Chapter 123

[Third-Person’s POV]

Alexander had been extremely wary of Evelyn for the remainder of the day.

He’d overheard most if not all of her speech to Michael down in the holding cells. Upon her bumping into him because the lighting was so poor in that particular area of the house, her look of complete dismal detachment had not gone amiss.

He already had a pretty good guess of the feelings that she was currently harboring within her. Anguish. Anger. Disappointment. Sorrow.

For the most part, Alexander thought that Evelyn had done well to get her point across to Michael. She did what she’d originally told him back in his office before he handed over the key—not that he thought she was lying to him.

Alexander just knew the kind of annoyance and irritation his Stepbrother could elicit from people. He couldn’t Evelyn if she had decided to throw a dagger or two at the guy for simply being his ‘charming’ self. But she hadn’t. Evelyn had demonstrated and carried herself with the utmost epitome of lethal grace.

Only once did she look as though her temper was going to slip and it was when she had slammed her first against the lock.

The sound was so haunting, it almost had Alexander jump from it unexpectedly. He debated about moving from his spot to see if her hand had been too severely injured. No doubt this action shocked even Michael out of his arrogant revere.

Her last words to him were what continued to cycle through Alexander’s mind.

“If my brother doesn’t make it out of that coma, I will find a way to kill you myself. He’s the only real family I have left and I’ll be damned if I lose him because some narcissistic sociopath is jealous over his own siblings' achievements.”

Oliver had been right. Evelyn had reached a whole new threshold within herself. His voice was another constant echo in his head.

“This particular kind of rage is on the borderline of murderous.”

And sure enough, the man had been spot on about that evaluation. Evelyn wasn’t okay. He didn't need to ask her in order to figure that out. The woman had remained eerily quiet as the two ascended the staircase.

Instead of heading back out toward the greenhouse, Evelyn turned the other direction toward the bedroom. The poor woman was likely exhausted after such an unpleasant encounter. He couldn’t blame her.

Of course, this only made his worry for her grow all the more. He forced himself to return to his office and continue working on the case file. There was still the worry over Michael potentially exposing Alexander’s secret in the process of everything.

He wouldn't put it past the guy for trying to screw him over one last time. Something had to be set in place to secure his position. Oliver greeted him with a look of burning anticipation, wanting to know how things had gone.

“Evelyn is currently resting in our room,” he told the Beta. “And, no. There was no bloodshed; however, she had threatened to kill Michael if Edward doesn’t eventually pull out of his coma.”

Oliver’s eyes widened, yet he bore a look that showed he was impressed.

“Good for her,” he remarked. “On another note, have you found any sort of solution as to how you want to present this whole case to the Royals?”

With Michael having to be present when the trial happens, didn’t make things as smooth as they could be. Alexander shook his head in defeat. There had to be some angle they could use...

[Evelyn’s POV]

I was debating about whether or not to join Alexander for dinner that night. It wasn’t as though I was trying to avoid him or anyone in particular, it was just that I couldn’t shake the awful feeling from my head.

Since the time Alexander and I made our way up from the holding cells, I’d been mentally replaying my entire interaction with Michael on repeat. With my head resting back on my pillow, I contemplated every single thing I had said to him.

Every look he gave me—every time he’d rolled his eyes or dared to smirk was burned into the side of my mind like a scar. I wanted to believe that everything I had said to Michael was actually going to resonate with him for a while.

But there just wasn’t any guarantee. And to make matters more troubling, Alexander was still dealing with the whole attempted murder case. I, personally, didn’t want Michael around any longer than absolutely necessary.

However, I knew that Alexander was currently placed in a rather precarious position at the moment regarding this whole case. I’d been informed about the concerns of Michael possibly leaking the fact that Alexander was never involved in the car accident to begin with.

It would surely end up making Michael get off on a lighter sentence or worse...Make the whole case dissolve into nothing.

The last thing I wanted was to see all of Alexander’s determination and hard work blow up in his face. Worst of all, I didn’t want the world to turn around and think him crazy for his own choices to appear handicapped all this time.

...Crazy...

Suddenly, the thought hit me.

I shot up from the mattress and darted for the door. It was exactly time for dinner yet so I quickened my pace and headed straight for Alexander’s office. I could tell he and Oliver were still locked into a deep discussion when I walked in.

The two glanced up from all the papers that were strewn out across the desk.

“Evelyn? Are you alright?” Alexander asked.

“I...I think I have an idea as to how you’re going to make this case stick up in court,” I confessed breathlessly.

Both Oliver and Alexander shared a look with each other before turning to give me their full, undivided attention as I went on.

I held out a hand. “Before I say anything, please understand that I am not proud of this idea. To be honest, I find it to be completely unethical and entirely wrong on all levels.”

“Evelyn, you’re scaring me,” Alexander said dryly. “Please, just tell us what it is that you thought of.”

“When you present this case, make Michael sound as though he is psychologically unstable. It would work more to your benefit and image if you came off as the overly concerned bystander rather than the angry victim,” I explained. “It will place more of the attention on Micheal and less on yourself, at the very least. Once that statement is out there, anything Michael says will be questioned indefinitely.”

Alexander sat back in his seat and allowed my words to sink in. Ever so slowly, the corner of his mouth began to curl into a smile.

“That’s brilliant,” Oliver commented.

“Think about it, with that idea already in their minds, when you show them all of the evidence that you gathered, there is no possible way that anyone could deny him being guilty,” I said. “And when Michael ultimately tries to expose the fact of you not needing the wheelchair and mask, you’re simply going to deny everything.”

“Which is going to make Michael appear all the more crazy for even thinking to say it in front of everyone,” Alexander noted. His eyes lit up with pure excitement. “Holy shit, sweetheart.”

“I think she’s just won us this case.”