Chapter 21 MATTHIAS IS A DUCHEBAG
EVA'S POV
I sat on my white couch, staring at the diamond necklace in its velvet box.
It arrived this morning with no note and no explanation. Just the box with Matthias's initials in it.
The same necklace I'd seen him bought at Maison Noir four days ago.
For one stupid moment, I'd thought it was for me. That he'd realized his mistake.
But when the courier delivered it this morning, I knew.
It was for me but nothing like the apology gift I was expecting. This was a guilt gift.
My phone rang. It was Sophie.
"Did you get it?" She asked.
"Yeah, this morning." I replied, we were both at Maison Noir together that day.
"Was there a note?"
"There was nothing to it, just the necklace."
There was silence before I heard her cursing "That duchebag!”
"Pretty much of a duchebag he is."
"What are you going to do with it?"
I looked at the diamonds catching the light. "I don't know. Part of me wants to throw it in his face. Part of me wants to sell it and take that Barcelona trip."
"Do the second one. Sell it, take the trip, post amazing photos. Let him see what he's missing." Sophie's voice softened. "He doesn't deserve any more of your energy."
She was right.
"Have you talked to him since you gave the ring back?"
"No and I don't plan to. He made it clear I was just a business arrangement. That I was convenient but not what he wanted." The words still stung. "I'm not chasing someone who said I wasn't enough."
"You're more than enough. He's just emotionally stunted." Sophie sounded frustrated. "I should have told you years ago he wasn't worth it."
"You did. I just didn't listen because I was in love."
Five years. I'd given Matthias five years. Five years of being perfect. Five years of loving a man who never said he loved me back.
He'd said "I care about you." "You're important." But never "I love you."
I'd told myself it didn't matter. That his actions showed he cared.
But deep down, I'd always known.
"Eva? Are you still there?" Sophie drew me back to reality with her loud voice.
"Yeah. Just thinking about how stupid I was."
Sophie sighed. "In a few months, you'll realize breaking up was the best thing. You'll be happier."
"I didn't break up with him. He broke up with me."
"No. You gave the ring back and walked out. That was you ending it. Own that power."
She had a point.
"I should go. I'm having dinner with my father tonight. I need to look like I haven't been crying all week."
"Your dad doesn't know?"
“I'm sure he knows, probably Matthias called him. My father lectured me for twenty minutes about throwing away a good match."
"Your father is an ass."
"My father saw my engagement as business. Same as Matthias." I stood. "But at least now I know where I stand."
"Want me to come to dinner for moral support?"
"No. I need to start being an independent Eva instead of Matthias's Eva."
"Call me when you get back."
"I will. Bye baby girl.”
After we hung up, I stood in my closet deciding what to wear.
Something that said "I'm fine" without trying too hard.
I ended up settling for a Burgundy dress. At least it was simple and elegant.
I did my makeup, covering the dark circles on my eyes.
Then I picked up the necklace box one more time.
And threw it in the back of my jewelry drawer without looking.
Matthias could keep his guilt gifts.
What I needed was to figure out who Eva Monroe was without him.
And that journey started tonight.
\---
VANESSA'S POV
"This is a complete disaster."
My father's voice carried through his study door. I stood outside, hand raised to knock while listening to his conversation.
"I understand that, Richard, but you have to give me more time." A pause. "Yes, I'm aware of the quarterly projections. I signed off on them."
Richard. He was talking to Richard Blackthorn. If it was Richard Blackthorn then why was he sounding angry. They are both friends.
Friends aside. This must be really serious.
This was bad.
"The Sterling name still means something. My daughter is positioned to marry your son. That has to count for something." Another pause. "Yes, I know Callum hasn't proposed. But he will. Vanessa is working on it."
My stomach dropped.
"I appreciate your patience, Richard. Within the year, Sterling Industries will be back in the black." His voice was desperate now. "Just don't pull your investment yet."
The call ended. I heard him pour a drink and drank it fast.
I knocked and pushed the door open.
My father looked up, face flushed, tie loose. "Vanessa. How long were you standing there?"
"Long enough to hear we're in trouble." I closed the door. "How bad is it?”
He stared at me. Then I poured another drink. "Bad enough that we could lose this house in six months if nothing changes. Bad enough that I've liquidated everything I can. Bad enough that Richard Blackthorn is all that stands between us and ruin."
The room spun. This house was three generations of family legacy.
"What happened? You said the investments were solid."
"I was wrong. I made bad calls and trusted the wrong people." He downed the second drink. "Now we're paying for it."
"What do we do?"
He looked at me and something in his expression made my blood run cold.
"You're going to make Callum Blackthorn propose to you. That's what we're going to do."
I had known this was coming. I had felt it building for weeks. But hearing my father say it out loud still made my chest cave in a little.
"Dad, we've been over this. Callum doesn't want to marry me. He's never even asked me on a real date."
"Then make him want to." His voice went flat and final. "Seduce him. Make yourself irresistible. Show him what he's been missing."
My hands curled into fists at my sides. "So you want me to trap him."
"I want you to do your duty to this family."
He came around the desk and gripped my shoulders, fingers digging in just a little too hard. "Vanessa, listen to me. If you don't lock down that engagement in three months, we lose everything. The house, the cars, our reputation. We become nobodies."
"By forcing me into a marriage with a man who is in love with someone else?" My voice cracked. "Have you seen how he looks at Nova?”
"Nova Sinclair is nobody." He let go of me. "A charity case who wandered back in. You come from money. From a name that matches theirs. All you have to do is remind Callum of that."
He slid a folder across the desk before leaving his study.