Chapter 67

It had been a couple of days since Evelyn returned and not a single person knew how to properly proceed with things around the house. Ever since the woman magically appeared back into everyone’s life, I felt like I was walking on eggshells.

Many of the staff members would awkwardly shuffle around me whenever I came into a room. They kept their heads down and would only mumble short responses and nothing more. It was like I was being purposely shunned. I couldn’t stand it.

But part of me couldn’t blame them.

Not even I knew how to go on as I had before. They were trying to do their best in an awkward situation the same as I was.

Granted, James still had me on the schedule which was running my life like it normally would. But beyond that, I felt like a complete stranger who’d walked in on someone else’s love story.

I wasn’t sure how long Evelyn was going to stay in the house or what the potential plan was for her now that she was no longer considered missing. I was kind of hoping that something would have been settled regarding the matter because as the days went on, more tension was building in the house.

One of the days I had off from work, I found Lily in one of the drawing rooms rigidly flipping through a magazine.

“Lily.”

I could tell that my presence startled her to some degree from the slight bounce she gave in her chair. She quickly composed herself and awkwardly giggled. “Oh, dear, you scared me there.”

“Sorry, I was just wondering if you had a moment to chat briefly.”

She set her magazine aside and gestured for me to take the open seat across from her.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” she said.

I gave her a pointed look as though the answer wasn’t blatantly obvious already. Lily let out a long sigh and nodded her head.

“Ah, yes. I should have guessed as much. You’re talking about the whole Evelyn showing up out of nowhere situation.”

“Yes. It’s not as though I’m looking to get rid of her or anything, but I’ve noticed the not-so-subtle change with the staff,” I said.

Lily dropped her gaze to her lap. Her brows drew together. “They just don’t know how to act because they don’t know how to perceive Evelyn being here,” she explained meekly.

My heart skipped several beats. “You mean, they don’t know who James’ real wife is,” I clarified.

Lily gave me a sheepish look and nodded her head. “Before you there was her. Much of the staff aren’t even sure how they should go on to address you.”

So they thought that they were better off ignoring me...I felt utterly invisible.

‘My God, was this how Monica felt when I first came here?’ I wondered.

And as if things hadn’t gotten any more frustrating, James had been spending a majority of the time with Evelyn as opposed to me. I’ve been trying my best to understand his side of things. Of course, he would want to spend time with the woman whom he believed had disappeared from his life.

I had nothing against the idea of James and Evelyn taking the time to catch up and talk things out. However, as time went on I was beginning to feel like James was purposely ignoring and avoiding me.

‘He wants his old life back—the one he had before he and I got together,’ I thought.

Now that Evelyn was back, I decided that James and I really needed to discuss our relationship and what was going to happen. Did he want to remain with me or...Did he want to get back with Evelyn?

The mere thought of him, even possibly choosing her over me, caused an ache in my chest to clench around my heart.

“How does she treat you and the staff?” I asked Lily.

The older woman shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “Fairly normal, I should say. She doesn’t cause any trouble really.”

How interesting...Whenever Evelyn and I managed to cross paths, she would openly glare at me with an obvious look of disdain and bitterness. It was like the woman had a knack for making someone feel uncomfortable and severely out of place.

Something had to be done about it. The following day, I found James in the study. He seemed deeply transfixed to his work, but this was a conversation that deeply needed to happen.

“James, do you have a moment?” I asked.

He barely glanced at his work. “What is it?”

“I was hoping you and I could talk about the situation with Evelyn—”

“What about her?” he asked briskly.

The tension in the room grew by the second. “Well, I wanted to know exactly what her plan was now that she’s back here.”

“What do you mean?”

I tried not to scoff. “I mean, is she planning on staying here? Because many of the staff, including myself, feel a bit uncertain and out of place because we don’t exactly know what’s going on here.”

I could tell that James’ temper was growing short. He furrowed his brows and narrowed his gaze at me with snappy skepticism.

“I don’t understand where any of this is coming from,” he stated. “But I’m not going to talk about this with you.”

“James—”

“Look, I don’t know what brought this on, but I don’t have time for this,” he commented. “Evelyn and I have another appointment that we need to deal with.”

Yes, amongst Evelyn's unexpected return, James had taken it upon himself to make sure she was visiting certain doctors frequently. He wanted to figure out if the woman had suffered any short-term memory loss as well as any other possible problems. He was eager to know what had happened to her in the time they weren’t together.

Speaking of appointments, because I was still following that goddamn schedule James had me on, I had an appointment with one of the seamstresses who was planning to work on my new season’s wardrobe.

I could honestly have cared less.

As I left the study to grab my bag, I noticed my phone was receiving an incoming call. It was from Michael.