Tess glanced back at Julian, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "You know him?"

Evelyn’s face remained a mask of cool indifference. "My former fiancé."

Tess’s jaw dropped. "That’s the bastard?"

Evelyn nodded curtly. "The very one."

"What’s he doing here? Chasing after you?" Tess’s voice rose in protective anger.

Evelyn felt a surge of fresh irritation. She was still fuming at Adrian; his "help" had turned her sanctuary into a theater for Julian’s drama. Seeing Evelyn’s dark mood, Tess assumed she was grieving over the man. Seeking justice in the only way she knew how, Tess scooped up a heavy clod of dry earth and hurled it with practiced precision.

It caught Julian square in the back.

"You shameless piece of work!" Tess yelled, her voice echoing across the field. "That’s for being a coward!"

Julian flinched, brushing the dirt from his coat. He sighed, convinced that Evelyn must have been poisoning the locals' minds against him. He couldn't wrap his head around it—it was just one misunderstanding, wasn't it? If he truly harbored feelings for Seraphina, why on earth would he have followed Evelyn all the way out here?

Determined to prove his nobility, Julian used his family connections to pull strings. Within days, he had secured an early release for the Dominic brothers and Seraphina from the labor farm. He expected Evelyn to be moved—she had always been fiercely protective of her brothers.

Instead, her gaze grew even frostier. The brothers she had once doted on now seemed like nothing more than strangers to her.

Julian decided there was only one way forward: a formal confrontation. He would bring Seraphina along to testify to their innocence and end this farce once and for all.

When Evelyn opened her door that evening to find the two of them standing there, her expression shifted from boredom to blatant disgust. "What do you want?"

"Let’s go inside," Julian said, reaching for the doorframe.

Evelyn blocked the path, her small frame unyielding. "Say what you have to say here."

Julian’s patience snapped. "Evelyn, when did you become so utterly unreasonable?"

"I am exactly as I choose to be," she replied, leaning against the doorpost.

Seraphina stepped forward, her voice a trembling reed. "Evelyn, please don't be angry. Julian didn't mean it that way. He just wants us to clear the air. Can't we just talk?"

"Let me guess the script," Evelyn interrupted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You want to tell me there’s nothing between you. That Julian was merely a 'Good Samaritan' on our wedding day, and while his timing was unfortunate, he can’t be held entirely responsible. And if I don’t accept that, I’m just a small-minded, jealous woman. Am I close?"

Julian’s face reddened with fury. "Do you still refuse to believe the truth?"

"Oh, I believe you," Evelyn said, looking him dead in the eye.

Seraphina’s face lit up with a fragile hope. "Evelyn, really? You believe us?"

Julian, however, caught the edge in Evelyn's voice. He knew her better than that.

"I believe you don't have a 'romantic' relationship," Evelyn continued, her voice turning lethal. "Mostly because, Seraphina, you’re a sickly thing who can’t even carry a child. Even if you wanted him, Julian’s mother would sooner burn her house down than let you across the threshold."

The color drained from Seraphina’s face. She looked as though she had been struck. Her eyes flooded with tears, and her body began to shake with a violent, performative grief.

"Evelyn!" Julian roared, his voice thick with indignation. "That is enough! Seraphina grew up with you—she’s practically your sister! How can you be so cruel? To find her deepest wound and twist the knife... you’re monstrous."

"I’m cruel, I’m monstrous, I’m heartless," Evelyn repeated tonelessly. "Are the two saints finished? If so, I’m closing my door."

Seraphina’s tears fell in earnest now. "Evelyn... I know my own body. I’ve already decided never to marry. You shouldn't think such things of me. I loved you like a best friend. I would never betray you."

To Julian, these words were the height of sincerity. To Evelyn, they were a ghost’s whisper—an echo of the same treacherous smile Seraphina had worn in her past life as Evelyn lay dying.

Seeing Evelyn’s cold, unmoved stare, Julian grabbed Seraphina’s hand. "Fine. If you want to be alone in your bitterness, so be it." He turned and marched away, pulling the sobbing girl with him.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and shut the door. She wanted to slam it, but she knew that would look like a tantrum. Instead, she closed it softly, with a chilling finality.

Julian walked twenty paces, waiting for the sound of her footsteps behind him, or at least the crash of a closing door. He heard nothing. When he finally looked back, the house was dark and silent. The door was already shut.

"Julian..." Seraphina whimpered, looking up at him with watery, doe-like eyes.

He let go of her hand. A strange, hollow ache settled in his chest, leaving him too drained even for pity. "Let’s go."

Once back at their quarters, Julian suggested that Seraphina stay in the village for a while, promising to handle her leave from the meat processing plant. Seraphina agreed instantly; it was exactly what she wanted.

Dominic pulled Julian aside, confused. "What are you doing? Why keep her here?"

Julian’s expression was grim. "I want Evelyn to see the truth. If I wanted to be with Seraphina, I would marry her regardless of her health. I want her to see that I’m staying here for her, not because I have no other options."

Dominic, a man of simpler motives, could see that Julian was obsessed with Evelyn, not Seraphina. But the plan seemed reckless. "This is dangerous, Julian. You’re playing with her reputation. If someone reports this as 'indecent behavior,' we’re all finished."

"I’m single. She’s single," Julian snapped.

"But her reputation—"

Seraphina cut in with a tragic, martyr-like smile. "If it helps Julian and Evelyn find their way back to each other, I don’t care what people say about me. I’ll do anything."

Dominic wavered. He figured that if Evelyn still had feelings for Julian, this move would force her hand. And if Seraphina’s reputation was truly ruined... well, perhaps he could be the one to step in and "take care" of her.

In the following days, Seraphina stayed in the village. She didn't work the fields, but she was often seen bringing water and snacks to Julian and the brothers.

Tess watched them from a distance, her lip curling. "Look at them. No shame at all."

"They’re both single," Evelyn said, her voice flat. "They can do whatever they like."

Internally, she was seething—not at the couple, but at Adrian. She wanted him to see the mess he had created by dumping these "trash" people in her backyard.

Since her blow-up in his office, Evelyn hadn't returned to town. No more meals, no more special spring water.

In his office miles away, Adrian sat staring at a dry, cold steamed potato. He chewed slowly, washing it down with plain water, silently counting the days since the girl had last darkened his doorstep.

He had clearly overstepped. The question was: how do you appease a girl who has already walked through fire?