Chapter 3 - The Man Who Came Back To Take Everything
The first thing I noticed about Sebastian Crane was that he looked exactly the same.
That was the strangest part.
After everything he had done, after the way he had watched me leave with nothing, after the way he had erased three years of my life with a few signatures, I expected him to look different.
Guilty.
Angry.
Regretful.
But Sebastian had always been good at pretending.
He stood in the Bellandi mansion entrance like he still belonged there.
Like he still owned every room he entered.
His expensive suit was perfectly pressed.
His dark hair was perfectly styled.
His smile was perfectly controlled.
The same smile he used at charity events.
The same smile he used when he lied.
The same smile he used when he told me our marriage meant nothing.
Beside him stood his lawyer, Marcus Hale.
The same man who had slid my divorce papers across the table.
The same man who had watched me sign away everything.
I tightened my grip around the staircase railing.
"What are you doing here?"
Sebastian looked around the mansion.
Not impressed.
Not intimidated.
Just curious.
"I came to talk to my wife."
The word hit me harder than I expected.
Wife.
After everything, he still used that word.
I stepped down one stair.
"I'm not your wife."
His smile faded slightly.
"Legally, that is complicated."
My eyes moved toward Marcus.
The lawyer opened the folder in his hand.
"I believe there was an error in the divorce documentation."
For a second, I thought I had heard him wrong.
"An error?"
Marcus nodded.
"A procedural issue."
I almost laughed.
Three years of marriage.
A destroyed life.
And now it was a procedural issue.
"What kind of error?"
Before Marcus could answer, another voice entered the room.
"Explain."
Dante Bellandi.
He stood behind me.
I hadn't heard him approach.
That alone reminded me how dangerous he was.
Sebastian looked at him.
And for the first time, I saw something change.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
Recognition.
Everyone in Chicago knew Dante Bellandi.
But knowing a name and standing in front of the man were two different things.
"Mr. Bellandi," Sebastian said.
Dante's expression remained cold.
"You entered my home without permission."
Sebastian gave a small smile.
"I apologize. I was unaware this was already considered your home for her."
The room became silent.
I felt Dante's attention shift.
Not toward Sebastian.
Toward me.
I hated that Sebastian had said it that way.
Like I was an object being transferred.
Like I belonged to someone.
Dante stepped forward.
"Evelyn is a guest in my home."
Sebastian looked at me.
"Interesting."
I knew that tone.
He was searching for weakness.
"Yesterday you had nothing. Today you are standing beside Dante Bellandi."
He looked at the newspaper on the table.
"That is quite a change."
I said nothing.
Because Sebastian wanted a reaction.
He always did.
When we were married, he knew exactly which words could hurt me.
But he didn't know me anymore.
Not after yesterday.
Not after I had walked away.
Marcus cleared his throat.
"We are not here to discuss personal matters."
Dante looked at him.
"Then discuss the legal matter."
Marcus opened the folder.
"Mrs. Ward signed a prenuptial agreement before marrying Sebastian Crane."
I nodded.
"I know."
"However," Marcus continued, "there was a clause that was not properly executed."
I frowned.
"What clause?"
Sebastian answered.
"The loyalty clause."
My stomach tightened.
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus avoided my eyes.
"It means your financial rights after divorce were dependent on certain conditions."
I stared.
"Conditions?"
Sebastian walked closer.
"You remember the agreement."
I remembered signing papers.
I remembered being told they were standard.
I remembered trusting the man I loved.
"You told me it was normal."
"It was."
"Then why are you here?"
His expression hardened.
"Because you violated the agreement."
The words were so absurd that I almost couldn't process them.
"I violated it?"
"You left the Crane residence and immediately entered another man's home."
I felt anger rise.
"Your home?"
Sebastian smiled.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The emotion."
I hated how easily he tried to turn everything into a game.
"You always were emotional, Evelyn."
Dante moved.
Just one step.
But it was enough.
Sebastian noticed.
"I didn't come here to fight."
Dante's voice was quiet.
"Then stop speaking like someone who wants one."
Nobody moved.
The children were watching from the hallway.
I hadn't noticed them.
Livia stood there holding Pearl.
Her brothers beside her.
Their faces had changed.
Before, they looked afraid of everyone.
Now they looked afraid for me.
That realization surprised me.
Because yesterday I was a stranger.
Today, these children were worried.
Livia slowly walked forward.
"Are you making Miss Evelyn leave?"
The question was directed at Sebastian.
His expression softened.
Too quickly.
A fake softness.
"Sweetheart, adults are talking."
Livia stepped closer to me.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
She held my hand.
"She stays."
The room became completely silent.
Dante looked down at our hands.
Something unreadable appeared in his eyes.
Sebastian noticed too.
And I saw the moment he understood.
This was not about the contract anymore.
It was about the children.
They had chosen me.
And that made me valuable.
Marcus closed the folder.
"We will need to review the situation."
Dante looked at him.
"You can review whatever you want."
His voice dropped.
"But you will do it from outside my property."
Sebastian stared at him.
"You think you can hide her forever?"
Dante didn't answer.
Sebastian looked at me instead.
"You're making a mistake, Evelyn."
I almost smiled.
A mistake.
That was the word everyone used when I stopped doing what they wanted.
"I made one mistake already."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Believing you cared."
For the first time, his expression cracked.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Then he turned away.
As he reached the door, he stopped.
"You should ask your new protector what he knows about your divorce."
I froze.
Dante's expression changed.
Barely.
But enough.
Sebastian noticed.
Of course he noticed.
He always noticed everything.
"What does that mean?"
I looked at Dante.
He said nothing.
And that silence scared me more than Sebastian's words.
The front door closed.
The mansion became quiet again.
But the feeling remained.
Something had entered with Sebastian.
Something that had nothing to do with the divorce.
I turned toward Dante.
"What was he talking about?"
Dante didn't answer immediately.
"Not now."
My heart sank.
"Not now?"
"There are things you don't understand."
I laughed softly.
"That's exactly what everyone says before they hide something."
His eyes met mine.
And for a moment, I thought I saw regret.
"I was going to tell you."
"When?"
"After the contract."
The contract.
Everything returned to that.
The marriage contract.
The protection.
The arrangement.
I looked at him.
"You knew Sebastian would come."
Dante remained silent.
That was my answer.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"And you still brought me here?"
"I brought you here because you needed protection."
"Or because you needed a reason to fight him?"
His jaw tightened.
I had touched something.
A truth.
But before he could respond, Enzo rushed into the room.
The calm expression he always wore was gone.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Enzo was afraid.
"Don."
Dante turned.
"What happened?"
Enzo looked at me.
Then at Dante.
"There is a problem."
"What problem?"
Enzo slowly placed a small envelope on the table.
I recognized it immediately.
My blood went cold.
Because it was from the Crane estate.
My name was written on the front.
Not Evelyn Ward.
Not Mrs. Crane.
Just one word.
Evelyn.
Dante picked it up.
He looked at the seal.
Then his expression changed.
Because the symbol stamped into the wax belonged to someone he knew.
Someone dangerous.
May you like
Someone who should have been dead.
And when Dante opened the envelope, the first line made him stop breathing.
