Vows Written In Betrayal

CHAPTER 2.

The cold hit Evelyn Carter like punishment the moment she stepped out of the Ashford Grand Hotel.

Snow spiraled through the Manhattan night while traffic crawled below the glowing streets of New York City. Behind her, music still pulsed faintly from the rooftop ballroom.

The party continued.

As if her entire world had not collapsed upstairs.

Evelyn walked blindly down the sidewalk, heels scraping against patches of snow as tears blurred the city lights into streaks of gold and white. Her chest hurt with every breath she took.

Humiliation.

That was the worst part.

Not even heartbreak.

Humiliation.

Everyone in that ballroom had seen it happen. The awkward silence. The shock on her face. The way Lucas had looked guilty before Sophia said yes.

They knew.

God, they all knew before she did.

Her phone vibrated violently inside her purse.

Sophia Calling.

Evelyn declined it instantly.

A second later:

Lucas Calling.

She laughed bitterly under her breath and ignored that too.

Then came the messages.

Sophia: Please talk to me.

Lucas: I never wanted to hurt you.

Sophia: You left before we could explain.

Explain?

Explain what exactly?

How they fell in love behind her back?

How long they had lied to her face?

Evelyn stopped walking abruptly beneath the glowing lights of a closed café. Her reflection stared back at her through the glass window—smudged eyeliner, trembling lips, pain she could no longer hide.

She looked pathetic.

The realization burned.

A black SUV suddenly slowed beside the curb.

Evelyn stiffened immediately.

The tinted back window lowered halfway.

Damian Hayes sat inside.

Of course he did.

The city apparently hated her tonight.

“You’re going to freeze out here,” he said calmly.

Evelyn stared at him in disbelief. “Are you following me now?”

“No.”

His voice remained irritatingly controlled.

“The hotel security said you walked out alone.”

“And?”

“And Manhattan isn’t safe at midnight for someone distracted.”

The nerve of him.

Evelyn folded her arms tightly against the freezing wind. “I’d rather walk barefoot through broken glass than get into a car with you.”

A faint shadow of amusement crossed his face.

“You always this dramatic?”

“I’m emotional. There’s a difference.”

For a second, silence stretched between them while snow drifted onto the shoulders of her coat.

Then Damian sighed softly.

“Get in the car, Evelyn.”

The way he said her name startled her slightly. Low. Steady. Familiar in a strange way.

She hated that she noticed.

“I said no.”

“And I heard you.” His dark eyes remained fixed on her. “I’m still asking.”

Most people in New York bent around Damian Hayes. His reputation alone was enough to intimidate boardrooms full of powerful men. But Evelyn had spent years blaming him for her father’s downfall. Fear was impossible when resentment existed first.

“Why do you even care?” she asked sharply.

Something unreadable flickered across his expression.

“That’s a dangerous question.”

Before she could respond, her phone buzzed again.

This time it was a news notification.

Evelyn frowned and opened it automatically.

Then her stomach dropped.

Billionaire Entrepreneur Lucas Bennett Announces Engagement to Socialite Sophia Laurent

Attached beneath the headline was a photo from moments earlier.

Lucas kissing Sophia.

And in the background—

Evelyn.

Standing frozen like an idiot while heartbreak destroyed her in real time.

The article was already spreading across social media.

Comments flooded underneath it.

Wait… isn’t that Evelyn Carter? Wasn’t she always with Lucas? Yikes. This is embarrassing.

Heat rushed violently into Evelyn’s face.

Her hands began shaking.

Damian noticed instantly.

Without another word, he opened the SUV door from inside.

“Get in.”

This time she didn’t argue.

The warmth inside the vehicle wrapped around her immediately, though it did nothing to stop the ache inside her chest. The driver pulled smoothly back into traffic while silence settled heavily between them.

Evelyn wiped angrily at the tears threatening her eyes.

“I’m fine,” she muttered.

Damian glanced at her. “Clearly.”

She shot him a glare. “You don’t have to sound so emotionally constipated all the time.”

To her surprise, the corner of his mouth almost lifted.

Almost.

“You insult people when you’re upset.”

“I insult people when they deserve it.”

“And what did I do exactly?”

Evelyn turned toward him fully then. “Seriously?”

“Yes.”

The calmness in his tone infuriated her.

“You represented the company that destroyed my father.”

His gaze remained steady. “That’s what you were told.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Damian looked out the window briefly as the city lights moved across his sharp features.

“It means situations are rarely as simple as people want them to be.”

Evelyn scoffed. “That sounds like something lawyers say before ruining lives.”

“You think I ruined your father?”

“I know you did.”

For the first time since she entered the car, Damian’s expression hardened slightly.

“You know nothing about that case.”

The tension between them thickened instantly.

Evelyn opened her mouth to argue, but her phone rang again before she could speak.

Lucas.

Again.

This time Damian glanced at the screen.

Neither of them spoke for a second.

Then Damian said quietly, “Answer it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“He won’t stop otherwise.”

Unfortunately, he was right.

Evelyn accepted the call reluctantly and immediately placed it on speaker before holding the phone away from her ear.

“Evelyn—thank God,” Lucas said quickly. His voice sounded strained now, stripped of the polished confidence he wore at the party. “Where are you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters.”

She laughed bitterly. “Interesting timing.”

“Please don’t do this.”

“Do what? React like a normal human being after getting publicly humiliated?”

Lucas exhaled sharply. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”

That sentence sliced through her.

Harder than it needs to be.

As if her feelings were merely inconvenient.

Evelyn stared out the window before speaking again. “How long?”

Silence.

Then—

“A few months.”

Pain twisted viciously in her stomach.

Sophia.

Lucas.

Together for months while pretending nothing had changed.

Beside her, Damian’s jaw tightened almost invisibly.

“I wanted to tell you,” Lucas continued. “But Sophia thought—”

“Oh, don’t blame her for this.” Evelyn’s voice cracked slightly. “You made your choice too.”

“Ev—”

“No.” She swallowed hard. “You don’t get to call me that tonight.”

Another silence.

Then Lucas lowered his voice.

“There’s something else you need to know.”

Evelyn closed her eyes briefly. “What now?”

“It’s about your father.”

The entire car seemed to freeze.

Even Damian turned sharply toward the phone.

Lucas sounded hesitant suddenly. Nervous.

“There are things about what happened years ago that you don’t understand.”

Evelyn’s pulse began hammering.

“What are you talking about?”

Lucas inhaled shakily.

Then said the one thing she never expected to hear.

“My father was involved.”

The call disconnected.

And beside her in the darkness of the SUV, Damian Hayes went completely still.