Walter, standing dead center, was a little nervous. Five towering men were eyeing him like prey, and they were all family elders to boot. That was enough to make anyone's heart race.Holden stood as the chosen voice of the five brothers, his gaze on Walter heavy with unspoken fury. There was no room for small talk; he cut straight to the chase."Walter, we didn't come here to make a fuss. We just want to know one thing: When are you going to let Evie go and sign those divorce papers?"Evangeline's marriage to Walter had been nothing but hardship, and her uncles had watched her suffer.They were determined, before even stepping foot here, to free Evangeline from this toxic tie to Walter and then help her find happiness again.Walter was floored by Holden's blunt question.He had been so focused on getting Evangeline to have his kids, a divorce was the last thing on his mind. However, Holden's question made it sound like it was already a sure thing."Could there be some kind of mi
"I won't do it!" Walter's eyes were tinged with red, but his voice was resolute."Why won't you let go? You don't even like Evie, and now you're just holding her back from finding happiness?"Holden's blood boiled at the thought of this guy messing with his beloved niece's future.When the men grilled him, Walter was bursting with things to say but could not find the words.He truly adored Evangeline; he dreamed of growing old with her. However, Evangeline's heart belonged to Alex, leaving Walter's love with nowhere to go.If he spilled his true feelings and they reached Evangeline, he would lose the last shred of pride he had.No way he could admit that, not even if his life depended on it!Walter hardened his resolve and looked away. "I just won't do it, okay? Get over it. There's no way I'll agree to a divorce from Evangeline!"His voice was firm, but it only fueled Evangeline's uncles' anger.That little jerk! Messing up his own life was one thing, but dragging Evie down w
Yale knew better than to push it. He backed off a bit, and the others gave them room, clearing a space for the showdown. In the wide-open office, Walter and Holden faced off, each ready to rumble.Walter eyed Holden's amateurish fighting stance and decided to throw him a warning. "Heads up, Uncle, I'm coming in."Holden sneered at Walter, full of himself, "Bring it on. Scared? Not a chance. For Evie's sake, I'm all in!"Before he could finish his tough talk, a blur zipped toward him. Next thing he knew, his shoulder was throbbing, "Ah!" Holden yelped. By the time he snapped out of it, Walter had his arms twisted behind him.Walter's voice was low in his ear, "You're done, Uncle." He let go of Holden's arms."Cheap shot!" Holden was fuming, rolling up his sleeves, "I'm not buying it. Let's go again. If I lose, then I'll give you props!" He was ready to dive back in, but Walter just shook his head. "We said one-on-one, one shot only. You're not going to chicken out, are you?"That
Yale had seen his fair share of rough-and-tumble in the special forces. Heck, he had even hauled around heavy artillery. Dealing with Walter, that punk, should have been a walk in the park, right?As it turned out, Yale had been through the wringer in the military, sure, but his years in politics had pretty much made him hand back all those fighting moves to his drill sergeant.When the dust settled, Walter was like one man against an army, and he laid out all five of the Foster brothers.Staring down the outcome, the Foster brothers were anything but happy about it. However, they had made their bet, and it was clear they were outclassed. They did not have a leg to stand on if they wanted to keep pushing for the divorce.Once Walter saw his uncles-in-law had cooled their jets, he turned on the charm."Guys, I know you're all here for Evangeline. But you've seen it yourself, I wasn't looking for a fight today. Let's call it a day and head on home, alright?"Truth be told, after th
With Evangeline's rise to power came more people to manage and more people to depend on her. She used her practiced tone to deflect any risk from unknown callers.However, she was clueless that David's voice, laced with urgency, would come through the other end. "Mrs. Gordon, you need to get over to Gordon Group, like, now. All five uncles are here, and they've got Mr. Walter Gordon cornered in his office. I don't know what's going down, but it's super intense, and I'm freaking out about the boss."David's words came out with a quiver, as if he was on the verge of tears.Evangeline's brow instantly creased with worry. What on earth were her uncles up to at the Gordon Group building?The tone of David's voice spelled trouble, and nothing good at that.With no time to waste, Evangeline jumped into her car and sped off to Gordon Group.Little did she know, in Walter's office at that very moment, the Foster brothers were seething with anger, unable to contain their fury at Walter's a
There was Walter, his eyes red and swollen, looking like he should be under glass in a museum. He kept his head down, stealing a cautious look at Evangeline, silent as the night.The Foster brothers were fuming, their anger simmering with no place to go.Walter, the rascal, was putting on quite the performance right in front of Evangeline! He acted like he was the victim, while they, the older relatives, were the mean bullies taking whatever they wanted by force!"Evie, don't even look at him. He's just faking it, I swear..."Evangeline grabbed Walter by the sleeve and yanked him in front of her, pointing at his black-and-blue eyes. "Isn't it obvious? Holden, got anything else to add?"Yale, the eldest among them, realized that Walter's little stunt had them all looking like the bad guys. He was so mad that he could bite a nail in half, but he knew he had to clear things up to avoid any more misunderstandings."Evie, you've got it all wrong...""There's nothing to get wrong."A
Holden strolled out, cracking jokes as he tugged Evangeline along.The once bustling office fell eerily silent, so devoid of life that Walter felt utterly alone.Slumped in his chair at the desk, Walter reached for a file on instinct, but he moved too fast, and a sharp jab of pain shot through his injured abdomen.The pain forced a hiss from his lips, but he tried to ignore it.In the scuffle with Evangeline's uncles, he had relied on finesse over brute strength, aiming to take them down with a single move. Of course, even the slickest moves require some effort, and it was no surprise that he had aggravated his injury.Despite the throbbing pain, and the very real possibility that the wound might reopen and bleed, he stubbornly refused to dwell on it.The image of Evangeline, not hesitating for a second to agree to that blind date, kept replaying in his head, causing a different kind of ache, one that seemed to compete with the physical pain.He could not tell which hurt more, h
Evangeline checked the time on her phone and frowned.It was way past late, and Walter was still grinding away at work. Did he forget he was nursing an injury?"How's Walter's injury doing?"They were on the brink of divorce, so whether Walter was kicking or not should not matter to her. However, his injury was no ordinary scrape, and if she did not at least pretend to care, it felt sort of apathetic.What she did not realize was that her words just jogged David's memory.The boss playing knight in shining armor for Evangeline? That had to up the odds of a reconciliation, right?With that, he started to spice up the tale, mixing a bit of truth with a healthy dose of fiction."He ignored the doctor's orders and checked himself out of the hospital. He spent the whole night by a patient's bedside, no rest for the weary."And talk about timing, today the big shots showed up and raised hell. I'm not sure about how the boss is holding up, because he's tight-lipped. But ever since the