
Martin paused at first–but didn’t stop him.
Maybe Adrian was right.
Maybe Eveline, in her most vulnerable moment, would rather see the man she had once loved for seven
years.
And not him–the man who stepped in while her heart was broken.
If this was truly about life and death, Martin could let her go.
But only after he saw her one more time.
Only after he made sure she was safe.
Chapter17
