Chapter 120

[Evelyn’s POV]

I tried to keep my anxiety down to a tolerable level as I followed closely behind Oliver. I couldn’t begin to imagine what the situation was that could possibly involve Edward. If everything was fine with his health and treatments, then what could possibly be so important that Alexander would have me pulled into his office?

The last thing I should have been doing was letting my thoughts wander.

When we made it into Alexander’s office my feelings of worry and confusion doubled. Even Alexander didn’t look too sure about how to approach this unknown conversation.

My brows pulled together as I gradually made my way over to his desk. I glanced between the two men and folded my arms over my chest.

“Alright, is someone going to tell me why I’ve been called here?” I asked. “I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit freaked out here.”

“Evelyn.”

Alexander’s tone was one that was filled with an unusual sense of caution that did nothing good for my own nerves.

“Okay, you need to tell me what is going on now,” I demanded.

His gaze softened. “Do you remember the night I first asked about your brother’s condition and how he came to be in the state that he’s in now?”

It had been the night in which Wendy had purposely planned for Alexander and me to dine in the formal dining room. We had an amazing dinner and ended up moving across the hall to a gorgeous ballroom. We actually danced together—something I never would have thought possible less than a week ago.

But, aside from the obvious, yes, he had inquired about my brother’s accident and welfare. I didn’t necessarily find it strange that he had asked all those questions.

In fact, I thought it was nice he wanted to know this side of my life that I’d been going through the motions with for the last several months. It wasn’t easy. Every time my mind would wander toward thoughts of Edward, I would end up placing myself on an emotional rollercoaster.

I’d think about his current state and how something as awful should have never happened to such a good-hearted person. Then, my mind would bring me back to all the sweet memories of the two of us when we were younger.

Those moments when it was just the two of us against the world. We promised that we would always be there for each other no matter what.

Worst of all, I would end up thinking about the future that he would, essentially, be missing out on if his health didn’t improve.

“Yes,” I answered back weakly.

“And, do you also happen to recall how I then asked you a few questions relating more about the accident—you know, about the other vehicle that was involved?”

All I could do was nod my head. This conversation wasn’t giving any clear direction and I wasn’t liking the growing edge in his voice.

“Alexander, will you please just tell me what the hell is going on?” I shouted.

“Perhaps, you should sit down,” he suggested.

My eyes narrowed in refusal. “No. Tell me what you need to say before I decide that I don’t want to stand here anymore. Just tell me.”

Alexander kept his gaze even as he spoke. “The whole situation about your brother’s accident had been bugging me for a while,” he admitted. “The more information you ended up telling me, the more my curiosity and speculation grew.”

My brows lifted. “Speculation? About what? I told you everything I knew personally from the whole horrible experience.”

He came around the large desk and rested his hands on my shoulders. “I know that. It’s just...I found certain facets of the whole situation to be rather coincidental, mind you. Perhaps a bit too coincidental for my liking, so I had Oliver and a few others look into the matter more closely.”

“And, what exactly did you find?”

Something in the bottom of my gut told me that I may regret having asked that question.

“As horrible as it may sound, I had a theory that somehow both the car accident that was meant to end my life and the accident that nearly ended your brother’s were connected. Both situations held too many similarities that I couldn’t just let it go without finding the truth,” he explained.

“The confirmation came in this morning,” Oliver chimed in.

My entire body went stiff. Somehow in the dismal recesses of my mind where my darkest thoughts lived, I knew what was coming.

“Say it,” I pressed.

“The car that hit your brother and practically hurled him off his bike was the same car that I was meant to be all those months back.”

I felt my heart skip numerous beats. A terrible sting struck me in my chest. It was like someone had taken an ice-cold bucket of water and dumped it over my head.

My bottom lip trembled to the point where I took it between my teeth to keep it from shaking. The whites of my eyes grew wider.

Naturally, my first reaction was to disagree. “No,” I whispered. “That’s not poss—”

“Yes, Evelyn,” Alexander insisted. “I wouldn’t have pulled you away from your work if this was still all just speculation. They found proof that it was your brother who was a legitimate casualty as a result of the crash.”

“Neither of us wanted to believe it,” Oliver said quietly. “We believed you had a right to know the whole truth about what had happened.”

The corners of my eyes prickled with tears. “I’ll admit, a big part of me always did find it odd that my family never really got much detail when it pertained to the accident. Then again, my mind had been so focused on helping Edward, that I didn’t even bother to harp on it.”

Alexander gently shook his head and raised his hand to cup my chin. “No one would have expected you to juggle all of that and take care of your brother as well.”

“We really were contemplating about bringing this to your attention,” the Beta mentioned. “It’s not that we meant to keep any of it a secret. Being that Edward is back on the mend, we figured that your main focus would want to be on the future.”

Oliver’s explanation gave me a gush of warmth that I desperately needed. Of course, they were right. I shouldn’t even have been harping on this. It was just that it brought a whole new revelation to the table which I wasn’t about to ignore.

For the last several months, I lived under the assumption that what happened to my brother was just sheer bad luck. But it turned out to be so much more than that. Little did I know, it was really because of a failed murder attempt that Edward’s life had become intertwined with it all.

All because Michael demanded to have the brake lines cut out of the car...

Again, I was hit with another painful twinge in my chest. I tried taking in several deep, long breaths to steady myself.

“Evelyn? Please tell me if you’re alright or not,” Alexander said.

My nostrils flared as I held back a scornful sneer. It took a long moment for me to tear my eyes up from the floor. I was practically vibrating from the anger that was sizzling beneath my skin.

I silently held out my hand to him. “I want the key to the chamber.”