The Day I Married His Uncle

Chapter 8 Cut All Ties

Evelyn leaned against the window and ran her thumb over the silver earring her mother had left her.

"The engagement is over," she said. "Damian and Bianca already share a half-formed mate mark. What exactly do you want me to save?"

"Damian made a mistake," Victor's voice sharpened through the phone. "The alliance between the Stone Pack and Lowell Pack cannot fall apart because of you. Go to him now. Beg him to restore the engagement."

Evelyn laughed, low and short.

"Her scent is already on his skin. You want me to stand in front of them and ask him to come back?"

"You're a daughter of the Stone Family. Family responsibility comes first."

"I have carried that responsibility for twenty-five years." She looked at her own reflection in the glass. "Since my mother died, I have kept my name clean. I attended every dinner you needed. I let the Lowell look me over like livestock. Now Damian breaks his vow, and you hand the blame to me?"

"Don't bring your mother into this."

"You didn't ask my opinion before you married Linda either."

Silence stretched across the line.

Linda's name struck a nerve. Victor guarded him closely.

"Your stepmother has looked after you for years. Selena has always given you room. How can you speak about them this way?"

"Looked after me?" Evelyn glanced at her own wrist. "Selena holds shares in Stone Group. She sits in a management seat. The board listens to her before they listen to me. If she really calls me sister, she can hand those back."

"She earned that position."

"Earned it how? By taking what belonged to me?"

"Evelyn!"

"What, did I strike a nerve?"

She tightened her grip on the earring. The edge pressed into her palm.

"I've wondered, sometimes, whose daughter Selena really is. She holds more than a real daughter should."

Victor's breathing turned rough.

"Watch your mouth. Don't say that again."

"The faster you try to end this call, the more I want to find out."

"Enough. The engagement is finished. Solve the Stone Group crisis on your own. My rights over your mother's shares stand as they are."

"Try it."

The line cut off.

Evelyn lowered the phone. Her mouth curved, cold at the edges. Victor's answer told her everything.

Years ago, her mother's lawyer had shown her a trust agreement. Stone Group shares would pass to her once she met the inheritance terms, and with them, a seat on the board. Her mother must have believed marriage into Lowell Pack would protect that claim.

The arrangement has found a new purpose now.

Once the shares came to her, the Stone Family's survival would mean nothing to her.

She would return the gift, wrapped so tightly no one there could hold it.

The black car pulled through the manor gates. Adrian sat beside her without a word. He watched her fingers curl around the earring, watched the mark it left against her palm.

"He'll come after you again," he said.

"I know."

"I'll handle it."

She turned to face him.

"Who gave you the right to decide that for me?"

His hand settled on the door, gray eyes steady on hers, the coldness gone from them.

"The right I claimed the day I decided to marry you."

Only the sound of tires on asphalt filled the car.

He reached over and set the earring back in her open palm.

"From now on, anyone who wants to touch you will answer me first."

---

Victor set his phone down hard enough to rattle the table. His face had gone dark.

Linda crossed the room and poured him a drink.

"What happened? Trouble with Evelyn's marriage?"

"She ended the engagement." He took the glass from her. "She waited this long to even mention it."

Linda lowered her eyes to hide her smile.

"Such a good match, and it fell apart. Didn't you want to use the Lowell connection for the new project? That cooperation will suffer now."

"She's the one who caused this mess." He set the glass down. "Stone Group is already unstable, and she picks how to act on her own."

"Blaming her won't change anything now."

She smoothed his sleeve, her voice gentle.

"I remember the Grey heir once showed interest in Evelyn. Grey Group has enough resources to cover what Stone Group is missing. Perhaps they should meet."

Victor frowned.

"Magnus Grey's reputation is bad."

"It's only dinner." Linda looked up at him. "If she dislikes him, she refuses him afterward, and nothing is lost. But if Grey Pack agrees to support Stone Group, this crisis ends."

Victor held his glass in silence for a moment.

"Her temper runs hard."

"You're her father. Arrange the meeting. She has to listen to you."

His face eased at that.

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Linda nodded and climbed the stairs.

Selena sat in her room checking her phone. She looked up when the door opened.

"Mother, how did it go?"

"Evelyn ended the engagement." Linda closed the door. "Your father agreed to send her to meet Magnus Grey."

Selena's eyes brightened.

"That fast? She really thinks Adrian keeps her untouchable."

"Grey Pack needs Stone Group's partnership. Magnus Grey needs a woman to show off in that circle. Evelyn suits him perfectly."

Selena set her phone down.

"Magnus Grey just likes women. What can he really do to her?"

Linda sat beside her and lowered her voice.

"What you've heard is only the surface. He drugs female wolves to control them. Several never recovered after he finished with them. Grey Pack buries the reports. Outside, people only call him a playboy."

Selena's smile deepened.

"With her temper, she'll provoke him within minutes."

"This meeting has to be arranged carefully." Linda smoothed her daughter's hair. "Adrian stood beside her. Moving against her directly would drag the Stone Family into it. Send her onto Grey Pack's ground instead, and every consequence falls on her own choice."

"What about her mother's shares?"

"Once she's caught in this, Victor will find a way to claim authority over them."

Selena tapped the edge of her phone.

"I can't wait to hear her call for help."

Linda smiled and took her daughter's hand.

"She was born to be your stepping stone."

---

The car stopped at the entrance to Moonlight Heights. Evelyn put her phone away and turned to the man beside her.

"Uncle, you had to watch that scene just now. I'm sorry."

Adrian turned his face toward her.

"What should you call me?"

She paused.

"Adrian."

"And before that?"

Evelyn met his gray eyes and understood.

"Adrian."

His jaw eased.

"Better."

"You care a great deal about the word."

"I don't want you to think of me as an elder."

She pushed the door open and looked back at him.

"You're only six years older than me. Hardly old enough to be anyone's uncle."

The corner of his mouth moved.

"Remember that."

She stepped out. Her heels struck the pavement, and the door closed behind her.

"I'll send someone for you tomorrow," Adrian said. "Your building needs to be checked again."

"I'll arrange it myself."

"I know."

Evelyn walked into the lobby and pressed the elevator button.

Inside the car, Adrian looked down and found a pearl earring resting on the seat beside him. He picked it up, the metal cold against his fingers, and pushed the door open to follow her.

The elevator opened onto her floor. The smell of liquor drifted down the hallway.

A middle-aged male wolf leaned against the wall. His eyes lit up when he saw her.

"Beautiful, just getting home?"

Evelyn glanced at the camera mounted above and kept walking.

The man stepped into her path.

"Don't be so cold. Have a drink with me."

"Move."

"I only want to get to know you."

She turned to pass him. His arm shot out and caught her by the arm.

"Your father's running himself ragged over you, and you think riding on Blackthorne Alpha's name makes you untouchable?" His fingers tightened. "Be smart. Come with me."

Evelyn looked down at where his hand held her, and her voice dropped.

"Let go."

He grinned, breathing heavily with alcohol close to her face.

"You'd better cooperate."

At the end of the hallway, the elevator doors opened again.

Adrian, the pearl earring still in his hand, lifted his eyes and saw the man's grip on her arm.