Chapter 462

Eleanor and William froze when they heard how Evelyn addressed them. Their faces paled with visible distress.

"Evelyn..." Eleanor's voice cracked with emotion.

Evelyn's lips curved into a faint smile as she glanced around the lavish parlor. Her fingers trailed along the velvet upholstery of the French sofa.

"That dinner invitation you extended for Victoria's sake—how gracious you were to entertain your enemy. The irony must taste bitter now that the truth is out."

William's hands trembled. "Darling, please—"

"Mrs. Kingsley," Evelyn interrupted smoothly, "you once asked if I'd found my parents after all these years." Her gaze locked onto Eleanor's tear-filled eyes. "Do you recall my answer?"

"Evelyn, let me explain—"

"I said I found them," Evelyn continued, voice like shattering crystal. "Yet reunion was impossible because even standing before them, I remained unrecognizable."

Eleanor clutched Evelyn's wrist, tears streaking her carefully applied makeup. "We were blind! That viper Victoria manipulated us—"

"Explanations are unnecessary." Evelyn extracted herself with glacial poise. "Some bonds aren't meant to be."

William stepped forward, his aristocratic features twisted in anguish. "For twenty years, your mother kept your childhood room untouched. She polished every surface daily, praying for your return."

"Home?" Evelyn's laugh held razor blades. She swept a hand across the gilded furnishings. "This mausoleum? These cold walls that sheltered my tormentor while I rotted in hell?"

The Montgomery heirlooms rattled as Eleanor collapsed onto the chaise lounge. "We'll spend our lives making amends—"

"You felt remorse when discovering Evelyn Sinclair was your blood," Evelyn mused, examining a Venetian vase. "But tell me—when you had me beaten for Sophia's murder, did your hands shake?"

William staggered as if struck. "You knew then? But the police—"

"Ah yes, the proud Montgomery legacy." Evelyn's smile turned feral. "Your darling Victoria framed me perfectly. And you? You called me a monster while I memorized your faces through bloodied vision."

The grandfather clock's ticking grew deafening.

"I never cried during those beatings." Evelyn tilted her head, sunlight catching the scar along her jawline. "Do you know why? Tears would have blurred my last sight of the parents who condemned their own daughter to death."

Eleanor's wail echoed through the marble halls as Evelyn turned toward the exit. Her stiletto heels clicked like a countdown to devastation.

"Wait!" William choked out. "The inheritance—the family shares—"

Evelyn paused at the threshold without looking back. "Keep your blood money. The only thing I inherited from you..." She touched her scarred wrist. "...was the ability to endure fire."

The door clicked shut, leaving two broken aristocrats amidst their gilded ruin. Outside, Evelyn inhaled the autumn air, her whispered words carried away by the wind:

"Checkmate."