***Claire's POV***
The door creaked open, and Susan walked in, her arms laden with designer bags. But the moment her eyes landed on me, wrapped in Evander's arms, her expression froze. The bags slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
I stared at her, disbelief and anger bubbling within me. How could she still be part of Evander's life? The questions burned on the tip of my tongue—I wanted to scream at him, to slap him, to demand why he paraded me as his wife to the world when this woman still had a place by his side.
"Susan," Evander's voice sliced through the tension, cold and sharp as ice. His gaze turned into a piercing glare.
My heart clenched as I watched him. Was this the truth I'd been blind to all along? Was I nothing more than a puppet in this twisted game, while Susan remained the one who truly mattered to him? The thought made me sick, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene unfolding before me.
"I… I just…" Susan stammered, her voice trembling as her eyes darted between Evander and me. "I heard you were here, so I came to see you."
"Who gave you permission to come here?" Evander's voice was icy, each word laced with a chill that made the air around us feel even colder.
Susan flinched at his tone, her confidence visibly crumbling. But it wasn't her pitiful expression that caught my attention—it was the way Evander spoke to her. His harshness felt like a façade, something I'd seen him use too many times.
"Hah!" I scoffed, unable to contain my frustration any longer. The sound of my disdainful laughter sliced through the tension, drawing both their gazes to me. "Do you take me for a fool, Mr. Kensington?"
Evander's head snapped in my direction, his eyes narrowing as he tried to decipher my words. I could see the confusion in his gaze, but it only fueled my anger further. Did he really think I was blind to the reality that had been staring me in the face all this time?
I stepped out of his embrace, my movements deliberate and challenging. "All this time, I thought you were just cold, just distant. But now I see it's more than that. You have been playing a game, Evander. A cruel, twisted game where I am nothing but a pawn and barely was able to escape." My voice wavered with the mix of hurt and fury bubbling up inside me, but I kept my gaze locked on his.
Evander's confusion deepened, but I didn't give him a chance to speak. "Do you think I don't see what's going on? You have kept Susan close, haven't you? She's not just some acquaintance; she is more than that, and —you never let her go. And yet you had the audacity to claim me as your wife, to let the world believe in a lie while you kept her waiting in the wings."
I could see the conflict in his eyes, the way he struggled to find the right words, but I didn't need to hear them. His silence was answer enough.
Susan shifted uncomfortably, her gaze flicking to Evander as if she expected him to defend her. But all he did was stand there, his jaw clenched, as if he were finally seeing the situation for what it was—or perhaps realizing that his carefully crafted world was beginning to crumble.
"You have been so busy keeping up with the lies, Evander," I continued, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. "But you forgot one thing— I am no longer just a prop in your life. I am not here to play a role while you live out some fantasy; I have had enough already. I deserve better than this, and I will find my peace, and after three long years, I managed to do it! So, do not try to force yourself into my life once again!"
For a moment, the room was silent, the weight of my words hanging in the air. Evander's eyes bore into mine as if he were trying to process what I had just said.
"Are you out of your mind?" Evander finally managed to say, his voice laced with disbelief. His eyes widened as if he had been wronged, and he was desperately trying to prove his innocence to me. But I wasn't the same Claire anymore—the one who would blindly accept his words and let them go unchallenged.
"Yes! I am out of my mind!" I shot back, my voice rising with the anger that had been simmering inside me for far too long. "How could I not be? On one hand, you shamelessly claim that I am your wife, parading me around like a trophy while dragging me back to this hellish mansion I have been trying to escape from for years. And on the other hand, your so-called lover is still lurking around you, haunting the very place I once called home!"
Evander flinched at my words, his expression turning from defensive to something darker, as if he hadn't expected me to strike back with such force. But I wasn't done.
"Do you think I didn't notice, Evander? The way she still has access to your life, to this house—our supposed home? How could you bring me here, force me into this twisted arrangement, while she's still hovering in the background, like a ghost that refuses to leave?" My voice cracked slightly, betraying the hurt beneath my fury, but I pressed on.
"I gave you everything, Evander," I continued, my tone softening, but only slightly. "I sacrificed my dreams, my happiness, for a life that was never truly mine. And what did I get in return? Lies, deceit, and a constant reminder that I was never enough for you."
Evander's face contorted as I tried to see what he was feeling, but then again, his feelings didn't matter to me, not after everything he had put me through.
"I'm done, Evander," I said, my voice firm, final. "You can keep your mansion, your lies, and your lover. I won't be a part of this charade any longer. You might have thought you could control me, keep me under your thumb, but you were wrong. I'm walking away, and this time, nothing you say or do will stop me."
The room fell into a heavy silence. Evander was in disbelief as he opened his mouth to say something, a small figure entered the room with a nanny accompanying him.
"Mom, Dad!" The guy called out as my eyes grew bigger in shock!