CHAPTER 2
“You want a what?” Sebastian laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls like a whip crack. He sank into the leather chair behind his desk, fingers drumming on the armrest. “An annulment? Are you serious, Evangeline?”
“Yes, I am serious!” Evangeline’s voice broke as she shouted, tears streaming down her face, ruining her carefully applied makeup.
Lady Cordelia had vanished the moment Evangeline said ‘annulment,’ her silk dress rustling as she slipped through the servants’ door. The heavy silence that followed was broken only by the crackling fire and distant sounds of the evening court gathering in the great hall below.
Sebastian leaned back, his amusement fading into something darker. “You’ve lost your mind, haven’t you, wife?”
“Stop mocking me!” Evangeline cried, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles went white beneath her gloves. “I’m done, Sebastian. I can’t do this anymore!”
“Can’t do what, exactly?” His voice dripped with condescension as he gestured around the luxurious study. “Live in the finest palace in the kingdom? Wear gowns worth more than most nobles make in a year? Hold the title of Crown Princess? Or is it because I don’t worship at your feet like some lovesick peasant boy?”
The tears fell harder, but Evangeline kept her voice steady. “I’ve lived in this palace, Sebastian, but I’ve never belonged here. I’ve been your wife in name only—never loved, never cherished. You’ve treated me like a political decoration, a pretty thing to display at state dinners. I deserve more than this empty life!”
He studied her with cold detachment, like a scholar examining a specimen. “You really are serious,” he said finally, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
“Yes, I am,” she replied, lifting her chin with new resolve as she dabbed at her tears with a lace handkerchief.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened, a muscle twitching in his cheek. “And you think barging into my study demanding an annulment will fix everything?”
“It’s a start,” she said, her voice growing stronger.
He scoffed, rising from his chair with practiced grace. “Your audacity is remarkable.”
“I’m tired of being miserable, Sebastian!” she shouted, her voice bouncing off the tapestried walls. “I thought maybe if we had a child—”
He moved like a striking hawk, cutting her off with a raised hand. “Don’t,” he snarled, his voice colder than winter wind. “I don’t want children from you, Evangeline. I never have, and I never will.”
The words hit her like a slap. Her knees nearly gave out, and she grabbed a chair to steady herself. “You… you can’t mean that,” she whispered.
“Oh, but I do,” he said with a bitter laugh that held no warmth. “Did you really think having a baby would turn this arrangement into some fairy tale? There was nothing to save, Evangeline, because there was never anything between us. I have no desire to father children with someone so far beneath me—a minor princess from a failing duchy, sold off like livestock to cover her father’s debts.”
Her heart felt ripped from her chest, but she refused to let him see her completely broken. “Fine,” she said, her voice trembling but determined. “If that’s how you see me, then give me this annulment. Release me from this hell.”
He raised one perfect eyebrow. “Annulment papers? You came prepared for this fight, didn’t you?”
Evangeline didn’t answer. Instead, she turned and walked from the study, her silk slippers silent on the marble floors as she navigated the palace corridors to her private rooms.
In her bedroom, she dismissed her hovering maid with a wave and went to her writing desk by the window. From a hidden compartment, she pulled out the documents she’d secretly drawn up weeks ago, paying the royal lawyer well for his silence.
When she returned to Sebastian’s study, he stood at the great window, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed at the moonlit gardens. His shoulders were rigid with tension.
“How long have you been planning this betrayal, Evangeline?” he asked without turning, his voice mocking.
“That doesn’t matter,” she said, holding out the papers. “Just sign them.”
Sebastian turned slowly, his eyes moving to the documents in her shaking hands. A cruel smile played on his lips. “You’ve planned this well,” he said, taking the papers and reading them deliberately slowly. “But you’ve forgotten one important thing.”
“What’s that?”
He looked up, his blue eyes meeting hers. “Once I sign these, it’s over forever. No second chances. No begging for forgiveness. If this is what you want, don’t come crawling back with regrets.”
“I won’t,” she said firmly, though her voice wavered slightly.
He studied her face for a long moment, then shook his head in what might have been disappointment or disgust. “You’re pathetic, Evangeline.”
“Just sign the papers, Sebastian!” she snapped, finally losing her composure.
“As you wish,” he said with icy coldness. He went to his desk, picked up an ornate pen, and signed with deliberate, theatrical strokes.
When he finished, he straightened and carelessly threw the papers at her feet, where they scattered across the Persian rug like fallen leaves.
“There. You have what you wanted.”
Evangeline knelt to gather the precious documents, her hands shaking so badly she could barely pick them up. She clutched the papers to her chest, her vision blurred by fresh tears.
“Don’t come begging for my mercy,” Sebastian repeated, his voice as unforgiving as stone.
Evangeline said nothing. She fled the study and hurried through the darkened halls to her chambers, her heart breaking with each step. Once behind her locked door, she pressed her back against the heavy oak and slowly slid to the floor.
The annulment papers lay crumpled in her lap, but they felt heavier now—weighted with the end of her marriage and the uncertain future ahead. As she stared at them through her tears, one hand unconsciously moved to rest on her stomach.
“This is for the best,” she whispered to the empty room, to her unborn children, to herself. “It has to be.”
Florence is a passionate reader who finds joy in long drives on rainy days. She’s also a fan of Italian makeup tutorials, blending beauty and elegance into her everyday life.
Summary & Review: Comrade
