Chapter 30
Evangeline paused to think.
Technically, even though she and Soren were divorced, the waiting period wasn’t over yet. That meant, by law, she was still the Fawkes family’s daughter–in–law,
Soren’s request wasn’t unreasonable.
Besides, Old Mrs. Fawkes had always treated her kindly. She owed it to the woman to at least stop by and say hello.
Evangeline didn’t refuse. “All right, I’ll be there,” she promised.
Soren listened to her gentle reply, his gaze drifting to the papers on his desk.
Gregory had handed him a report earlier: Evangeline was living in the worst apartment building in town. The place was shabby, and the living conditions were poor, to say the least.
He’d almost laughed in disbelief when he’d read it.
He sent her nearly four thousand dollars a month for living expenses, yet she’d chosen to move into a place like that?
Was she doing it on purpose?
Trying to gain his sympathy? Or maybe she wanted people to gossip–imagine, Soren Fawkes’s wife living in a run–down apartment.
Whatever her motive, Soren found it all rather amusing.
Still, he decided to give her an easy way out.
Magnanimously, he asked, “Anything else you want to say?”
Anything else?
It took Evangeline a moment to catch on. “We should probably tell them about our situation tomorrow too.“.
Our situation?
She meant Poppy moving into the house, and her insistence on a trial separation?
Was she planning to use that to force him to back down in front of his family?
The irritation he’d just managed to suppress flared up again. “If you have any complaints, just say them outright. There’s no need to make such a fuss over
22:01
something so trivial.
“Trivial?” Evangeline let out a bitter laugh.
All her soul–searching and second–guessing over the past few days suddenly seemed ridiculous.
She’d sacrificed so much for this marriage, yet in Soren’s eyes, it was all just a minor inconvenience.
But she’d been through worse. The sting of it only lasted a few seconds before she composed herself.
Her voice was calm. “They’re your family. When and how to tell them is up to you.”“
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now.”
With that, Evangeline ended the call.
On the other end, Soren listened to the dial tone and let out an incredulous laugh.
What kind of attitude was that?
She was the one who’d left home, and now she was telling him it was his decision?
And she’d actually hung up on him?
He’d always been the one to end their calls first. This was the first time Evangeline had dared to hang up on him.
She was getting bold.
Frustrated and annoyed, Soren tossed the file onto his desk with a thud.
He knew she was upset with him, but he couldn’t figure out what exactly she was so angry about.
They’d argued over, Poppy before, but Evangeline had never acted this unreasonable.
It was such a small thing–was all this really necessary?
“Mr. Fawkes, getting upset isn’t good for your health. Why don’t you eat something?” Macy, the housekeeper, approached him with a nervous smile.
Soren didn’t answer. He got up and walked to the dining room. But after just one bite of the food, he frowned.
It was as tasteless as cardboard. His mood soured even more.
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Had Macy always been such a bad cook?
He didn’t eat at home that often, but he didn’t remember it being this bad before
Lately, though, everything seemed to taste worse and worse.
Soren glanced at Macy, taking in the wrinkles on her face and the gray in her hair. The criticism on the tip of his tongue faded. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
Macy ventured, “Is something wrong, Mr. Fawkes?”
Soren stood, dabbed his mouth with a napkin, and placed it neatly on the table. “I’m going out for a while. I won’t eat tonight.”
Without another word, he turned and left.
Macy watched him go, her heart finally settling back to a steady beat.
With Evangeline gone, she no longer had anyone to share the chores and cooking. Years of an easy life had left her out of practice, so she’d been relying on pre–made meals lately.
Today, with Soren home all day, she’d had no choice but to cook herself.
When he looked at her just now, she’d felt her heart in her throat.
She’d have to come up with a better solution soon.
After hanging up, Evangeline didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.
She changed clothes and went downstairs to the market next door, picking up a few groceries to make a simple meal.
The nice thing about living alone was that meals were easy and the dishes even easier.
With a smaller place, there wasn’t much to clean. What used to take her a couple hours now took less than ten minutes.
