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For a moment, I hesitate, but when Thomas Meyer’s words about my beautiful neighbour flash through my mind again, I ring the bell. It echoes through the hallway, and I clear my throat, moving my feet to try to find the right stance.
I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I decide to put them into my pockets. I bounce on my heels, trying to pick up a sound from inside. My heart pulses on my temple and I realise how restless I am.
Patience has never been my strong suit, so I raise my hand to knock on the door, my nerves getting the better of me with every second that goes by.
“I’m coming,” she yells in frustration, as I hear her walking down the stairs in a hurry. I swallow, preparing myself to not come across as a nosey neighbour.
Finally, the door opens, and once again, I’m met with the fact that Thomas Meyer shouldn’t be marrying Evangeline.
Those brown eyes are shimmering with beauty, a softness that should never leave her and an innocence that makes her so breathtakingly beautiful. Thomas will ruin her. Completely.
“Chester,” Evangeline says, surprised. “What are you doing here?” Even her voice is angelic. Soft, not high-pitched, but soothing to the ears, and sometimes I realise, to my own dismay, that I could hear her speak for hours on end.
“I’m here to congratulate you.” I pull my clammy hands out of my trousers before I drop them on the doorframe. I stare at her face, analysing her eyes for the truth. Instead, it’s me who has a dry mouth. As I scratch my temple with my thumb, Evangeline gives me nothing but a confused stare.
“For what?” she asks, and I almost want to yell at her not to fuck with me right now.
“Your engagement.”
“My what?” The once surprised face vanishes completely before it’s replaced by one of those dreadful smiles. A smile that shows misery instead of joy. A smile that translates disbelief rather than hope.
“Your engage—You don’t know,” I realise, my voice trailing off.
Evangeline swallows, and gone is that miserable smile. It only takes a second for her lip to wobble, and her face to turn to the left. My heart drops to my stomach before I straighten myself.
“Evangeline?” I whisper, not knowing how to react to this revelation. My mind didn’t come up with what is playing out in front of me right now. I’m slow to process how quickly this turned 360 degrees while Evangeline falls into a dark pit of dismay. She transforms into someone who has lost her grip on life, tragedy striking her harshly.
She’s quiet while her lip continues to tremble, but her eyes lose all that fire, and soon, they turn empty, filling with a crushing pain I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.
I swallow, staring at her as my heart breaks a little for the predicament she has found herself in. My heart hits the bottom of my stomach when a tear escapes her eye.
Thomas and Frederic left out the opinion of the woman possibly marrying the bastard. It’s horrible how they left her without a voice and decided without her.
She deserves so much more. This is completely fucked up. I’ve never wanted to hit Frederic this much. He can mess with my money and my businesses, but not with people's lives. Not with hissister’slife.
Her hand wipes away the tears on her cheeks, but they don’t stop falling, and a second later, her hand covers her mouth. A sob escapes, and it makes me groan out of anger, and I have trouble swallowing.
Her brown tear-filled eyes glance at me, and I have trouble witnessing how hope bleeds out of her. So I grab her elbow softly before I pull her towards me. I let my hands drop around her, tugging my vanilla-smelling neighbour to my chest.
She doesn’t resist my hug; in fact, it’s the opposite. Her head burrows into my white pinstripe dress shirtbefore her sobs vibrate against me and her chest moves up and down. Her arms go around my waist and grab the fabric tightly in her small hands.
My own go to her soft curly hair, letting my fingers stroke over that silver blonde hair before I lower my mouth to her ear.
“It’s arranged?”
She stays quiet, the only indication that she heard my question is the slight nod of her head.
“You can say no, Evangeline. Shit like this shouldn’t be happening anymore.” She doesn’t respond, but like a bucket of cold water thrown over someone, she stops crying.
Suddenly, her hands go to my chest before she pushes me away forcefully. Gone are the tears that left those mascara streaks over her red cheeks. Gone are the tears that showed so clearly how painful this is for her. Instead, her eyes harden and turn dark.
“That’s rich coming from you. Men like you are who got me in this situation. I have no say in this matter. I can only nod my head yes while you get to live your life without restraints.”
“Whoa.” I raise my hands. “I would never force anyone into a loveless marriage or an arranged one. I know first-hand what it can do to a person.”
“You don’t understand,” she says, shaking her head in disbelief, but I’m at a loss. “You’llneverunderstand.”
“I’m all ears, Evangeline.” I want to understand what’s going through her mind to draw that conclusion. I want to debunk the lies and agree to the truths, but I cannot let her believe that I would stand behind a thing like this.
