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1282 Words
Bianca Vale stood behind the crowd, staring at Adrian's hand around Evelyn's wrist.
Evelyn wore a smile as she let him lead her away.
Bianca's nails cut into her palm.
She had waited for years to become Damian's publicly acknowledged woman. Evelyn had walked away from their broken engagement and climbed straight into a higher position, with Blackthorne Alpha carrying her bags through the mall.
Why did Evelyn get everything?
"Bianca, what's wrong?" Her friend glanced toward the exit. "What's the relationship between Blackthorne Alpha and Evelyn?"
Bianca pulled her eyes away and forced a smile.
"I'm unsure."
"You know Evelyn, don't you?"" We have met a few times before." Bianca took out her phone. "You all go to the parking lot. I want to buy some fruit."
Her friends exchanged looks, yet asked nothing else. They turned toward the elevators.
Bianca stepped beside a display shelf and opened Damian's contact.
If Damian learned that he had become the betrayed one, his hatred toward Evelyn would grow fast.
She raised her phone and aimed it at the two figures in the distance.
Evelyn walked beside Adrian. The man took the shopping bags from her with practiced ease.
Bianca pressed her lips together.
The photograph looked deliberate. A video could pass for an accidental discovery.
She started a video call. Damian sat against the raised hospital bed at Silver Spring Medical Center. The straps across his back pulled against every breath.
His communicator lit up.
Bianca's face appeared on the screen.
"Damian, what kind of fruit do you like? I'm at a mall in Silvercrest City."
He had just opened his mouth to ask about the injury to her wrist when movement behind her caught his attention.
Two figures entered the frame.
The woman was Evelyn.
The man stood with his back to the camera, tall and broad in a perfectly fitted suit. Evelyn lifted her face and said something. Adrian lowered his head and took the bags from her hands.
Damian's fingers tightened around the blanket. Evelyn had spent nearly all her free time with him before the engagement collapsed. Apart from her violin practice, she had kept her distance from every other man.
Now she was shopping with someone else.
"Damian?" Bianca asked softly. "What happened?"
"Which store are you in?"
"Moonlight Mall."
"Send me your location."
"Are you coming here? Your injury..."
"Send it."
Bianca nodded obediently.
Before the call ended, she shifted the camera away from her face. Adrian and Evelyn remained in view for several seconds.
The screen went dark.
Damian's chest rose harder. He called Evelyn.
She answered after a few rings.
He kept his voice low, though the words came through his teeth. "Evelyn, you dare betray me? Who is that man?" A pause followed.
"What are you talking about?"
"I saw you at Moonlight Mall with him," Damian clenched his jaw. "I knew your sudden withdrawal from the engagement had another reason. You have already found someone else, right?"
A laugh came through the communicator.
"Damian, did the family punishment damage your brain?"
"Stop pretending. Everyone in Silvercrest City knew we were engaged. You walk around with another man, and you call that anything else?"
"Please. Our engagement bond has been dissolved. When you made your relationship with Bianca public, did you consider our engagement?"
Damian's face locked.
Evelyn's voice sharpened.
"Take responsibility for your own stupidity. Wear whatever you choose and keep it on."
"You..."" And you still can't tell who the man beside me is?"
The call ended.
Damian stared at the communicator as the disconnected tone repeated in his ear.
He threw it against the wall.
Plastic and glass scattered across the floor.
"Evelyn, how dare you!"
How could she speak to him in that tone?
That man had to be some pretty-faced opportunist who had attached himself to her. Once Damian discovered his identity, he would make him pay.
Half an hour later, the hospital door opened.
Bianca entered with an insulated food bag. Her eyes reddened when she saw the support straps across his back.
"Damian, what happened? Who hurt you like this?"" It's nothing." He pulled at his mouth. "I angered Grandfather when I ended the engagement. He disciplined me."
Bianca placed the bag on the table. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"This happened because of me. If I hadn't dragged you into that game, you would still be with Evelyn, and Grandfather would never have punished you."
"This has nothing to do with you," Damian's voice turned hard. "Evelyn had wanted to throw me away for a long time. She would have found another excuse."
Bianca sat beside the bed and gripped her skirt.
"How could she? You gave her so much. She had you and still wanted more."
Damian kept silent.
Bianca looked up at him through wet lashes." If I were your girlfriend, I would treat you well. I remember every bit of care you gave me."
Damian studied her face.
He had helped her several times without much thought, and she had carried those moments with her all this time.
"Stop crying." He pulled out a tissue and wiped her cheek. "You did nothing wrong."
Bianca caught his hand and lowered her lips to his.
Damian froze for a moment.
Had Evelyn kissed that man the same way?
Had her cool face and green eyes turned toward someone else now?
Heat surged through him. He wrapped an arm around Bianca's waist and deepened the kiss.
She fell back onto the bed and pressed against him. Her scent clung to his skin. Damian's mind stayed fixed on Evelyn, leaving him blind to everything else.
The hospital door opened.
A nurse stood outside with a tray of medicine. Her voice rose when she saw the disordered clothes and the pair on the bed.
"What are you doing?"
Damian stopped and pulled the blanket over Bianca.
The nurse turned away and shut the door. The tray struck the door frame with a sharp sound.
Damian pressed his fingers into his brow.
His impulse had crossed a line, and Bianca had given herself to him.
Bianca wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her face against his shoulder.
"I've never dated anyone," she whispered. "I'm willing to give myself to you if you'll stay with me." Damian looked at her tear-streaked face.
"I'll take responsibility."
Bianca lifted her head. Tears still clung to her lashes, but a smile spread across her face.
She took out her phone and photographed their joined hands. A moment later, she uploaded it to her social media page.
*Today is the happiest day of my life. We're together.*
---
At Moonlight Heights, Evelyn opened her suitcase and placed her clothes in the wardrobe.
A black suit lay beneath the last layer of fabric.
Adrian had left it behind.
The limited-edition Kiton suit cost enough to make her reconsider her current account balance. She lifted the jacket and decided to send it to a professional cleaner before returning it to perfect condition. Her phone lit up with a message.
*Did you see my post? He's mine now.*
The sender appeared under the name Bianca.
Evelyn opened the post and saw the photograph of Damian and Bianca's interlocked fingers.
That hand belonged to Damian.
Bianca had barely stepped out of the shadow of the broken engagement before announcing her new identity to everyone.
Evelyn watched the image for several seconds, then tapped Block.
Silence returned.
She found Adrian's contact and typed a message.
*Your suit is with me. Send me an address. I'll have someone deliver it tomorrow.*
His reply arrived almost at once.
*Open the door.*
Evelyn raised her head.
The doorbell rang.
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