The blood drained from Julian's face, a chill crawling up his spine to the base of his skull. Evelyn knows?

Dominic's gaze shifted between Julian and Evelyn. "Julian, what does Evelyn mean?"

The dual torment—physical and mental—deepened the pallor of Julian's skin.

Seraphina curled her lip in a cold smirk. "Evelyn, that's laughable. Are you saying he used your name to ask his cousin for something?"

Evelyn's eyes narrowed, her expression turning glacial, her words sharp and merciless.

"Julian, if you have an ounce of guts, come out here and say it yourself. Don't hide and let your trained dogs bite for you. Don't wait until I've actually beaten the dog before you crawl out whining that I should consider its master."

Seraphina burned with a humiliation so fierce her face flushed crimson. "Evelyn! You go too far!"

Caleb, peeking from behind Dominic, shouted at Evelyn, "Can't you just talk? Why do you have to resort to insults? You're so unreasonable! You're a shrew! His cousin gave him something—why would it need to be in your name?"

Julian was faint with pain, but he kept his eyes locked on Evelyn. How could she strike him so brutally? How could she be so heartless?

Evelyn's face was carved from ice as she offered a cold smile. "What reason or courtesy should I show a pack of meat thieves?"

All eyes were on them. Since the incident with the stolen meat, the group's standing in the village had soured considerably. People were always guarded around them, watching their backs as if expecting them to steal food or belongings. Now that the dust had finally settled and no one spoke of it openly, Evelyn had to dredge it all up again!

Caleb's face twisted with shame, his teeth grinding audibly. You're the meat thief! Your whole family are meat thieves! Seraphina's eyes were bloodshot, the immense disgrace making her tremble uncontrollably.

Caleb and the others had it easier; they shared a room amongst themselves. But Seraphina roomed with the other women. She was the one they watched like a hawk, the one they ostracized and isolated. Even after she'd painstakingly mended fences with them, they still harbored their suspicions. Whenever something went missing in the room, all eyes instinctively turned to her, as if she were the natural culprit.

A bitter laugh escaped Seraphina. "Don't you forget, your engagement to Julian was called off long ago. You have no connection to Julian now, and no connection to his cousin. How can you claim that whatever Julian asked of his cousin was done in your name? What makes you think his cousin meant it for you? You push Julian's brother away on one hand, yet use his connection to get close to Adriel on the other. From start to finish, you, Evelyn Ward, are the most shameless one!" The most despicable one!

Evelyn absorbed Seraphina's mockery and venom. This seemed to be the first time Seraphina had dropped her pretense of kindness and attacked her so viciously in public. It seemed Seraphina had endured her fair share of hardship here. For that alone, Evelyn's mood lifted a fraction. As for Seraphina's words, they went in one ear and out the other. Words from someone you didn't care about couldn't hurt you.

"Adriel looks out for me because he has a conscience. He knows Julian wronged me. He knows Julian's family owes me. That's why he shows me kindness."

Seraphina scoffed. "Julian wronged you? Wasn't it you who was willful and headstrong, disregarding the Ward family's dignity, disobeying your own parents, and selfishly insisting on breaking the engagement? You extorted five thousand dollars from Julian's family, and you took a two-thousand-dollar dowry from your own."

Gritting his teeth against the searing pain, Julian managed, "Seraphina! Stop!"

Seeing him try to shield Evelyn even while incapacitated only fueled Seraphina's anger.

"You decided to break it off, so why did you force your parents to give you that dowry? Two thousand dollars! You bled the Ward family dry! Don't forget, you have two brothers and a younger brother who aren't even married yet! And even that wasn't enough for you—you had to extort Julian's parents! Now you have the nerve to twist things and say Julian wronged you? It's pure greed! Blind ambition! Selfishness!"

Julian was in too much agony to speak, but his pained expression held a flicker of reluctance. He had never spoken publicly about how much Evelyn had cost his family, nor about the dowry she'd demanded from her own. She was, after all, the woman he'd loved, and he hadn't wanted to burn that bridge completely.

The young people from town were instantly inflamed by Seraphina's revelations. Extorting five thousand dollars from her fiancé's family? Forcing her parents to hand over two thousand for a dowry? Usually, a fifty or hundred dollars tucked away was considered a decent amount from a good family. Two thousand! How dare Evelyn ask for it? And how dare the Wards actually give it?

That made seven thousand dollars in total. Faces changed. Some looked at Evelyn with a new, feverish intensity. Others looked at her with undisguised contempt. So greedy. So shameless.

Dominic's expression flickered. This was exactly what had angered him, too. Like Julian, he'd never breathed a word about the money. But now Seraphina had spilled everything. He watched Evelyn with a flicker of concern.

Despite the revelations piling up against her, Evelyn's expression remained indifferent, as if none of it mattered.

"Digging up the past, are we?" Evelyn's cool, almost disdainful gaze swept over Seraphina, then across the crowd gathered nearby. Some watched openly, while others, embarrassed, lingered half-hidden in doorways.

With a gracious sweep of her hand, Evelyn invited them all. "Don't just stand in the doorways. Pull up a stool or a chair, come closer. Maybe bring some sunflower seeds—listen and snack at the same time!"

From behind her door, Mabel couldn't suppress a smile. That Evelyn was... quite something!

Fury boiled in Seraphina's gut; she felt she could grind her teeth to dust. This wretch! She's turning us into a spectacle! Am I an actress for her to parade around? Despicable!

But the lure of the seven thousand dollars was too strong. One by one, the young people dragged over their stools.

"Evelyn, is it true? Did you really take seven thousand dollars?" Mabel couldn't help but ask. It sounded like something out of a storybook—too fantastical. If Evelyn denied it, plenty would believe her. Most people would measure the story against their own lives, their own circumstances. The sum was astronomical, far beyond what any ordinary family could afford.

"She's right. I did take that money." Evelyn didn't deny it.

A wave of shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Mabel, who genuinely liked Evelyn, threw her a lifeline. "There must be a reason they were willing to give it, right?"

Evelyn offered a faint smile. "Everyone, quiet down, and I'll tell you the whole story. On my wedding day, wouldn't you know it, Seraphina here had a heart attack. And my former fiancé just happened not to be at home preparing for our wedding. Instead, he just happened to be by Seraphina's side, rushing her to the hospital. And it just so happened that my former fiancé was more effective than any doctor, because with him there, Seraphina wasn't going to die. And it just so happened that my former fiancé was such a good man that, in his care for the ailing Seraphina, he just so happened to forget everything about the world and his place in it! What was a wedding? What was marriage? A fiancée? Parents? They just so happened to forget it all! In that moment, there was only the two of them."