Chapter 82 Let Her Be
Evelyn’s POV
My heels clicked uselessly against the marble as I pushed through bodies and light and noise, my chest burning like it might explode any moment. Nolan’s words still echoed in my head, sharp, cruel and painfully true all at once.
Don’t look for me when that part destroys the rest of you.
“Nolan!” I called again, my voice cracking.
He was already near the far corridor that led away from the crowd, where the music thinned and the laughter faded into something distant and hollow. When he heard me, he slowed. Not stopped. Just slowed enough to let me catch up.
I grabbed his arm.
“Nolan, please.”
He turned so fast I almost stumbled into him. His eyes were hard and guarded.
“What?” he snapped. “What do you want from me now, Eve?”
His voice trembled breathlessly, shaking.
My eyes scanned the empty space before taking his hand. “Come with me.”
I led him further down the hallway, past a pair of tall doors and into a quiet corner that opened to a dim view. The night air hit my face, cool and sharp, helping me breathe again.
Music was only a low hum here. No crowd. No eyes.
Just us.
“I couldn’t let you walk away like that,” I said. “You of all people should understand me.”
He laughed bitterly. “Did I hear you too well, huh?”
He stepped closer, his voice dropping, sharp with pain. “I should understand you? That I opened my heart and told you how I feel about you, but you didn’t just turn me down. You didn’t even hesitate. You chose him.”
I shook my head quickly. “That’s not what happened.”
“Isn’t it?” he shot back. “You’ve made your choice, Evelyn. You just don’t want to live with how ugly it looks.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “Listen to me. Please. I need you to understand why this can’t happen. Why we can’t happen.”
His jaw tightened. “I already understand. You want him.”
“No,” I said quickly. “It’s not how you put it.”
He rolled his eyes up. “Oh, please.”
“This is a matter of the heart, and we can’t control things like this,” I said quietly. “I’ve tried everything possible to stop myself from feeling this way, but it didn’t work. And I can’t find myself loving you because loving you doesn't feel right.”
“And loving him will?” Nolan scoffed. “Eve, open your eyes. That man ruined your life.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I know what he did. I live with it every day.”
“Then why are you still here?” he demanded. “Why are you standing in his house, when you can just come with me and forget that you ever fall into the devil’s hands?”
My head flicked sideways. “Because running doesn’t fix everything.”
“It fixes this,” he said, stepping closer. “Come with me. Tonight. We leave this place, this madness, him. Just you and me. Once you’re gone, once you’re free, you’ll see it clearly.”
I shook my head again, moving an inch backwards. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“Yes, it does,” he insisted. “What you’re feeling for Lorenzo isn’t love. It’s survival. It’s Stockholm syndrome, Eve. He broke you, trapped you, and now your mind is confusing fear for affection.”
The words hit hard.
“That’s not….” I stopped, swallowing. “You don’t get to tell me what I feel.”
“I do when it’s killing you,” he said fiercely. “You’re clinging to him because this place messed with your head. Once you leave, once you breathe real air again, you’ll realize this thing you think you feel for him shouldn’t exist.”
My voice trembled. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am confused. But that doesn’t mean I can replace one impossible love with another.”
His eyes softened for just a second. “Eve…..”
“We can’t be lovers,” I said firmly now, even as my heart broke saying it. “Not in this world. Not with who we are to each other. I won’t cross that line.”
“Why not?” he asked hoarsely. “Because of rules? Because of titles someone forced on us?”
“Because I need to live with myself,” I said. “And because loving you that way would turn everything ugly. I don’t want to hate myself for choosing wrong.”
He stared at me, breathing hard. “So you’ll stay here and let him own you?”
“He doesn’t own me.”
“Then why does he decide everything?” Nolan shot back. “Why are his men everywhere? Why are you afraid to even imagine leaving?”
I opened my mouth to answer but stopped when I heard footsteps approaching from the hallway.
The sound came out heavy and controlled like it already knew that we were here.
Then the air shifted into something colder before I felt his presence.
Lorenzo stepped into the dim light, his presence filling the space, suffocating at the same time. His suit jacket was gone, sleeves rolled up, jaw tight, eyes dark with something dangerous.
His gaze locked on Nolan’s hand without even caring to look at me.
I hid behind Nolan, my fingers twisting nervously beside me.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Lorenzo asked calmly.
Nolan laughed, sharp and fearless. “Look who finally showed up.”
“Let her go,” Lorenzo said.
“I’m not holding her,” Nolan replied. “She came after me.”
“Evelyn,” Lorenzo said, not taking his eyes off Nolan. “Come here.”
I stepped forward instinctively. “Lorenzo, please…..I was just only having a small talk with him. It’s not what you think.”
My words were still hanging at the tip of my tongue when Nolan moved between us.
“You don’t get to control her life, let her be.” He said.
That was all it took. Lorenzo's hands curled into a strong fist, and the next minute he lunged out on Nolan.
“I think I have shown you enough mercy.” He barked.
The next punch came fast and brutal, knocking Nolan back against the stone railing. Nolan recovered just as quickly, swinging back, fury fueling every move.
“Stop!” I screamed.
They didn’t even look my way, it was as if I was just talking to myself.
Nolan stood his ground, his hand dabbing at the trace of blood that had split his jaw. Before he could even think of challenging Lorenzo again, another sound of skin meeting bone echoed loudly through the heavy air.
My scream tore out of me.
“Nolan!”
He staggered back, catching himself just in time, his breath coming out rough and uneven. Lorenzo didn’t stop. His eyes were dark, empty of mercy, like something in him had snapped loose.
“Lorenzo!” I cried again, grabbing his arm. “Please, stop!”
He shoved Nolan back one last time, chest heaving, eyes blazing.
“Touch her again,” Lorenzo growled, “and I will end you.”
Nolan wiped more blood from his lip, smiling bitterly. “You already have.”
“Enough,” I sobbed, standing between them. “Please. Don’t do this.”
Lorenzo looked at me for a moment. His expression shifted, anger softening into something darker and more controlled.
He straightened and snapped his fingers in the air and two of his men that had entered with him stormed forward.
“Take him,” Lorenzo ordered coldly. “Lock him up and make sure he doesn’t see light until I say so.”
“What?” I gasped. “No! Lorenzo, please!”
Nolan didn’t resist as they grabbed him. His eyes stayed on mine.
“This place is poisoning you,” he said quietly. “One day you’ll see it.”
“Please,” I begged Lorenzo, clutching his sleeve. “He didn’t hurt me. Don’t punish him.”
Lorenzo’s voice dropped, without caring to listen to my plea. “You’re coming with me, now!”
He wrapped an arm around my waist, firm and unyielding, and pulled me away as Nolan was dragged out.