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Chapter 5
Evelyn woke to find herself in a hospital bed, her body aching as if she had been crushed beneath a
truck.
When she shifted, a searing pain ripped through her left shoulder and back, the bandages there already spotted with blood.
She pressed the call button. Minutes dragged by, but no one came.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself upright. If no one would come, she would find a doctor
herself.
Every step wrenched at her wounds, cold sweat breaking across her forehead. She limped along
the hallway, one hand braced against the wall for balance.
As she passed a half–open door, familiar voices froze her in place.
Graham Sterling–and Sophie Monroe.
Through the narrow gap, Evelyn saw Sophie crying in Graham’s arms. His left hand, bound in a thick cast and strapped to his chest, hung uselessly. His right hand, however, stroked Sophie’s back with heartbreaking tenderness.
“Don’t cry,” he murmured, his voice gentler than Evelyn had ever heard it, steady with reassurance. “My hand’s been fixed, hasn’t it? We both made it out alive—that’s what matters.”
Once, that tenderness had been hers.
Sophie lifted her tear–streaked face. “Graham, I don’t understand… If you could destroy your hand for Evelyn, if you love her so much, then why–why did you save me first in the river?”
Evelyn’s breath caught.
That was the very question burning inside her, too.
Silence hung heavy in the room before Graham’s low, deliberate words struck like ice through her
chest:
“One is duty. The other is love.”
Duty… and love?
Evelyn stood motionless, her blood gone cold.
Had all those years of careful devotion, that envy–stirring affection, even the possessive passion
Chapter 5
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in the dead of night–been nothing more than obligation?
His kindness, his protection, his everything… just duty?
And Sophie?
The past Evelyn had never been part of, the memories he still held dear, the choice he made without hesitation–was that love?
Sophie seemed to understand perfectly. Her sobs grew harder as she clutched his waist.
“Graham… if only we hadn’t been so stubborn back then, if we’d just let ourselves give in… maybe we wouldn’t have lost all those years.”
Graham said nothing.
He didn’t return her embrace, but he didn’t push her away either. He simply stood there, silent, his dark eyes clouded with regret, pain, and a weight Evelyn couldn’t name.
In that moment, her heart splintered into pieces.
She didn’t know how long she lingered outside the door, until Sophie’s voice finally cut through: “I’m going to grab you a hot cup of coffee.”
The words jolted her like fire. Evelyn stumbled back, desperate to flee.
But the door swung open.
Sophie stood there, not a trace of tears left, only the faint curve of a mocking smile. “No need to hide. I know you’ve been standing out here.”
Evelyn stiffened, keeping her back to Sophie, unwilling to let her see her face.
Sophie stepped closer, her voice low and sharp, laced with challenge.
“You heard everything, didn’t you, Evelyn? Graham still carries me in his heart, and I’ve never stopped loving him. I’m divorced now–nothing stands between us anymore. So… will you step aside and let us be together?”
Chapter 5
