Chapter 7

Evelyn pov

The air in the room felt suffocating as Lucas watched me, his eyes darting nervously between me and the door. My heart pounded relentlessly against my ribs, and despite his calm words, every inch of me trembled. I could hear my breath, shallow and erratic, but his piercing gaze seemed to demand something I wasn’t ready to give.

"You can’t just keep hiding in here, Evelyn," Lucas said, his voice softer than usual, but no less firm. "You need to eat. It's not good for you to stay locked up like this."

I shook my head, instinctively pulling the blanket tighter around me as if it could shield me from the world outside. But I knew it couldn’t protect me from what was coming.

"I’m not hungry," I muttered, my voice barely audible, betraying the lie.

Lucas didn’t move immediately. His gaze held mine, searching for some glimmer of the person I used to be. Maybe he thought if he just tried hard enough, he could find it again. But the truth was that part of me had already died.

"You're lying," he said, his words cutting through the silence. "You haven’t eaten properly in days. Come on, just for me. Please."

I couldn’t take the pleading in his voice. It felt too much like pity, and I hated it. I hated the way he looked at me like I was some fragile, broken thing that needed fixing.

"Lucas," I finally spoke, my voice shaking, "it’s your fault. All of this… it’s your fault."

His brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Tears pricked my eyes as my chest tightened painfully. I squeezed my fists against the mattress, desperate to hold back the flood of emotions threatening to overtake me.

"If you hadn't taken me to the mall... if you hadn't been so reckless… Sarah wouldn’t have seen me. She wouldn't have gone straight to her brother."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "I know what she's going to do. She’ll tell him everything."

Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, my words tumbling out faster now.

"I’m married, Lucas. You know that. And now Sarah’s going to tell her brother, and he'll come for me. And it's all your fault." My voice cracked on the last part, and I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore.

I buried my face in my hands, letting the sobs wrack through my body. It wasn’t fair—none of it was. I was trapped, and the walls were closing in.

Lucas didn’t respond right away, and I was thankful for that. I didn’t want to hear him tell me everything was going to be okay, because I knew it wasn’t. Nothing would be okay again.

I didn’t hear him move, but suddenly, his arms were around me, pulling me against him. His chest was warm, his hands gentle as he stroked my hair, trying to soothe me.

"Shh… it’s okay," he whispered, his voice low and soothing. "You’re safe here, Evelyn. You’re safe with me."

But I couldn’t believe that anymore. How could I when everything was falling apart? How could I when Sarah and her brother were out there, waiting to tear me apart?

"Why… why did you bring me here?" I whispered, my voice breaking under the weight of the question. "You knew what this would do to me. You knew it would make things worse."

Lucas's hands paused on my back, and I felt the shift in his breath. "I didn’t know," he said quietly. "I didn’t know this would happen."

I scoffed, pushing myself away from him. "You never know, do you? You just go through life without thinking about the consequences. You never stop to think about how much damage you're causing."

He stood then, not saying a word. The tension in the room was thick, almost suffocating, and I didn’t know how much longer I could bear it. My heart felt like it was tearing itself apart.

Hannah’s voice broke through the silence, soft and concerned. "Lucas," she said, standing in the doorway, her expression unreadable, "maybe you should listen to her."

Lucas didn’t look at her, his gaze still on me. "I’m trying, Hannah."

But she wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was watching me with that look of pity, her eyes full of something I couldn’t quite place.

"Evelyn…" she began hesitantly. "You need to understand that none of this was Lucas’s fault. He was just trying to help you. He didn’t know what would happen."

I shook my head, the anger bubbling up again. "Help me? Is that what this is? You both think you’re helping me? I don’t need anyone’s help! I need to fix my own mistakes, but I can’t even do that because everything’s been messed up because of you."

My voice trembled with every word, but I couldn’t stop. "I’m still married. I’m still someone’s wife. Don’t you get it? I’m not free."

Lucas’s face went pale at my words, and for a moment, I thought he might collapse under the weight of them. Instead, he just looked at me, his expression a mix of regret and something else—something I couldn’t decipher.

"You don’t have to be alone in this, Evelyn," he said, his voice cracking. "You don’t have to face this alone."

I turned my back to him, unable to look him in the eye. "I am alone. I’ve always been alone."

Hannah stepped closer, her voice low and cautious. "Lucas, you need to listen to her. She’s not ready. She’s still carrying the weight of her marriage, and no matter how much you care for her, you can’t make her forget that. You have to give her time."

Lucas’s shoulders slumped, defeated. "I just want to help her. I don’t know how to do that…"

I couldn’t take it anymore. The pity, the words, the helplessness—it all felt like it was choking me. I stood up abruptly, pushing past both of them. I needed space, I needed to breathe.

The kitchen was only a few steps away, but it felt like a thousand miles away. As I made my way toward the dining table, I felt Lucas follow me, his footsteps hesitant but persistent.

"Evelyn, please. Just sit down and eat something," he pleaded, his voice quiet but insistent.

But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Not until I could think straight, until the storm inside me calmed.