Chapter 467
Alexander stood before the elderly patriarch, voicing the question that had haunted him for weeks. The old man gazed at the stormy clouds gathering overhead, his eyes clouded with decades-old sorrow. "This tale begins twenty-three winters past..."
As the narrative unfolded, transporting them back two decades, realization dawned on Alexander. This had to concern Sebastian's parents.
The revelation confirmed his suspicions with chilling clarity. Sebastian Whitman wasn't just dangerous - he was a viper coiled around Evelyn's life. Alexander couldn't permit their closeness to continue.
As he turned to leave, the patriarch's gnarled hand caught his sleeve. "Evelyn will learn the truth eventually. Sebastian stood by her during her darkest hours - she trusts him implicitly. Meanwhile, she despises you. Your warnings would fall on deaf ears."
"I don't seek her belief," Alexander's voice dropped to a growl, his jaw tightening. "But I'll be damned before I let that snake deceive her further."
His departure halted abruptly when a photograph on the mahogany desk caught his eye. Moving closer, he lifted the silver frame with trembling fingers.
Two silver-haired men in military uniforms stood proudly at attention, their youthful vigor preserved in monochrome. One was clearly Henry Blackwood. The other... Alexander's breath hitched.
The beach behind them - Pinecrest Heights. And there, in the background, two children played tag along the shoreline. The boy was unmistakably himself. The girl...
That radiant smile had haunted his dreams for years. The same child who'd pressed a seashell into his small palm - young Evelyn Sinclair.
The patriarch approached, his voice thick with nostalgia. "Now you understand why I've always protected Evelyn. Her grandfather was my sworn brother."
Alexander's throat constricted. The second man was Henry Whitmore - Evelyn's late grandfather.
"That summer at Pinecrest, I brought you to recover from your studies. By fate's design, I reunited with my old comrade - and his granddaughter Evelyn." A wistful smile touched the old man's lips. "We joked about uniting our families through marriage. He agreed readily... Then vanished without word. Only recently did I learn of his passing."
The photograph slipped from Alexander's grasp as an unnamed grief seized his chest. Through blurred vision, he studied Evelyn's innocent smile one final time before silently quitting the room.
Night had fallen when Alexander's Bentley pulled up outside Evelyn's loft. Through the illuminated windows, her silhouette moved gracefully about the space, softening his hardened features.
Then Sebastian appeared behind her.
Alexander's grip on the steering wheel turned his knuckles white. That unfamiliar burn in his chest - jealousy? The sensation was foreign yet undeniable.
Slamming the car door, he retrieved a bottle of bourbon from the trunk. The icy wind howled around him as he drank, his gaze never wavering from her window.
Snowflakes stung his skin, but Alexander barely registered the cold. Time crawled as Sebastian remained inside.
Midnight approached. Was that bastard planning to stay?