263. NOT SO HAPPY EVER AFTER

263. NOT SO HAPPY EVER AFTER
EVELYN ROSE (POV)
Rosehollow Estate, 2028 — First Life.
I love the weight around my neck, ears, and wrists. These aren’t just stacks of diamonds; they represent centuries of legacy and nobility. They are the Houghton family jewels. And now, they belong to me.
Who would dare say otherwise? There is no one left.
The Earl is dead. Buried six feet under with glory. But the worms will eat his body, and in the end, nothing will remain. So what’s the point of clinging to material things that no longer matter? Leave them to the living. Leave them to me, the one who truly deserves them after enduring so long in this farce.
It was ten years of my life inside a lie that not even Christopher believed anymore. The biggest lie wasn’t our affair — it was him thinking he actually wanted to be free of Charlotte. The moment he got what he chased for ten damn years, he was weak and put a bullet in his head.
He couldn’t handle the weight of freedom.
And to think, all this time, he believed she was the prison.
Now I’m the one walking with my head high through these halls. I am the true lady of the house—
“Lady Evelyn…” A maid cuts through my thoughts, her voice small, eyes lowered. She nervously tugs at the edge of her uniform, like she’s bracing for my wrath. But I’m in far too good a mood to let something so pathetic ruin my day.
“What is it?” That’s all I say, my voice limp and cold. “I said I didn’t want to be interrupted for the rest of the day. Was I not clear?”
“Yes, yes, you were, but…” She hesitates, then takes a quick glance at me, just a flicker, before looking back at the floor. “You have guests.”
“Guests?” I arch a brow. “I don’t remember inviting anyone. Send them away.”
“But—”
“No buts.” I cut her off, my voice rising a few tones, already feeling my temper threaten to snap. “I’m not expecting visitors. And I won’t receive anyone who wasn’t personally invited.”
“Feeling a bit too comfortable, aren’t you, Evelyn?” Sebastian’s voice sharply pulls my head toward the doorway, and there he is. Hair slicked back, posture that screams power, but only because he hides behind a last name. A nobody dressed in expensive clothes and inflated importance.
Once, we were the same.
Once, we wanted the same thing.
Once, our bodies were as close as they could be — slick, desperate, burning — while our souls sat galaxies apart, destined never to align.
Now he stands at my door like he has any right.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, aiming for cold and indifferent, but the slight tremor at the end betrays the unease crawling into my chest. “You know you’re not allowed here.”
“Yeah?” He tilts his head slightly, wearing that superior, mocking tone that makes it clear he sees me as an insect. “And exactly who’s going to stop me now?”
Despite his arrogant stance, something is different in his eyes. They don’t shine like they used to. His face is hardened with exhaustion, with deep shadows under his eyes. Even I can see that losing Charlotte and his brother shattered him.
“You think I won’t call the guards on you?” I threaten, voice dropping.
The maid quickly backs away, giving us space, eyes still down, like she’s afraid to even breathe.
“The guards?” Sebastian muses. “Ah yes… call them. Please. Spare me the effort of calling them myself.”
My brow furrows painfully.
“You think I can’t have you thrown out?”
“In fact, no. I don’t think so — I know you can’t.” Sebastian pretends to adjust his cufflinks, not out of nervousness… but as if he’s in complete control.
A cold chill runs through my chest.
“Guards!” I shout sharply, never taking my eyes off him. Long seconds go by in silence, and suddenly, the diamonds feel truly heavy. “Guards!”
Sebastian calmly looks around, expression unreadable.
I grit my teeth.
“Guards.” Then, he calls. And just like that, the men who should answer to me respond instantly to him. Three tall, broad-shouldered men step behind him, stern and alert. One of them was in my bed just last night. Traitor.
“What is the meaning of this?” I cross my arms, trying not to show my discomfort, as fear begins to climb up my throat. “You walk onto my property, override my authority, and actually think you have the right—”
“Your property?” Sebastian scoffs. “You lived here because Christopher, God knows why, allowed it.” He pauses, voice lowering, colder, cutting. “Now he’s gone. There’s no reason for you to stay.”
A sharp laugh escapes me, mocking, yet fragile.
“You’ve lost your mind, haven’t you?” I sneer, with a crooked smile. “This has been my home for ten years!”
“Really, Evelyn… what makes you think you have any right to this estate?” Sebastian smiles, cruel and taunted. “You think Christopher would leave anything to you?”
“Christopher loved me,” I say, lifting my chin. “I was alw1ays the woman he truly loved. He kept me here, under the same roof as his wife, for years. Isn’t it only fair I keep the estate?” I give him the same kind of smile, but sharper. “Besides, I read his will. He left this property to me.”
“Oh, that will? I suppose no one informed you — naturally.” Sebastian snaps his fingers, and another servant steps forward with papers in hand. “There was an amendment. You’re no longer included.”
My heart skips a beat, then slams violently against my ribcage. An icy cold floods me from the inside.
“Christopher did what?” I snarl through gritted teeth. “You’re lying.”
Sebastian extends the paper toward me, and I grab it from him with a snap. My eyes immediately lock onto the highlighted section, a disgusting yellow slash ripping through everything I believed.
But I don’t read them, I only focus on the keywords.
Rosehollow Estate. Donation.
“You have GOT to be fucking kidding me.” I toss the paper into the air, letting it scatter dramatically onto the marble floor. “Donation? You think I believe this? I saw the will with my own eyes, Sebastian. You won’t fool me with your little games.”
“I already said it. Christopher changed it.”
“Why would he?” I spit out a forced, ugly laugh. “He wouldn’t.”
“He did, Evelyn,” Sebastian says, colder. “And even if he hadn’t… I would have — as the new Earl of Houghton.”
What?
For a moment, the world goes still. Time halts. Even my heart forgets to beat. I forget to breathe. To blink. To exist.
“You?” is all I manage to say, and I barely recognize my own voice. Low. Breathless. Bitter. “You’re the new Earl?”
No. Christopher hated him. They were never close. He would rather bury the title with himself than give it to his brother.
A broken smile ghosts across my lips.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?” Sebastian echoes softly, but there’s a depth of thought behind it. “It must be surprising… to be betrayed by the one you trusted most in the end. It was for me. I didn’t expect to get a letter from Christopher right after I buried him beside our father and grandfather. But even in death, my brother still finds ways to surprise me.”
A cold shiver spikes down my spine.
“…Letter?”
Sebastian straightens fully, and his eyes grow darker, colder than I’ve ever seen. For the first time, I no longer see the reckless Sebastian, the insecure boy who worshipped the ground Charlotte walked on.
Suddenly, he truly looks like the Earl.
“Yes. A letter,” he repeats, calmer but far more deadly, every word hitting me like a dagger. “A letter where he explains in detail the fucked-up thing he discovered… the thing that made him put a bullet in his own head.”
No.
No, no—
“What could possibly make Christopher drown in so much guilt he’d end his proud life himself? The letter he left me, Evelyn… it answered everything. Even questions I didn’t know existed.”
I take a step back, heel landing on a fallen sheet of paper.
“Did you know, Evelyn?” Sebastian’s voice drops even lower, turning the air glacial. “That small daily doses of mercury, over the years, can cause serious damage… like miscarriage in pregnant women, or kidney failure?”
I step back again, but my heel slips on a page and my ankle twists. A choked sound escapes me as I hit the floor hard, the impact slamming up my spine.
Panic claws at my throat. The humiliation of collapsing in front of Sebastian, the guards, the maid… would have burned my face, if the blood weren’t already draining from it.
A broken sob escapes, uninvited, and my nails scrape desperately against the cold marble.
Sebastian kneels slowly, one knee to the floor, leveling with me. But nothing in the gesture is gentle. There is no softness in his face, no vulnerability. He just looks… gone. Past the point of return. As if a piece of him — or maybe all of him — died with the ones he buried.
“Did you really think you would walk away clean from everything you’ve done?” Sebastian smiles mercilessly. “No, Evelyn. You’ll rot behind bars. You’ll pay for it all. And just so you know…”
He leans in closer, his voice a death sentence, meant only for me: “The only reason you’re still breathing right now… is because death would be far too easy for you.”
I shake my head violently, panic overtaking every inch of me. He wasn’t supposed to know. NO ONE was supposed to know. That secret should have died with Christopher—
No.
NO. NO, NO, NO!!!
“You’re… lying…” I choke on a sob, shaking my head. “You don’t have any proof. I didn’t…”
“How about the police deciding that? They’re waiting for you outside, Evelyn… And I hope you truly like your new home.”