Chapter 310

Evelyn settled onto the plush couch, her fingers tracing the intricate embroidery on the armrest. Lillian studied her for a moment before gesturing to the seat opposite. "Sit. You're here about your mother, aren't you?"

Evelyn didn’t hesitate. She took the offered seat, her posture straight but not rigid. A silent nod confirmed Lillian’s assumption.

"Miranda was my sister," Lillian began, a wistful smile touching her lips. "You have her eyes. And her stubbornness." She chuckled softly, as if recalling something private. If she had met Evelyn sooner, perhaps she wouldn’t have been so quick to believe Vivian’s poisonous words.

A pause. Then, sharper: "Did she ever tell you why she came to Zlokova?"

Evelyn shook her head.

Lillian frowned. "She never told me either. If not for that bracelet Vivian wore, I wouldn’t have known she was here at all."

"You didn’t know?" Evelyn’s voice wavered slightly. Miranda fled the de Armas, changed her name, vanished—and even her own sister didn’t know why?

"Don’t look so shocked," Lillian sighed. "When she left, I assumed she’d gone to Morwich."

"Morwich?" Evelyn’s pulse spiked. Nathan’s from Morwich.

Lillian leaned forward, her gaze piercing. "Before I tell you more, answer me this—what’s between you and Nathan Goldmann?"

Evelyn met her stare evenly. "You already know."

The unspoken truth hung between them—children, a life entwined, everything but the ring. The thought of marriage sent an unexpected warmth through her chest.

Lillian’s expression darkened at the faint blush on Evelyn’s cheeks. "I see."

Evelyn exhaled. "Your turn. Why did my mother leave the de Armas?"

Lillian’s fingers tightened around her teacup. "She was ill."

"Cancer?"

"No." A bitter laugh. "Something far stranger. She was healthy—until she wasn’t. One day, I found her coughing blood. She begged me not to tell our father."

Miranda hadn’t wanted to worry him.

Lillian’s voice dropped to a whisper. "She never explained. Just left a letter and disappeared with Sebastian."

"Sebastian?" Evelyn’s breath caught.

"Her lover."

Evelyn’s lashes fluttered. Richard had once confessed that Miranda loved someone else—someone who wasn’t him. Sebastian.

But Richard had sworn Miranda died of cancer. Had he lied? Or had he never known the truth?

Evelyn steeled herself. "Mrs. Laurent, what about the feud between the Goldmanns and the de Armas? Nathan’s grandfather claims our family tried to kill his great-grandfather. Is it true?"

Lillian’s face shuttered. "Ask your grandfather. The de Armas’ affairs are not mine to discuss."

The dismissal was absolute.

Evelyn’s nails bit into her palms. Another dead end.

But she wasn’t done yet.

Chapter 310

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