Two weeks have passed without so much as a word from Evelyn. And each day that passes unravels me more and more. Especially since my father's funeral is tomorrow and Evelyn has been the one person I could always lean on, who didn't have any expectations of me.
Other than not betraying her.
Which I've failed miserably at.
I sold her mother those shares when I thought she was making a move on King Technologies. Which, I've come to realize, wasn't the case at all. She was a pawn in Sam's plan, much as I was a pawn in her mother's plan to win back the company we took from her.
And I should've seen it coming.
"If you pace the floor any harder we'll need to replace the carpet." My mum watches me worriedly.
"I can't do this without her." I sigh. "Only, I've made a dog's dinner of things and I can't blame her for not speaking to me."
"She's still your wife, Zandy," she points out. "She hasn't filed for divorce, and that has to count for something."
"Or maybe she has and the next time I see her it will be to serve me with papers."
The doorbell chimes as my mother attempts to calm my nerves, and several moments later, Evelyn walks in looking as beautiful as ever. Her eyes zeroing in on me before they lower to the envelope she holds in her hands.
An envelope large enough to contain divorce papers.
My heart thuds wildly in my chest with each step she takes toward me. Then she hands me the envelope without so much as a word. Only, I can't bring myself to open it.
"I've been trying to reach you for two weeks. Why the hell have you not answered me?" My words come out angrier than I intended.
I'm used to women falling at my feet, not forcing me to chase after them. And Evelyn has always been the exception.
"My apologies. I was busy trying to save the company you handed to my mother on a silver platter." She replies in a venomous tone.
She's angry with me and she has every right to be.
"Tomorrow we lay his father to rest, and regardless of what is going on between the two of you, I'd like you to join us." My mum extends an invitation. Making it harder for Evelyn to refuse. She respects my mum too much, unlike me at the moment.
Evelyn nods as expected, and my mother and sister leave us alone to speak in private. Only, silence consumes the space around us. There's so much I wish to say to her, but I am at a loss for words.
I'm used to being betrayed, not doing the betraying. So, I've never had to utter an apology in all my life. But for this tiny, fiery, gorgeous woman standing before me, I'd be willing to do anything if it meant getting back in her good graces. Or seeing her look at me the way she used to.
With eyes filled with hope, love, and everything that comes with it.
"I'm sorry." I offer her an apology. Even though the unfamiliar words leave a bitter taste in my mouth. "For betraying your trust the way I did... for keeping it from you... and for turning the beauty of what we have into... this."
"Had." She corrects me. "The beauty of what we had."
Her words are like a fist around my heart. Slowly closing and clenching until I can hardly breathe.
"Fuck you." I drag a hand through my hair. "Fuck you if you think I would ever give you up without a fight. I won't.And I don't care how many blokes you line up to piss me off, Evelyn. We belong together. You and me. I can't promise you I'll be perfect, or that I won't fuck up royally as I've already done. But what I can promise you is that I won't stop fighting for this." I motion between the two of us. "Because... I don't want anyone else."
Tears fall from her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away.
And I'm a complete wanker for having put them there in the first place.
"Ev... sweetheart... allow me to make this right. Please."
"It's too late, Alexander." She sniffles. "We were voted out... we've already lost. And my mother now has controlling interest in Graham Corp. Which, oddly enough, she's asked me to continue to run under her direction."
"Evelyn-"
"Save it. I just came to give you that in person." She motions to the envelope.
Taking a deep breath, I open the envelope to find exactly what I thought I would. Divorce papers signed by Evelyn and dated three years to the day our marriage is scheduled to have come to an end anyway.
Ironically, seeing these papers only solidifies in my mind and my heart how much I don't want a divorce from her.
How much I love her.
Fuck.
"Give me a chance to fix this," I plead. "Let me make it right."
"You don't get it, do you?" She scoffs. Shaking her head at me. "She won't stop until she has everything we both own and she's not above using us against each other to get it. I can't let that happen."
"And it won't as long as you trust me."
"Trusting you is the reason I've already lost to her."
"Evelyn-"
"Just sign the papers so we can go our separate ways when this is all over a." She sighs.
"It means nothing to me without you."
"And marriage means nothing to me without children, Alexander."
And this is truly the heart of the matter.
She's giving me an ultimatum, hoping to back me into a corner so she can get what she wants.
"Ev-"
"I want children, Alexander." Her gaze meets the floor. "If you can't agree to that, then its best you let me go."
Evelyn disappears just as quickly as she came, leaving divorce papers burning a hole in my hands. A perfectly executed bluff. But I haven't gotten to where I am without recognizing a bluff. And I do the only thing I can, hoping I've read her right.
I sign the bloody papers.
Pulling out my phone, I summon Benji, hand him the divorce papers, and instruct him to deliver them back to Evelyn.
Now the ball is in her court.
"Your four o' clock is here Mr. King." My assistant, Kelly, pokes her head in to tell me.
"See them into the conference room." I instruct. Gathering the necessary documents needed to move forward with product plans that involve Bishop Riggs and his new technology.
My meeting with Bishop goes off without a hitch. With our two heads preparing to launch the product of the century.
One that I'm hoping will blow Evelyn's out of the water.
After all, all is fair in love and business.
Once my business is concluded for the day, I pack up and head out. Checking Evelyn's location in the hopes that she's come to her senses and headed home.
Our home.
And I sigh with relief when her location puts her in Bel Air near our home where I'm sure she's waiting for me. Especially now that Jackson is with his dad, leaving her all alone in the house she's keeping as a gigantic fuck you to me.
As soon as Benji pulls up to the house, she exits her car and storms up to me as I'm getting out. "You're an ass, you know that."
"I'm sorry, but is there a problem?" I toy with her a bit.
She opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out. There's just this hurt in her eyes, teaming with emotions she can't quite put into words.
"Don't give me that look," I sigh. I've pushed her too far and inadvertently hurt her in the process. So, now I must call her bluff and put an end to it. "I don't want children, Evelyn. And as much as I love you... that's not going to change. I want you in my life but you using that to force me to have a child I don't want is complete rubbish."
Sulking, she nods.
"I just don't understand why. You were so happy when you found out I was pregnant. So, why can't you just be happy now?" She asks.
"I didn't have a choice then. You were already pregnant. There's a big difference between choosing to have a kid and accidentally having one. It also doesn't change the fact that if I had the choice I would choose not to."
Tears fall from her eyes, and she shakes her head.
Opening the door to our new home–a home she has yet to spend one night in–I invite her inside. Closing the door behind her and following her into the living room where she stands staring out the window.
"You have no idea how much losing our son has affected me. I-I feel incompetent as a mother. Defective even. Like if I could just get pregnant again and carry a child to term... it would prove that there's nothing wrong with me." Tears fall from her eyes. "Why can't you just give me that?"
"Having a child isn't therapy, Evelyn. It's a liability. One that lasts for eighteen plus years. And I will not have a baby just so you can feel whole again. Not when you can look inside yourself, deal with it, and heal."
"Don't you think I've tried that?" She sniffles. "It's not that easy, Alexander. There's a gaping hole in my soul filled with sorrow and emptiness and... despair."
"Has it ever occurred to you that it could be because you're looking at this all wrong?" I ask. "You want a child because you lost one, but this is just an arrangement. And in three years, as you've cleverly demonstrated, this will all be over. Everything will go back to the way it was."
Evelyn looks at me then. Wiping her tears away and regarding me with pain-filled eyes.
"Alexander, please." She begs. And it grates on my fucking soul that she sounds this desperate. "You don't have to stay in its life or help me raise it. I'll do that on my own. Just... please."
"The answer is no. End of discussion." I shut the conversation down and head up to my room to change into something more comfortable.
When I come back down, I half expect her to be gone, but she's not. She's standing in front of the fireplace poking at the envelope that contains the divorce papers she tried bluffing me.
Watching them turn to ash.
"I love you." She tells me. "But I really don't like you right now."
"Why? Because I called your bluff?"
"No. It's because you're oblivious to my pain."
I don't know how to respond to that.
What the hell does that even mean?
"I am not oblivious to your pain, Evelyn. I get it. I just disagree that having another baby is going to solve this for you." I sigh.
"Isn't that for me to decide?" She stares incredulously at me.
"Not when you need me to do it."
Shaking her head, she heads for the front door and leaves. And I don't know how long it's going to take her to come around this time.
If I go after her, she'll think she's won and give me another ultimatum I won't take. But if I don't go after her she'll think I don't care. Which isn't true. I just don't want to be forced into something I know I don't want, and I shouldn't have to do it just to keep her.
There's a knock at the front door a few minutes after Evelyn leaves, and I sigh with relief.
She has finally come to her senses.
Opening the front door, I'm disappointed to see my mother standing there. Wearing a worried look on her face.
"Mum?" I frown. "What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk, son." She sighs. Letting herself in.
"Is everything alright?"
"That depends."
"On what exactly?" I chuckle. Wondering what has her so spooked.
"On how angry you're going to be when I tell you what I have to tell you." She lowers her gaze to the floor.
It's the only indication I have before she blows up my entire fucking world.
"Go on then, mum... spit it out."
"It's about Stephanie and your son." She swallows hard.
"What about them?"
"Well... for starters... they're alive."