Chapter 679

Gasps echoed through the room. "Oh my God! Evelyn, are you and Nathan back together?" "This is too perfect!"

"Mr. Blackwood is so romantic!" "That fireworks display must have cost a fortune. He's declaring his love for you all over again." "Mr. Blackwood never misses a detail." A group of younger women watched with envy burning in their eyes.

"I wonder if Mr. Blackwood is proposing. Evelyn, say yes! This is beyond romantic—" Lucas took one look at Evelyn's icy expression and immediately stepped in. "What’s with all the squealing? My sister has received grand gestures like this a hundred times before."

"You think a little fireworks show is enough to impress her? Please. Evelyn has seen it all." His dismissive tone was like a bucket of ice water dumped over their excitement. What moved them to tears was nothing but routine for Evelyn.

The gap between them was painfully obvious. Natalie laughed. "Exactly. Didn’t we prepare fireworks too? Archibald, hurry up and set them off before the snow ruins the effect."

It seemed the only way to shift attention was to outshine Nathan’s display. The butler nodded and rushed outside—only to freeze at the sight of someone at the door.

Even after Evelyn cursed Nathan under her breath, her pulse refused to steady. She clenched her fists, forcing her emotions down. Natalie scrolled through her phone, watching the fireworks trend explode online.

"Evelyn, Nathan did this on purpose, didn’t he?" Evelyn glanced at the screen, lips pressed tight, then snatched up her phone and dialed Dominic Kingsley. "Get PR ready. I don’t want tonight’s spectacle leaking anywhere."

There was no doubt—this wasn’t just a gesture for her. It was a power play, a claim. But Evelyn refused to let him win. She would smother this spectacle before it spread.

Her phone rang again. The caller ID made her blood boil. She stormed upstairs and answered. "Nathan Blackwood. Did you get hit in the head with a brick?" She kept her voice low, sharp.

Nathan hadn’t expected to be greeted with fury. His voice softened, warm and smooth like aged whiskey. "You saw it? Did you like it?"

"I didn’t see it. And no, I didn’t."

A beat of silence.

"Then I’ll have them do it again."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Don’t you dare."

"Wasn’t embarrassing enough for you?"

His deep chuckle grated on her nerves. "Fine. I’ll listen to you." The way he said it—like a vow, like surrender—made her chest tighten.

Her voice turned glacial. "Your little show just forced employees to work overtime during the holidays. Nathan, stop being an idiot."

Silence stretched for over ten seconds before he sighed. "I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to make you smile. Happy New Year, Evelyn."

She paused. "If that’s all, I’m hanging up."

"Looking back… we never spent a single New Year together, did we? I was always out of the country." His voice roughened with something like regret.

Evelyn scoffed. "Of course you were. Either on ‘business trips’ or vacations with friends—anything to avoid me."

Every holiday, he left her alone to face the Blackwoods’ disdain. Margaret would sneer that her son refused to come home because of Evelyn. The rest of the family treated her like an inconvenience.

She never wanted to relive those years of swallowing her pride. She had been miserable. And she refused to go back.