Chapter 4

Evelyn's POV

Julian's face turned livid with fury, his grip tightening instinctively.

He was practically crushing my jaw.

Fury flared in his eyes like a roaring fire:

"Evelyn Taylor, you—!"

I looked straight into his eyes, not yielding an inch:

"Can't stomach it? Then break up with me."

He glared at me, and then he suddenly laughed.

Raising a hand, he brushed away the dried tear tracks near the corners of my eyes, his tone turning unnervingly tender:

"Trying to bait me? Evelyn, I know you can't live without me. You don't have to worry about me abandoning you either. The wedding is going forward as planned. Once we're married, everything will go back to the way it was."

With that, he seized Melanie by the wrist and strode out the door.

Melanie glanced back at me, her eyes dripping with resentment and malice.

The door clicked shut, plunging the room into absolute silence.

Sitting on the floor, I let out a sudden laugh.

The laughter grew louder and louder, echoing off the bare walls of the empty room.

Evelyn, this is the man you once planned to spend the rest of your life with.

Thank God I finally saw his true colors in time to cut my losses.

I pulled up the surveillance feed again, made a complete backup of everything that had happened in the bedroom tonight, and uploaded it to an encrypted cloud drive.

Early the next morning, I went to the office and submitted my resignation.

I had originally trained in fine arts, holding a formal degree in oil painting.

Julian, however, was severely allergic to oil pigments.

Ever since we got together, I hadn't touched a paintbrush. Instead, I took a mundane administrative desk job just to pass the time.

There was nothing about this job worth missing.

A coworker grabbed my arm, her face full of gossip:

"Evelyn, is Mr. Vance taking pity on you because work is too tiring? Is he having you stay home to live as a billionaire's wife?"

"We broke up."

Her eyes went wide:

"Aren't you two about to get married? The whole city of New York knows about it!"

My lips curved into a cold, faint smile:

"The wedding is off."

Without explaining any further, I packed the few belongings on my desk and walked straight out.

The moment I stepped through the company doors, my phone rang.

It was the bridal salon.

"Hello, Ms. Taylor. The custom wedding gown Mr. Vance ordered for you has arrived. Would it be convenient for you to come in for a fitting?"

I was silent for a moment.

"I don't want the dress anymore. But the handmade embroidery piece sewn onto it—can it be detached?"

That embroidery was left to me by my mother. Before she passed away, she had spent three whole years stitching those twin roses on a single stem, needle by needle.

I had given it to the salon to be sewn onto the dress, thinking of it as my mother's way of walking me down the aisle.

It was the only thing I intended to take with me.

The person on the other end was visibly stunned:

"Ms. Taylor, Mr. Vance commissioned this gown six months in advance. Eight master embroiderers rushed it for four solid months, and fabrics were flown in from three different countries. If we remove that embroidery, the entire gown will be ruined. Are you sure you don't want it?"

"Yes. I only want the embroidery. Keep the dress."

"...Understood. In that case, we must ask you to come in person. The stitching connecting the embroidery to the gown requires a specialized technique. You'll need to confirm the removal process on-site so the fabric isn't damaged."

I rushed over to the bridal salon and pushed open the doors to the VIP suite.

Melanie was already standing before the mirror in that very gown, the white train spilling across the floor, her smile triumphant and smug.

Julian stood beside her in a matching groom's tuxedo, his expression endlessly tender.

Seeing me enter, a flash of smug pride crossed his face, and he walked over toward me:

"Evelyn, you rushed here for a fitting the moment the dress arrived? Still trying to claim you don't care about me? Still trying to break up?"

He reached out to ruffle my hair, his tone patronizing, like he was coaxing a child:

"Since you already wore a wedding dress with Sean Miller once, it's only fair that Melanie and I get to wear it together too. No getting jealous, all right?"

I didn't reply. I walked straight to the lounge area nearby, sat down, and waited for them to finish their charade so the staff could remove the embroidery.

In the mirror, Melanie twirled her skirts and flashed me a grin:

"Evelyn, you don't mind wearing a second-hand wedding dress that I've already worn, do you? After all, you're damaged goods—a second-hand wedding dress suits you perfectly."

I scrolled through my phone without looking up:

"Aren't the men you steal just my second-hand castoffs too?"

Melanie's expression twisted instantly. Just as she was about to lash out, Julian let out a low chuckle.

He seemed to think I was jealous, thoroughly amused by it:

"Evelyn has a point, you know."

Melanie gritted her teeth, swallowing her fury whole.

A moment later, an associate from the high-jewelry counter walked in carrying a velvet box:

"Mr. Vance, your custom wedding ring has arrived."

Melanie rushed forward ahead of everyone else, her eyes gleaming:

"Oh, it's gorgeous! Julian, can I try it on? Evelyn has already worn a wedding ring before, but I never have."

Julian had initially intended to decline, but the phrase "Evelyn has already worn one" made him change his mind.

He slipped the ring onto Melanie's ring finger:

"You're my girlfriend. Of course my wedding ring is for you to wear. You can wear it all the way until the wedding."

As he said this, his eyes remained fixed on me.

Noticing my complete lack of reaction, his brow furrowed, a sudden flicker of unease darting through his chest:

"Evelyn, all of this will be yours at the wedding. Melanie is only trying it on for now. You're not going to be petty about this, are you?"

I still didn't look up:

"If she wants it, give it to her. Let her keep it forever."

Melanie immediately put on a display of guilt:

"I was just envious of Evelyn, I didn't mean anything else by it. Julian, maybe I shouldn't wear it after all. This is your wedding ring, after all."

She made a show of moving to take it off, but Julian's face darkened as he stared at me, his words aimed at Melanie:

"Why take it off? It's just a ring. It's yours."

Seeing Julian's eyes constantly drifting back toward me, Melanie hurriedly changed back into her own clothes and dragged him out the door under the pretense of having an urgent matter to attend to.

The VIP suite was finally quiet.

I called over the attendants and had them unstitch the embroidery from the gown right then and there.

The thread securing the twin roses on a single stem was carefully snipped, and the motif was peeled away from the layers of satin completely intact.

I slipped the embroidered fabric into my bag.

As for that exorbitantly expensive wedding dress, I told the staff to dispose of it however they pleased.

When I stepped out of the bridal shop, Julian's car was parked by the curb.

Seeing me come out, he rolled down the window:

"Get in."