When Evangeline spoke, Gregory thought for a moment that he’d misheard her
“Excuse me, what did you say?”
She repeated herself, reaching out to take the documents he offered. But Gregory was quicker; he pulled them back, his expression uneasy. “Miss Whitmore, forgive me, but divorce is a serious matter. Does Mr. Fawkes know about this?”
Divorce was no small thing.
Gregory couldn’t imagine Soren ever agreeing to it–not only because of their relationship, but also because their marriage involved complicated financial ties.
He’d never heard Soren mention anything like this. Judging by his reaction, Soren probably had no idea.
But Evangeline had clearly anticipated this. She didn’t bother with further explanations–she simply pulled the divorce papers, already signed by both parties, from her bag and handed them to Gregory.
“He’s agreed.”
Gregory took the papers, still skeptical, and flipped to the signature page.
He froze.
After so many years at Soren’s side, handling hundreds–no, thousands–of documents, he could recognize Soren’s handwriting at a glance. And this was unquestionably his signature.
He skimmed through the contents, and his whole body tensed.
It was,
in fact, a divorce agreement. Soren’s signature was right there.
Mr. Fawkes really intended to go through with this?
But Gregory distinctly remembered Soren’s attitude toward Evangeline had shifted recently. Not long ago, Soren had even asked him for advice–how could he make things right with Evangeline? How could he get her to forgive him?
How did things spiral to divorce so suddenly?
“Any other questions?” Evangeline asked calmly. “If you’re still unsure, you can come with me to city hall and handle everything together.”
After all, when she and Soren got married, it was Gregory who’d accompanied her
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to sign the marriage license, standing in for Soren.
She didn’t seem to care.
Gregory’s mind was spinning..
He suddenly realized he didn’t understand Mr. Fawkes at all. At first, he’d been sure Soren didn’t really care for Evangeline. But lately, Soren had been asking about her more and more, even secretly assigning Gregory to look into her affairs. Gregory had begun to suspect there was something deeper there.
But now, with this signed agreement in his hands, he was back to square one.
He knew, as an assistant, he shouldn’t pry further–he should just hand over the documents and be done with it.
Still, after a moment’s hesitation, he decided to call Soren one more time, just to be
sure.
He explained to Evangeline that he wanted to inform Soren directly. She paused,
then nodded.
She knew Soren didn’t actually know about the divorce.
But the decision was final. There was no turning back.
And, if she was honest, she was curious–how would Soren react if he did find out?
Evangeline stood aside as Gregory dialed Soren’s number.
It only rang for a few seconds before Soren picked up.
“Mr. Fawkes, Miss Whitmore is here to-” Gregory began, intending to tell him about the divorce.
But Soren cut him off. “Whatever she needs, just do as she says.”
“And stop by the house later to pick up Poppy and bring her to the hotel. She hasn’t been sleeping well, and it’s better if she doesn’t drive.”
Soren’s tone was brisk, distracted. He brushed aside anything to do with Evangeline, giving Gregory instead a string of detailed instructions about Poppy–who she’d be meeting that evening, how she liked her tea, every little det. Evangeline stood there, forced to listen as Soren organized someone else’s life, her heart growing colder with each passing second.
By the time Soren hung up, Gregory still hadn’t managed to mention the divorce.
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He was about to call back when Evangeline quietly stopped him. “Forget it.”
Soren’s indifference had made everything perfectly clear.
There was no point telling him about the divorce. Not anymore.
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