Chapter 4 — The Last Conversation
Nathan looked different.
The expensive suits were gone.
The confidence was gone.
The man sitting across from Evelyn in the detention room looked smaller.
Older.
Broken.
But Evelyn felt nothing.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Just emptiness.
Nathan looked at her.
“I didn’t know.”
She stared.
“Know what?”
“That your father was Alexander Sterling.”
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“That’s the only thing you regret?”
Nathan looked away.
“I thought you were nobody.”
The words hung between them.
And Evelyn finally understood.
He never loved her.
He loved the version of her he thought he could control.
“You know what hurts the most?” she asked.
Nathan looked up.
“I spent years protecting your reputation.”
“I defended you.”
“I believed in you.”
Her voice became quieter.
“And you destroyed me because you thought nobody would care.”
Nathan lowered his head.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
She stood.
“You were.”
Nathan suddenly grabbed the table.
“Evelyn, please.”
For the first time, he sounded desperate.
“I loved you.”
She looked at him.
“No, Nathan.”
“You loved having power over me.”
Silence.
Then she walked away.
Without looking back.
May you like
Because revenge was never about making him suffer.
Revenge was proving that he never had control.
