Chapter 48
Louis's angry shout forced Evelyn to look over.
Benjamin's handsome face showed no expression as he sat beside her.
They weren't sitting very close, not intimate exactly, but somehow it still declared their relationship.
Evelyn glanced at him thoughtfully.
Louis was very emotional: "Freya, you were the one who pursued me first. What gives you the right to just break up like that? I'll never agree to it!"
Freya's face showed helplessness, yet she still tried to comfort him gently.
"Being together requires agreement; breaking up doesn't."
"Then why did you insist I come here?"
A smile suddenly flashed across Louis's angry face, giving off a bone-chilling coldness: "Was it to show him that you're single now?"
Tears immediately streamed down her face.
"Why do you always drag unrelated people into this? Wasn't it enough that you hurt Ms. Thomas last time? Now you're blaming Benjamin again!"
"You always get angry because Benjamin is nice to me, but he's my brother."
"I can't just abandon him because of you."
Evelyn listened silently, feeling like these words were somehow meant for her to hear.
Brother and sister?
She had given up even her childhood friend, who was like a brother, so couldn't Benjamin give up someone else's sister?
Well, maybe not give up entirely—just looking out for her in a simple way wouldn't be wrong.
After one look from Benjamin, Chase walked over and stood in front of Louis.
Chase wore a smile on his face, seemingly unable to sense the tension in the air.
"Mr. Cox, you're still in college, with a long road ahead of you."
"Is it really worth ruining your bright future over one relationship?"
Chase's harmless appearance, combined with his reasonable words, couldn't hide the underlying threat.
If Louis refused to break up and kept pestering Freya, he could forget about finishing college, and his future would be gone, too.
"Benjamin! You bring your fiancée here to force my girlfriend and me to break up—what are you trying to do!"
Louis glared fiercely at Benjamin, looking like he wanted to pounce on him and tear off a piece of his flesh.
Benjamin's gaze turned toward him, his expression calm and undisturbed.
"Just notifying you."
Louis's expression suddenly changed.
He stared at Benjamin for a while, then turned his gaze to Freya.
"Freya, you're leaving me for him because you want to be with him, right?"
"I can make it happen. I'll use my life to make it happen for you, how about that?"
"After I'm dead, you can do whatever you want, but for the rest of this life, can your conscience be at peace?"
By the end, his smile had become twisted and terrifying, while Freya's face turned deathly pale.
She swayed unsteadily, looking like she might faint at any moment.
Louis kept talking about death—wasn't he afraid Benjamin might actually grant his wish in anger?
As for conscience...
Evelyn glanced at Freya's trembling lips and the panic in her eyes, and let out a low laugh.
"You want to die? That's easy."
She pointed her chin at the cups on the coffee table: "Smash one and cut your wrists. I guarantee no one will call an ambulance, and no one will help stop the bleeding. But..."
She paused, looking at Louis with complete disdain.
"Using your life to keep someone—is that all you've got? You'll never amount to anything in this life. Better to die early and try again in the next one."
Her cool tone accompanied her casual gesture as she pushed over a cup.
The glass instantly shattered into pieces, scattered all over the floor.
"Pick it up and cut your wrists. Maybe when she remembers your good times together, she'll give up the idea of breaking up."
Evelyn, with her delicate and alluring looks, spoke like a temptress leading someone astray.
"What, you don't dare? Right, I've said things about wanting to die before, too, but it was just to scare the other person."
"But someone who doesn't care about me—why would they care if I live or die?"
"He said it would be cleaner if I died. Dying for someone like that is the most worthless thing."
Benjamin looked at the charming Evelyn beside him, feeling a slight tightness in his chest, emotions surging in his eyes.
Of course, he knew all the crazy things she'd done for Matthew.
The most extreme time, she'd climbed onto a rooftop, but Matthew had casually said, "If you're going to jump, hurry up," and then said nothing more.
Afterward, Benjamin had beaten Matthew badly.
That incident had also caused his relationship with Evelyn to hit rock bottom.
Now...
She toyed with her long hair, her unhurried tone full of mockery.
"Conscience? If you had a conscience, you wouldn't have done such disgusting things to force her."
"Even if you died now, no one would think it was a loss."
Louis's expression became almost twisted, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes bloodshot, his rapid breathing suggesting he might lash out at any moment.
But Chase maintained a completely unguarded posture throughout.
Instead, it was Freya who blocked Louis: "Ms. Thomas, please stop..."
"Let her talk!"
Louis roared: "Have you been hoping I'd die all along!"
Behind the anger was uncontainable sorrow as he stared at Freya in front of him.
"Haven't I been good to you? Everyone on campus knows I love you. I spent all my living expenses on you."
"You wanted the latest phone, so I worked part-time to buy it for you."
"I've been so good to you, but you wouldn't even let me hug or kiss you... I thought you were being modest. I could wait."
"But why did you willingly hug that man!"
"If you hadn't said you liked him, would I have laid a hand on you!"
Evelyn turned her head to glance at Benjamin, feeling a bit guilty.
But he looked at her with a calm expression, his eyes reflecting her image, showing no emotional change.
She used to absolutely refuse to let Benjamin touch even a finger, yet she would secretly approach Matthew...
This kind of thing had made him furious countless times, but he never touched a hair on her head.
While Benjamin and Evelyn were secretly lost in thought, Freya was already covering her face, sobbing uncontrollably, completely unaware of what was happening on their side.
Louis looked at Benjamin.
"Don't you have anything to say? She did all this for you..."
"I have a fiancée."
Benjamin reached out to pull Evelyn close, pressing her against his chest, his tone indifferent: "Your affairs are none of my business."
"But you laying hands on her—I absolutely won't allow it."
He had to keep his promise to Soren.
"She's done so much for you, and you're completely unmoved?"
Louis was beside himself with rage: "She's done so much for you, and all you care about is your fiancée?"
Louis withdrew his gaze and looked at the tear-stained Freya: "Freya, stop trying to get close to him, okay?"
"I'm willing to be his substitute. Didn't you say my profile looks somewhat like his? That's why you pursued me?"
"From now on, I'll always show you my profile, you'll eventually forget him, okay?"
Absurd.
That was the only word Evelyn could think of.
She thought her former self had been crazy enough, but compared to Louis and Freya before her, she seemed to fall a bit short.
"A substitute." Evelyn laughed softly, a chill passing through her eyes. "You don't love him, yet you actively approached him, even got together with him—what exactly were you after?"