Chapter 70

It was no mystery that James was greatly pissed-off with me. But the real challenge was trying to figure out which issue was currently ranking in first place.

Was he mad at me for not having made the appointment with the seamstress? Was it because I met up with Michael? Or was it because I was still unhappy and indifferent about the whole matter involving Evelyn?

“Who the hell knows?” I muttered to myself.

But, in my defense, I wasn’t too pleased with him either. I was still deeply cross about his lack of ability to simply talk to me. I was being driven mad by the fact that even after the little altercation between him and Michael just yesterday, James was refusing to sit down and talk about any of it.

The tension remained high around the house and James still preferred to spend the majority of his free time with Evelyn. I guess it was just easier to ignore the fact that he and I were not on good terms if he wasn’t in my company.

Once more, I felt like a ghost, roaming the halls and the staff purposely ignoring and avoiding me. It was ridiculous. But, unfortunately, I didn’t see a possible end to any of it. At least, not right away.

‘Screw this,’ I thought bitterly.

There was no way that I was going to endure another damn day feeling unbearably awkward and out of place in that friggin house. A big part of me was tempted to reach out to Michael again. Hell, I didn’t care if we’d just seen each other yesterday, Michael had proven himself to be a great listener and a deeply fascinating conversationalist.

Suddenly my train of thought was broken when the sound of my phone going off broke through the silence. I glanced down at the screen to see that it was Emily. A smile curved my lips and I happily took the call.

“Hey,” I greeted.

Emily must have immediately caught the downward tone of my voice. “Mia? What is it? Is something wrong? Did something happen?”

I couldn’t help myself but smile further. I was so lucky to have a friend that could read me so well even when the two of us weren’t even in each other’s company.

“It’s a long story,” I sighed.

She snorted. “Well, then it’s a good thing that I’ve got the time to listen to it all!” Emily exclaimed.

For the next half hour, I went on to explain from when James and I attended the party to the most recent fallout we had yesterday with Michael having been present. I told her about how I genuinely believed that Michael was my mate and then how Evelyn just suddenly showed up out of nowhere and turned my life with James completely upside down.

After I’d finally gotten through everything that I deemed was worthy of mentioning, there was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“Emily? Em? You still there?”

“...Holy shit!! Mia!!” She shouted back. “I—I have no idea what to say. I...Are you okay...I mean, duh, of course, you’re not okay. But, oh my God! I don’t even know where to start.”

“Emily, it’s alright,” I said calmly. “You don’t need to say anything. I just...I’m not sure what to do at this point. All this has been going on and James hasn’t given me the time of day to sit down and actually speak to me. I think I...I just really need some space to think things out.”

Barely a second passed before Emily was chirping into the phone with excitement.

“Oh! Mia, why don’t you come and stay with me for a little while?” she suggested eagerly.

My eyes widened in shock. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely! I’ll set up the guest room right now.”

Again, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have a friend like her in my life. As soon as the call ended, I headed to the bedroom where I began to pack up a duffle bag. But in the midst of me getting my stuff together, James came into the room and openly glared at me.

“Where the hell are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going to spend a few days with Emily.”

I could see the worry cross his features. “Why?”

“Because you and I need a break from whatever the hell is going on between us.”

“This is about Evelyn—”

“Of course, this is about her! I don’t know what is going on with the two of you, and honestly, I don’t want to know.”

“Mia.”

“It’s obvious that she’s come back into your life. Look, I’m glad to see that she’s not actually dead and that the two of you can talk things out. But...”

“But what?”

“I’ve tried talking to you about this for days, but you never care to spare me just a moment of your precious time.” I shook my head and grabbed my bag. “So, I think it’s best if we take a break.”

I stepped out of the bedroom to find Evelyn standing out in the hallway. My brows furrowed.

“Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?”

Evelyn silently shrugged. “Why would I do that?”

I rolled my eyes and tried to move past her.

“Are you leaving?” she asks.

“For a little while.”

“Well, I think that would be for the best. You know, James has been so unhappy these past few days, you can rest assured that I’ll be here to look after him,” she said smugly.

I pushed my anger down and turned my back on her as I made my way down the large staircase. I heard James call after me, but I turned to glance over my shoulder, I saw Evelyn throw her hands out to shove me.

I lost my footing and felt my whole body fall forward, taking a rough tumble down the remainder of the stairs.

“MIA!!” James shouted in absolute fear.

I let out a broken groan as I tried to pick myself up. My stomach ached in pain and the fear for my baby’s safety came flooding in. Something inside of me the moment James tried to reach out for me.

That same, familiar spark that I’d felt on the cruise ship tore through me. A harsh, inhuman growl tore from my throat, causing James to stop short. The man looked purely stunned and downright afraid.

“Stay away from me!” I cried out. “Don’t touch me.”

I turned my head to glare at Evelyn and snarled. “You want him so badly? Good!” I hissed. “You can have him.”

Snatching my bag up from the floor, I carefully made my way toward the door and didn’t look back.