Chapter 84

[Third-Person’s POV]

This is utter madness.

Alexander had been quick to realize that he may have severely underestimated Evelyn’s ability to hold a grudge. It had been days since he had last spoken to her, much less seen her.

Ever since their falling out, Evelyn remained locked away in her rooms. She purposely took away any opportunity for him to talk to her since she stopped taking her meals in the dining room.

Alexander sensed the drastic shift in energy around the house almost immediately. Because of Evelyn’s absence and lack of interaction with others, the place seemed noticeably grimmer. There was far less joy and excitement amongst the staff.

Even his other pack members were quick to catch on to the sudden shift. Some of his own guards had even inquired about Evelyn’s well-being because it truly felt as though she wasn’t even at Kingston Hall. Was she ill? Had something happened to her that made her bound to her room?

Of course, Alexander came up with some kind of white lie to satiate the growing concern. But it was reaching a point where his words were only going to satisfy the wordy so much.

The people within the house knew better.

But it turned out that he wasn’t the only one that Evelyn was avoiding. She stopped her afternoon tea sessions with Wendy and Nina as well. Now that, he couldn’t understand.

Her anger and resentment were directed toward him, so why was she shutting out everyone else?

At the beginning of her self-induced isolation, Alexander kept his distance from her. He respected her refusal to be around him. But there reached a point where he was truly becoming concerned for her.

He didn’t know if she was even eating. At least a few people from his kitchen staff were able to keep him updated on that.

“Don’t worry, sir,” one of them said. “We make sure that Evelyn is eating at least twice a day.”

“Why only twice?” he questioned. That wasn’t like her.

The staff could only shrug. “We tried to deliver three meals but we found that she doesn’t have much of an appetite in the mornings.”

“Does she ever say anything when you bring her meals?”

“No, sir.”

All he could do was nod his head and allow them to get back to their work. Since then, Alexander had spent practically all of his time held up in his office, stewing over all the worrisome thoughts and emotions.

What the fuck am I going to do?

He knew Wendy told him to give Evelyn space and time. But how long was this period going to last? How long did he have to bear the punishment of her silence?

It’s not up for me to decide.

It bothered him like nothing ever had before, but Alexander knew, deep down, he didn’t have the right to invade her space. But at the same time, he feared that the longer the two of them would go without talking, the lesser chance their relationship stood in the future.

If she could just give me a few minutes, I could at least apologize...

With this being his new reality, the days droned on with no end in sight. Time felt stretched only to enhance his mindless torture.

That night, Alexander didn’t bother to go down to the dining room for dinner. He didn’t have it in himself to face another dinner alone. He stayed in his office, working well into the late evening. By the time he was ready to call it a day, he knew the rest of the house had gone to sleep hours ago.

However, just as he stepped out of the room, he was met with a strange sound of glass clinking together. His brows drew together in confusion as he trailed after the sound that led him to the kitchens.

His heart slammed violently in his chest when he saw a thin figure slowly moving around the counters.

“Evelyn,” he whispered.

He watched her whole body stiffen as she half glanced over her shoulder. He wondered what her next move would be. Would she rush out of the kitchen? Would she treat him as though he wasn’t even there?

Somehow that second option felt more hurtful than possibly watching her run from him.

However, Evelyn proved him wrong on both accounts. She didn’t run and she didn’t necessarily ignore him either.

“I’ll be done in a minute,” she said.

Her voice sounded far too raspy for him to feel comfortable. She was making tea and had gone through one of the stalked cabinets in search of honey.

“It’s alright,” he told her softly. “Your voice sounds—”

“It’s just weak,” she rasped. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” he stated. Alexander dared to move forward. He went over to the last cabinet and reached in to grab the honey jar. “Here. This should help soothe your throat.”

Evelyn hesitated to take the honey from him. Alexander had to fight back the torn feeling of agony in his chest. Yet, she ended up taking it from him and adding some of the honey to her tea.

While she took a few small sips, Alexander took the opportunity to look over her. She appeared rather fatigued. Her features were drawn, making her look frail and weak.

“Have you been doing this often?” he asked.

“Does it matter?”

He grimaced. “I meant, why not during the day?”

“I can’t bear to see anyone...Especially you.”

Alexander bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood. The pain that shot through him was well-earned.

“I understand your animosity toward me,” he said. “But why everyone else?”

Evelyn drew her brows together, her mouth pulling into a sneer. “Because I’m ashamed.”

He gave her a look of shock paired with confusion. “What do you have to be ashamed of? I’m the one that caused all of this.”

“You were there to see it,” she hissed between her teeth. Her voice filled with raw emotion. “I hurt Oliver. I think I broke his nose. I-I didn’t want to h-hurt him.”

She was grasping the mug in her hands so tightly, that Alexander was certain she was going to end up shattering it. Without thinking, he reached out and gently lifted the glass out of her shaking hands.

“Let me take that.” He placed the mug on the counter. “Evelyn, Oliver will heal.”

She shook her head and dropped her face into her hands. “That's not the point. H-How could I have hurt him? I’ve never hurt anyone like that in my life a-and I l-lost c-control!”

Evelyn began shaking more and more. Alexander slowly reached out to set his hand on her arm.

“You didn’t lose control,” he told her. “I shouldn’t have let Oliver try to manhandle you like that. It was wrong and uncalled for.”

She lifted her head up enough to glare at him. “A lot of what you did was uncalled for,” she said coldly.

“You’re right.” Alexander let out a long withheld breath. “Evelyn, I’m not asking you to forgive me. God knows that’s not something I deserve. But please, please know how sorry I am that I hurt you on such a detrimental level.”

Evely’s eyes were filled with tears. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. “How could you do that to me?”