Christopher’s brows furrowed as he stood at the villa's entrance, his sharp gaze fixed on the empty driveway. His voice, low and unwavering, broke the silence.
“Go back and cut the cake yourself.”
Charlotte’s bright smile faltered, her voice softening into a familiar, hesitant tone as she played her usual card.
“But Chris... my heart’s feeling a little fragile and it’s so cold out here.”
At that, Christopher finally turned to look at her. His piercing, icy stare gradually softened, shifting into the warmth and indulgence Charlotte had come to expect.
He reached up and adjusted her coat, tucking it tighter around her shoulders. His tone was gentle now. “It’s snowing and freezing out here. Go inside and warm up. I’ll wait a little longer.”
Charlotte hesitated before reaching for his hand, but just as she did, Evelyn arrived. She stepped through the gate and into the courtyard, only to find Christopher and Charlotte standing side by side, their attention entirely on one another.
Evelyn quickly lowered her gaze, biting her lip. She said nothing, quickening her pace until she reached the center of the snowy courtyard. There, she dropped to her knees without hesitation, her movement precise and practiced.
This was Christopher’s punishment. Yesterday, after an argument with Charlotte that escalated into harsh words, he had decreed that Evelyn should kneel in the snow for the entire day.
No one could defy Christopher—not even Evelyn.
Hearing the noise behind them, Christopher and Charlotte turned their heads. Christopher immediately pulled his hand back from Charlotte and shoved it into his coat pocket, his tone colder than the winter wind.
“Where were you?”
Evelyn’s voice was weak, her breath barely visible in the icy air. “There was something important I had to take care of.”
Christopher’s eyes swept over her pale face, his jaw tightening. His hand flexed inside his pocket, betraying the storm of questions swirling in his mind.
Who had she gone to see? Why was she back so late? And why was she wearing so little in this kind of weather?
But when he finally spoke, the words came out stiff and unforgiving. “Do you know what you did wrong?”
Yesterday, Evelyn had shocked everyone by lashing out at Charlotte, using crude, biting words that left Charlotte shaken—so shaken, in fact, that it triggered a mild heart episode.
Christopher had been forced to cancel his meetings and rush Charlotte to the hospital. He’d spent the entire day apologizing, culminating in tonight’s city-wide fireworks display to make her birthday unforgettable. Only after all that had Charlotte forgiven the incident.
To appease her further, Christopher had declared Evelyn would be punished—kneeling in the snow all day. In truth, it was more of a symbolic gesture. He hadn’t intended to take it seriously.
Charlotte had been his childhood friend, practically family. They’d grown up together and Christopher would never let his fiancée undermine her. Besides, his business partnership with the Sinclair Family was far too important to jeopardize over a petty conflict.
As long as Evelyn apologized and Charlotte calmed down, he’d have been satisfied.
But to his disappointment, Evelyn raised her head stubbornly, her eyes meeting his without flinching.
“And what, exactly, did I do wrong?”
Christopher’s expression darkened instantly.
If she wouldn’t acknowledge her mistakes, then he’d have to teach her.
Standing tall in the snow, Christopher’s cold gaze bore into Evelyn. His voice was like frost. “Then you’ll kneel for another day. Get up tomorrow night.”
With that, he grabbed Charlotte’s wrist and turned away. “Let’s go. Time to cut the cake.”
As they disappeared into the warmth of the villa, Evelyn tilted her head back, watching the snow swirl and fall around her.
Obedience.
The word echoed in her mind as snowflakes melted on her cheeks.
Christopher was her test of obedience, wasn’t he?
Five years ago, he had saved her from a human trafficking ring. And from that moment on, Evelyn had latched onto him, seeing him as her anchor.
Her family had been no anchor at all.
Her father, who had abandoned her for another woman, barely bothered with an occasional call—at least until his new wife and child came along, after which even the rare phone calls stopped altogether.
Her mother, a barely-educated woman who had struggled to raise her alone, had finally remarried and started a new family of her own.
Evelyn had become a leftover piece of her broken family, a shadow nobody wanted.
And so she had clung to Christopher, following him, obeying him.
But now, kneeling in the snow, Evelyn wondered if she was clinging to salvation—or if she had simply traded one prison for another.
