Evelyn froze, her teary eyes looking up at him
“But,” he continued, “you will not touch her again.”
“Evelyn, there will be no next time. If there is”
He tilted her chin up and gripped it tightly, his fingers digging into her skin.
His voice dropped to a menacing whisper:
“I’ll make sure you regret it.”
That night, Christopher locked Evelyn in the basement of the mansion.
No lights. No heat.
Just cold, unyielding concrete.
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Evelyn curled into herself, trembling, her lips turning blue. By the time the housekeeper came to let her out the next morning, Evelyn was convinced she was on the verge of death.
But Christopher wasn’t done punishing her.
He pulled Gray Group’s funding from the orphanage–a devastating blow to the one place she still felt connected to.
And in a public statement, he announced that his relationship with Evelyn had always been strictly professional.
The widely publicized proposal? Just a marketing stunt for the launch of his company’s new product line.
Evelyn’s world shattered.
14
Lately, Evelyn had been an absolute mess, lost and humiliated.
Even though everyone at the orphanage tried to comfort her, she felt like a failure, as if her life had come full circle, back to where she started.
As a child, she had been adored at the orphanage everyone loved her, admired her beauty.
But every time a wealthy family came to adopt, no matter how much she tried to stand out, fate always seemed to pass her by.
She worked so hard, only to watch happiness slip through her fingers again and again. She would get so close–so close to finally having a family, finally feeling love.
But in the end, it was always the same: nothing.
Her teachers used to tell her that hard work always paid off.
So why, no matter how much she gave, did it all feel like a cruel joke?
Now, even though she was still living in Christopher’s opulent mansion, every night she
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H
dreamed of being back in the shabby orphanage–sleeping on a simple wooden bed, surrounded by peeling walls, drafty windows, and the cold reality of her past.
She wanted wealth. She wanted love.
She wanted to be a princess.
Recently, Christopher had been coming home with a suspicious scent of perfume lingering on his clothes. And sometimes, faint bruises or red marks appeared on his neck.
Evelyn hired someone to follow him, only to discover that, besides Hannah, there was
another woman.
This one was wild, seductive, and alluring–doing everything she could to capture Christopher’s attention.
Furious, Evelyn smashed one of the mansion’s expensive vases to pieces.
“Christopher is mine!” she screamed.
How dare that bunny–girl try to steal him from her?
She lost control, ranting and raving like a madwoman. The staff in the mansion huddled
in the corners, too afraid to speak, letting her voice echo through the empty halls.
No one came to comfort her.
Why?
Why was she so unworthy of sympathy? So unworthy of understanding?
Did Hannah know about this? No, Evelyn thought bitterly, she had to go tell her.
Someone else needed to bear this pain with her.
Evelyn ran through the snowstorm, the icy wind slashing at her face.
In her mind, she imagined herself as the heroine of a tragic romance drama. Surely, Christopher would see her like this and regret everything.
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Surely, he would love her again.
Surely, he would stop his philandering and come back to her.
But when Evelyn left Hannah’s house, everything shattered.
Her entire world collapsed.
The snow was still falling, thick and relentless.
Sitting on the bench at an empty bus stop, she stared into the darkness.
Her tears flowed uncontrollably, streaming down her cheeks like a broken faucet.
They were married.
Hannah and Christopher were legally married
The CEO of Gray Group wasn’t single. He wasn’t….
Hannah’s words echoed in her mind: “You’re the mistress. You’re the one who came
between us.”
Evelyn had been nothing but a thief.
A thief who had stolen love, clinging to it with desperation, only to flaunt her stolen prize in front of its rightful owner.
What had all her scheming and hard work been for?
No. This wasn’t over.
She couldn’t lose now.
She would make Christopher regret it.
Marriage? So what?
Christopher didn’t love Hannah. He couldn’t. The only woman he truly loved was Evelyn.
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But if she kept playing the sweet, doting lover, it would only give Christopher the upper hand. She couldn’t let that happen.
Evelyn had used her beauty to her advantage her entire life. She had always been the one
to take.
Why should she let someone take from her now?
No, she would make Christopher divorce Hannah.
And she would destroy that bunny–girl.
The more Evelyn thought about it, the more her hatred for the bunny–girl grew.
That woman had the audacity to take advantage of the fight between her and Christopher to worm her way into his life.
That woman was nothing but a gold–digger.
15
Evelyn seemed to have forgotten why she set her sights on Christopher in the first place -because he was rich.
It was just like her days at the orphanage.
It wasn’t that families didn’t want to adopt her. She was beautiful, polite, and well–mannered. Everyone at the orphanage adored her. And every time a family came looking to adopt, Evelyn made it her mission to find out everything she could about them beforehand.
If they were wealthy, she would pull out all the stops–showing off her prettiest, sweetest, and most obedient side.
But if they were just an average family? She wouldn’t even try.
In fact, she looked down on them, thinking to herself: Why would someone so mediocre
deserve me?
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68%
She silently mocked the idea of these ordinary people taking her in. “If they’re too dumb to make money, they deserve to die childless,” she thought cruelly. “They can’t even have kids of their own, yet they want to adopt me so I can take care of them in their old age? Inherit their legacy? What a joke!”
Where did this cold, calculating mindset come from?
Simple. Evelyn was born clever.
She had always been sharp, far beyond her years. As a child, she picked up reading and basic math without anyone teaching her.
Her brilliance carried her through elementary school and middle school.
But by high school, she started to fall behind. The more advanced math, physics, and chemistry were beyond her reach.
And as for the humanities?
Literature bored her–she barely skimmed the surface. English? Forget it. She didn’t have the patience to memorize vocabulary.
Still, Evelyn pushed herself to study. Not because she cared about academics, but because she knew education was just another tool–another step toward landing a wealthy man.
She managed to get into a mediocre college, working part–time to scrape by.
Everyone knows college is a paradise for relationships.
Evelyn swore to herself that this time, she would secure her future.
She couldn’t control the family she was born into, but marriage? That was her choice.
She was smart. She was beautiful. She was destined to rise above everyone else.
But the reality of college was bitter.
No one was stupid anymore.
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2
68%
Evelyn was surrounded by men–different types, all vying for her attention. She was like
the moon surrounded by sta
But the ones willing to spend money on her? Rare.
And the few wealthy men who did approach her quickly lost interest after a few dates.
The rest?
The rich ones only wanted to use “dating” as an excuse to sleep with her for free.
The poor ones? They wanted to sweet–talk her into settling down and popping out kids to carry on their family name.
The thought made Evelyn sick.
And so, she spent her college years sorting through these options, rejecting one man after another. By the time she graduated, she was still single, her youth slipping away.
Evelyn started to panic.
Just as she thought fate had turned against her, she stumbled upon news about Christopher Gray–the CEO of Gray Group.
He was young. Handsome. Filthy rich.
And most importantly, he didn’t have a steady partner.
There was her chance.
She began gathering information, Inching closer to him, step by step.
She carefully crafted her Image, planting herself in his life.
It wasn’t love. It was strategy.
After all, men were easy to manipulate.
As long as she gave just enough–pushed and pulled in the right ways–she could dangle
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<
the carrot in front of them, leading them wherever she wanted.
Like a farmer’s ox, Christopher would work tirelessly for her affection.
And it worked. Christopher treated her like a treasure.
But then Evelyn found out the truth.
Christopher was married.
And not only that–he had other women on the side.
Evelyn was stunned, frozen in place.
All her efforts had been for nothing. A joke.
68%
That evening, Christopher came home late. His clothes carried the faint scent of smoke and spices.
This man, who wouldn’t even lift a finger to help around the house, apparently knew how to cook.
And the only person he ever cooked for?
Hannah.
“Christopher,” Evelyn said sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck with a practiced
smile.
“Hm,” Christopher replied with an absentminded chuckle, his thoughts drifting back to something Hannah had said earlier.
But he didn’t dwell on it too much.
After all, this was just a game. A game of love.
16
Evelyn smiled sweetly and asked, “Have you eaten yet? Why are you so late tonight?”
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“I’ve eaten,” Christopher replied curtly, peeling her arms off his neck.
He didn’t know why, but ever since Evelyn had orchestrated the online smear campaign against Hannah, he couldn’t even summon the slightest interest in her–not even physically.
To be fair, when he first saw Evelyn in that dimly lit coffee shop, he had been momentarily struck by her beauty.
He had thought, She’s quite stunning.
But in their social circles? Beautiful women were a dime a dozen.
When she had brought the coffee to him that day–not placing it neatly on the table like she was supposed to, but handing it directly to him–he immediately understood what she
was trying to do.
Christopher didn’t care. He decided to play along.
