Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Evan

E van stormed out the side door of the chapel, his chest tight with rage as he tried to rein in his emotions. His pulse hammered, and he could feel the hot prick of frustration pooling in his throat. How could one person—a stranger, at that—tear apart everything he’d painstakingly arranged? He clenched his fists, feeling the weight of scandal and humiliation pressing down on him.

“Evan!” Jonathan caught up to him quickly, his face painted with worry. “Hold on. You need to calm down—there are people everywhere.”

“Everything is ruined,” Evan growled, barely containing his fury. He cast a dark look at Jonathan. “Do you have any idea what I’ve just lost? That meddling woman has torn it all to pieces. She will have me to answer to now. Where is she?”

“I just saw her slipping through the crowd and out the back. Seems she didn’t want to stay and watch the fire she lit.”

Evan barely heard the rest. He nodded sharply, his jaw set. Without another word, he pushed past Jonathan and made his way around the church, threading through clusters of guests who were already gossiping in shocked tones. Disappointment and judgment hung thick in the air, but he ignored it, keeping his gaze fixed forward. He had only one objective now: find Lady Emma Hayward and make her pay for what she’d done.

As he walked, flashes of memory bombarded him—he’d seen her before, hadn’t he? A vision of the gilded interiors of Almack’s came to him, and he remembered the moment. She was the dark-haired woman he’d brushed past on his way outside, the one who’d slipped and told him he should be ashamed of himself.

How dare she? How dare she ruin his plans, upend his carefully constructed future, and humiliate him and Ophelia in front of the entire ton ?

He rounded the corner of the church, scanning the grounds until he spotted her. She was standing near the gate, watching the scene unfold, her face illuminated by a strange mix of satisfaction and confidence. A sly smile danced on her lips as she watched the chaos her letter had caused. Despite his simmering fury, he noted her striking beauty. Her face was framed by raven-dark hair, her mouth full and expressive, and her eyes—a rich, unreadable green—glinted with a challenge. But her beauty did nothing to soften the bitterness that surged in his chest.

“Is everything alright, Your Grace?” she asked coolly as he approached, feigning innocence. Her eyes sparkled with barely concealed triumph, and that expression sent him over the edge.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” he said through clenched teeth, struggling to keep his voice low as he loomed over her. “You will pay for this.”

Emma held his gaze, her chin lifted, and that infuriating half-smile didn’t waver. “I think you’re the one who has no idea, Your Grace. I merely acted to protect an innocent woman from a life of misery.”

“A life of misery?” He couldn’t believe the arrogance, the presumption in her tone. He took a step closer, until there was barely any distance between them. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Emma crossed her arms, tilting her head with a look of disdain. “Don’t I? It’s well known that you’ve spent years keeping women at arm’s length, toying with their affections for sport. And now you intend to trap one in a loveless marriage to salvage your own reputation? No. I couldn’t stand by and let Ophelia become another one of your casualties.”

Evan’s patience snapped. He took her by the wrist and led her a few paces farther from the gathering crowd, ensuring they were out of earshot. Her gaze flickered with brief surprise, but she didn’t pull away.

“Listen to me,” he hissed, his voice low and fierce. “You think you know what you’ve done? You think you’ve saved Ophelia from some terrible fate? Ophelia wanted this marriage just as much as I did—if only so that she could continue her romance with a commoner. We both knew what this union was and agreed on it. It was a means to an end, and you’ve ruined everything for us.”

For the first time, a trace of uncertainty flashed in Emma’s eyes. “Ophelia… wanted this? She knew of your reputation?” Her voice was tinged with disbelief.

“Yes. Ask her yourself,” he replied sharply, his eyes narrowing. “She had no intention of being trapped by me—or by any man, for that matter. We agreed on a partnership, nothing more. I would give her the freedom to pursue what she wanted, and she would do the same for me. Neither of us needed or wanted a true marriage.”

Emma’s eyes softened, but there was still skepticism there. “But why the charade?”

Evan scoffed. “Because not every woman has the privilege of living as you do, Lady Emma, free to meddle in others’ affairs and pretend to know best. Ophelia knew her family would never approve, nor would the ton . They would see her as reckless, even shameful. But you wouldn’t understand that, would you?”

Emma hesitated, and he saw her steel-like confidence waver. She glanced away, a flicker of doubt shadowing her face. Her voice, however, held a defiant edge when she finally spoke. “No, Ophelia would never do this, she’d never keep such secrets.” As she spoke, the uncertainty in her voice was evident but it only made expression harden. He leaned in, lowering his voice to a near growl.

“Enough of your high-handed interference. Here’s what’s about to happen, Lady Emma. I can do nothing for Ophelia now, and whatever your actions will do to your connection with her is not my business. But I can still ensure my own plans come to pass. Since you have destroyed my engagement with Ophelia, you will take her place. I need a wife so the ton will stop bothering me. So you will marry me instead to make up for what you’ve destroyed.”

The words landed like stones in the silence between them. Emma’s eyes went wide, her expression shifting from disbelief to shock. Her hand went to her mouth, and she shook her head slightly, as if the notion itself were absurd.

“Marry you?” she echoed, incredulous. “You cannot be serious.”

“Oh, I am quite serious,” he replied coolly. “I need a bride, and thanks to you, I no longer have one. Given that you took it upon yourself to ruin my prospects, it’s only fitting that you should replace them. You will be my wife, so that I can move in society without every woman setting her cap on me. You wanted to save Ophelia from a loveless marriage? You have. And now, you can take her place.”

Emma’s face flushed, her defiance momentarily crumbling. She stepped back, her hands clenched at her sides. “You must be mad,” she said, her voice a mixture of disbelief and outrage. “I have no intention of marrying you.”

Evan met her gaze, unyielding. “And I had no intention of being humiliated before the ton , of losing everything I’ve worked for because of some rumor-spreading busybody. But here we are. You were so quick to condemn me, Lady Emma. Let’s see if you’re prepared to take responsibility for your actions.”

She inhaled sharply, her expression shifting from shock to anger. “I don’t owe you anything, Your Grace. You were the one who lied to Ophelia’s family, who plotted some soulless union. Don’t pretend you’re the victim here.”

“Oh, make no mistake—I know exactly what I am,” he replied, his voice icy. “But I also know that I’ve been left in a rather unfortunate situation, thanks to you. And unless you want the whole of London whispering that Lady Emma Hayward was the cause of an unwed duke’s scandal, you’ll accept my terms.”

Emma’s face paled. “Are you threatening me?”

“It’s not a threat,” he said smoothly. “Sooner or later, everyone will come to find out that you ruined this wedding. And you know how the ton is. They will talk. Would you rather have a reputation as a spiteful busybody or would you rather have me paint it as a love story gone wrong? We can say you loved me with such passion, you could not stop yourself. You will be looked down upon either way but the romantic hearts of the noble women might take pity on you.”

“You must be in your cups,” she said but he shook his head.

“I wish I were. It’s a chance to salvage some dignity from this wreckage you created. No one will have to know that you disrupted a marriage; instead, they’ll see us as star crossed lovers finally united.”

She looked at him with mounting horror, a faint tremor in her shoulders as she took a step back. “I can’t believe this… I can’t believe you would actually try to force me into such a ridiculous plan.”

Evan lifted a brow, his voice steady and controlled. “Ridiculous, perhaps. But effective. You’ve left me without a choice, and you don’t seem to have many options either. Unless you want this to become the scandal of the season?”

Emma’s mouth opened, but words failed her. She looked as though she were trapped, her face torn between indignation and resignation, her fists clenching in a mix of frustration and helplessness. He could see the wheels turning in her mind, the realization settling over her that she might not be able to easily escape the very situation she’d created.

Evan crossed his arms, watching her carefully. “Consider it, Lady Emma. Or I’ll be more than happy to inform your family—and the ton —of your involvement in all of this. After all, we wouldn’t want them to think you lack a sense of responsibility, would we?”

For a long moment, she simply stood there, her face flushed with anger and uncertainty. But at last, she straightened, her eyes meeting his with a glimmer of defiance.

“If you think you can manipulate me into this, Your Grace, you’re gravely mistaken,” she said, her voice trembling with resolve. “I may have made a mistake, but I am no one’s pawn.”

Evan felt his own resolve harden. “Then I suppose we’ll see who the victor is in this little game, won’t we?”

Emma shot him a look filled with barely concealed contempt before turning on her heel and striding away. But Evan knew he had planted a seed of doubt, one that would inevitably grow.

Watching her walk away, he felt a strange mix of triumph and bitterness. He hadn’t wanted this—any of it. But now that she had forced his hand, he was determined to see it through to the end, no matter what the cost.