Chapter 2
But my mind was completely blank.
All I knew was that it felt like someone had torn a chunk out of my heart, and the pain was so suffocating I could hardly breathe.
"No, I didn't—"
"Enough!" Edward snapped, his glare full of impatience.
"Get her out of here."
His command dropped like a block of ice—merciless and final.
Several burly servant women marched over and dragged me up without a shred of gentleness.
I fought back, crying and pleading, turning desperately to look at him.
But Edward didn't even bother to spare me a glance. He simply turned away, leaving me a resolute back as he walked out of my life.
Just like that, I was cast out of the Grant Manor—penniless, stripped of my memories, with nothing but the faded dress I wore.
That day, it was pouring rain.
The icy water soaked through my clothes, and with it, the last flicker of hope in my heart was snuffed out.
I huddled in the cold corner of the street, not knowing where to go.
It wasn't until I realized that I was carrying a new life inside me.
That child was the reason I found the strength to keep going.
I refused to die.
I had to stay strong—for my child, I had to survive.
*****
"Evelyn, Evelyn, are you alright?" Maggie's anxious voice dragged me out of my painful memories.
Maggie sold vegetables in the market and lived right next door. After I lost everything, she was the only one who ever gave me warmth.
She got me this little place to stay, and she taught me how to make cotton candy.
I shook my head and smiled at her, trying to put her at ease.
"I'm alright, Maggie," I said softly.
When I looked up again, I met Edward's eyes—a storm of emotions, impossible to decipher.
There was guilt, regret, and maybe even a hint of... tenderness?
What a joke.
He was the one who ruined me, and now he was pretending to care.
Edward: my destroyer, a hypocrite.
"Evelyn, come home with me."
Edward extended his hand toward me, his tone commanding.
Go back?
Back to what?
To that cold, unfeeling cage that once shut me out?
It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.
"My Lord," I said, stressing his title to make it clear we're strangers now.
"We're already separated. You've moved on, and so have I. Our lives have nothing to do with each other anymore.
"So please, don't trouble yourself about me."
I turned away, not sparing him another glance. With practiced ease, I tossed the ruined cotton candy aside and began spinning fresh sugar strands, my movements crisp and decisive.
Loop after loop.
To me, he was nothing more than just another passerby—utterly irrelevant.
"Evelyn!"
Infuriated by my indifference, he suddenly seized my wrist.
His grip was so strong, pain shot through me.
I frowned from the pain, struggling desperately to break free.
"Let go of me!
"You're hurting me!"
My shout made even more people turn and stare.
Maggie, without missing a beat, grabbed a cabbage from her stall and looked ready to chuck it right at Edward.
"Hey! What's wrong with you? Bully a pregnant woman right out in the open?"
Edward, seeing the pain etched across my face, finally released my wrist.
His eyes grew dull, and for a moment, he looked a little defeated—almost embarrassed.
"I..."
He looked like he was about to explain himself.
But I didn't want to hear a word of it.
I rubbed my sore wrist, meeting his gaze with icy indifference.
"Please leave, My Lord.
"And don't ever return.
"We're long finished."
With that, I picked up the cotton candy I'd just finished and handed it to the little one who'd been waiting so patiently at my stall.
That child's innocent smile was the only light in my world now.
As for Edward and the shadow he brought with him, I wanted nothing to do with any of it—not even a trace.