Chapter 485

Evelyn let out a bitter, mocking laugh that cut through the salty sea air.

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears despite her defiant expression.

"Are you even listening to yourself, Alexander?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she blinked back the moisture in her eyes.

"You claim to have loved me since our reunion, yet you carved pieces of my flesh away?"

The word 'love' made her expression darken like storm clouds gathering.

"Is this your twisted definition of love, Alexander? Real love means wanting the best for someone! Not breaking them, destroying them, torturing them!"

The dam broke as tears streamed down her cheeks, carried away by the ocean breeze.

They landed on Alexander's knuckles, each drop burning like acid against his skin.

"Stop lying to yourself - and stop lying to me. We both know you've always loved Victoria. I saw how you protected her despite every horrible thing she did. And me? When I was slandered and humiliated? You left me on Maplewood Avenue in the pouring rain. You left me to die!"

Alexander's breath hitched as if she'd physically struck him.

He reached for her, arms encircling her trembling form. "Please... don't," he begged hoarsely.

Evelyn fought against his embrace, her fists pounding uselessly against his chest. "Let me go! If you had the courage to hurt me, have the courage to hear the truth!"

Her voice cracked. "You crushed me over and over when I loved you with everything I had! Even on the day of my 'death,' you were happily getting engaged to Victoria! Do you know how it feels to have your heart ripped apart? Death would have been kinder!"

Alexander's arms tightened like steel bands around her as each accusation struck deeper than the last.

Every word was a knife twisting in his chest, reopening wounds that never fully healed.

The memory of her bloody, lifeless body in his arms haunted him still.

Silent tears tracked down his face as he swallowed against the lump in his throat.

Words failed him - what could possibly make this right? He only held tighter, terrified she'd vanish again.

Evelyn drew a shuddering breath, trying to calm the storm inside, but the tears kept coming.

The pain of reliving those memories was too much.

Too exhausted to keep fighting, she settled for a derisive scoff.

"That first meeting at Pinecrest Heights... I was so happy. You were my friend, the first boy I ever imagined spending forever with. But my love for you is as dead as that rainbow shell I gave you. Gone. Forever."

Alexander's grip loosened just enough to reach into his pocket.

When he opened his palm, Evelyn froze.

It was the very shell she'd thrown away on Diamond Boulevard.

He'd retrieved it?

"I kept your gift," Alexander whispered, eyes red-rimmed but alight with hope. "Doesn't that mean we still have a chance, Evelyn?"

She reached for the shell mechanically.

Seeing the desperate hope in his gaze, something inside her snapped. She drew back her arm to hurl it into the waves.

"Evelyn, don't!" Alexander caught her waist, lifting her off her feet as his other hand grabbed for hers.

"Let me go! There's nothing left between us!" She thrashed wildly. "And I'll never believe your lies about loving me! Never! Not even if I die!"

Alexander pulled her closer. "I mean it, Evelyn. I love you. I always have."

"No! Release me, Alexan— Mmph!"

His lips crashed against hers, cutting off her protests.

His familiar scent overwhelmed her - masculine and possessive, drowning out her own floral perfume. The kiss was desperate, hungry, as if he could rewrite their past through sheer force of will.