Chapter 3

She said it all so matter-of-factly.

Like I was some child who didn't know any better and needed to be set straight.

The alcohol was hitting Rowan harder now. He dropped onto the couch and pressed his fingers to his temples.

"Evelyn, I'm exhausted. I'm not doing this with you tonight."

"Right now, you're going to apologize to Elara."

He said it like an order.

"She had a rough night at the launch, and it's because of you. You made her look bad."

I stared at him. It almost made me laugh.

I was the one who'd been humiliated.

I was the one who'd been publicly shamed.

I was the one who'd been stripped of everything.

And now he was telling me to apologize to the woman who had taken it all.

"And if I don't?" I asked.

Rowan's eyes narrowed. Something dangerous flickered in them.

"Don't push me."

"I'm telling you right now — I run this house. You either apologize and go back to being the way you were, or you get out."

"I'll give you three seconds."

"One."

"Two."

Elara leaned against Rowan, watching me like she had a front-row seat to a show.

I didn't wait for three.

I zipped up my suitcase and stood up straight.

"You're right, Rowan."

"This is your house. You make the rules."

"So I'm done here."

I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and walked toward the door.

Rowan froze.

He probably never expected that I — always so obedient — would actually leave.

"Evelyn, you dare!"

He roared at my back.

I didn't turn around.

As I opened the door, I heard Elara say behind me:

"Rowan, don't be mad. She's just throwing a tantrum. Give it a few days — once she runs out of money, she'll come crawling back on her own."

Rowan's voice dripped with contempt.

"She won't last three days before she's crying and begging me to take her back."

I closed the door.

Shutting the two of them — and my past — inside.

The air outside was cold.

I dragged my suitcase through the streets in the dead of night.

I had nowhere to go.

My parents were long gone, and my friends had all drifted away because Rowan didn't like them.

For five years, my whole world had been him.

I checked into a hotel.

The room was small, but clean.

I set my suitcase in the corner and sat on the edge of the bed.

My phone rang. It was Elias.

I answered.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Elias."

His voice was low, carrying a trace of surprise.

"The manuscript you sent me — you wrote this?"

"Yes," I said.

A brief silence on the other end.

"All twelve of Rowan's books — you wrote them?"

"Yes."

Another silence.

I could picture the shock on his face.

The entire literary world had been fooled by Rowan.

"Where are you right now?" Elias asked.

"A hotel."

"Would you be okay meeting in person? I'd like to talk face to face."

"Sure."

We arranged to meet at the café downstairs.

Elias was younger than I'd imagined.

He was dressed casually, and he looked less like a successful businessman and more like an academic.

When he spotted me, he stood up.

"Mrs. Sterling."

"Just Evelyn is fine."

We sat down, and he ordered me a warm glass of milk.

"I read the manuscript. It's exceptional."

Elias got straight to the point.

"The story structure, the prose — it's far beyond anything Rowan is capable of now."

"He hasn't produced anything this good in a very long time."

I said nothing, just stirred the milk in my cup.

"I want to know — what are your plans?" Elias looked at me, his gaze direct.

"I want to take back everything that belongs to me," I said. "My name, my work, and my life."

Elias smiled.

"Good."

He reached into his briefcase, pulled out a document, and slid it across the table.

"Sell it to me."

"We want to purchase the rights to your manuscript, Light from the Dust, and promote it with everything we've got."

"The author's name on the cover — your name."

I looked at the contract.

The terms they were offering were even better than what Rowan currently had.

"Why?" I asked. "Rowan is your rival. Helping me means going up against him. What's in it for you?"

Elias leaned back in his chair.

"First — I respect your talent. Work this good shouldn't be buried, and it sure as hell shouldn't be stolen by a fraud."

"Second — taking down the competition is just business. Rowan has dominated this market for too long. It's time for a change."

"Third," he paused, "I think you deserve it."

I looked into his eyes. There was no pity there — only admiration and respect.

In five years, no one had ever looked at me that way.

"I have one condition," I said.

4

"Go ahead."

"I want Rowan completely destroyed."

The corner of Elias's mouth curved into a smile.

"That's not a condition. That's just what happens when we work together."

I picked up the pen and signed my name at the bottom of the contract.

Evelyn.

Not Rowan's wife. Not anyone's shadow.

Just myself.

After signing, I went back to my room.

There was an unread message on my phone from Rowan.

"When you're done with this little act, come home. I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

I deleted the message, and typed back with a thrill I'd never felt before:

"Don't rush. The show has only just begun."

I signed a deal with Elias's publishing house.

They gave me an apartment to use as a temporary workspace.

It was quiet, with a large floor-to-ceiling window.

I could write there in peace.

Elias's team moved fast — they wasted no time getting my new book ready.

Meanwhile, Rowan didn't seem to sense the storm coming.

He probably still thought I was just sulking.

I spotted him in a business news segment.

He had taken Elara to a major film and TV adaptation conference.

The photo showed him looking confident and full of life, his arm around Elara's waist, smiling at the camera.

The report said that "Stellar Pictures" the country's largest film and television company, was interested in adapting his next work, Light in the Dust, into a major production.

Stellar Pictures was one of Elias's business partners.

My lawyer told me everything was going according to plan.

A few days later, I got a call from Elias.

"There's a meeting with Stellar Pictures. You should come."

"In what capacity?" I asked.

"As the original author."

The meeting was scheduled at the conference center of a five-star hotel.

When I arrived, Rowan and Elara hadn't shown up yet.

I was directed to wait in the lounge area.

It wasn't long before I heard those familiar, grating voices.

"Rowan, if this deal goes through, I have to play the female lead." That was Elara.

"Don't worry. I'm on good terms with the CEO of Stellar. This project is as good as ours." That was Rowan.

They walked in.

Rowan spotted me the moment he stepped through the door.

His face flashed with surprise, then quickly shifted to contempt.

He probably thought I had followed him here, or was looking for a job.

"What are you doing here?" He walked up to me, looking down at me like I was beneath him.

Elara followed close behind, arms crossed, wearing the expression of someone who couldn't wait to watch a scene unfold.

"Evelyn, are you here to beg Rowan for forgiveness?"

I didn't bother responding to either of them.

Rowan's patience ran out fast.

"I don't care how you got in here. Leave. Right now. Don't embarrass me."

His eyes landed on the coffee machine in front of me, and something seemed to click.

He pushed an empty cup toward me and spoke like he was giving an order.

"Pour me a cup of coffee."

I looked at him.

Elara laughed out loud.

"Evelyn, weren't you always so good at taking care of people? Don't tell me you can't even pour a cup of coffee anymore."

Rowan let out a scornful snort.

"Without me, this is all she's good for anyway."

His eyes were full of contempt.

He thought I was still the same Evelyn he could walk all over whenever he felt like it.

He thought that without him, I was nothing.

I slowly stood up.

I didn't touch the coffee machine.

I just looked at him and said, calmly:

"Rowan, you're going to find out very soon — which one of us is nothing without the other."

He looked at me like I'd just told the world's worst joke.

"You? Really? You?"

Just then, the door to the lounge swung open.