Chapter 674

Evaline:

Charles!

Relief surged through me. It was raw, instinctive, and overwhelming in the best way possible.

For a split second, everything else faded – the cold, the stung of silver – none of it mattered.

What mattered was that Charles had found me. He’s here. He-

The feeling died.

Just like that.

As quickly as it had come, it twisted into something else entirely. Something cold, something sharp, something wrong.

Because the look on his face, it wasn’t relief, neither was it concern. It wasn’t anything close to what I had expected.

No.

It was calm. He looked too calm, and beneath that calmness, there was something else, something dark… and satisfactory.

Instead of looking like a friend worried for my safety, he looked more like someone who had just watched a plan fall perfectly into place.

My breath hitched as the painful realization hit me cold and sharp, and the fragile thread of hope inside me snapped.

He wasn’t here to save me.

Actually, he was the one who put me here.

The realization slammed into me with such force that for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I just stared at him. Frozen. My mind refused to catch up, refused to accept what I was seeing.

No.

This can’t be possible.

Not Charles.

Not him.

But the truth was right there. It screamed at me as I stared into his eyes, or watched the way he stood there watching me like I wasn’t someone he cared about… but something he had claimed.

A muffled sound tore from my throat.

I tried to speak, tried to demand an answer, but the cloth tied around my mouth swallowed every word, turning it into nothing more than a broken noise.

I struggled, instinctively and desperately, only for pain to explode through my wrists as the silver bit deeper into my skin. And the sharp sting forced a strangled cry out of me.

“Easy,” he said, sounding calm… almost amused. Like my pain meant nothing. Like it was expected.

He crouched down in front of me, setting the candle aside.

The light flickered, casting shadows across his face and making him look even more unfamiliar, even more dangerous.

His hands reached for me, for the cloth covering my mouth and he untied it. His movements were so slow and deliberate as if he was in no hurry at all.

The moment it loosened, I gasped.

Air rushed into my lungs, sharp and desperate. My chest rose and fell as I tried to steady my breathing.

I coughed, feeling an immediate burn in my throat. But I didn’t care. I pushed against the ground, trying to sit up… but it was another mistake.

Pain shot through my wrists again as the silver restraints dug deeper into my skin, and a broken sound escaped me.

Then, his hands were on me. Helping and supporting me, but I flinched violently, jerking away from him… or at least I tried to.

“Don’t touch me!” I rasped, my voice weak but sharp.

The contact had been brief, barely a second, but it was enough for me that familiar sensation to wash over me. It was that same wrongness that had been haunting me all afternoon.

It surged back stronger than ever.

It was him.

It had always been him.

And I had ignored it. Missed it. I trusted him too much to ever think he had anything to do with what I kept sensing.

My stomach twisted.

I forced myself to look at him again. This time, I really looked at him, and now… I saw it – not just the face I had grown familiar with, but something beneath it.

Something that didn’t belong.

Something that made my skin crawl.

“Why My voice broke slightly. “Why did you do this, Charles p>

The smile on his lips disappeared the instant I finished speaking. It was gone so quick as if it had never been there.

His hands shot forward and grabbed my shoulders tightly. And the sudden movement made me gasp.

“Stop calling me that,” he said.

His voice… it wasn’t the same. It was deeper now, colder, sharper, almost familiar. And it sent a chill straight down my spine.

I stared at him, feeling confused and terrified.

“What p>

But before I could finish, the tension in his expression shifted again.

The smile returned to his lips. And this time, it was slow, deliberate, and unsettling.

He let go of me, as if nothing had happened. He tilted his head slightly and studied my face.

“Don’t you recognize me?” he asked softly.

My heart stuttered at the unexpected question. “What are you talking about?” I whispered.

He chuckled. The sound coming low and amused. “Really?” he said. “After all these years p>

A knot formed in my stomach – tight and unforgiving.

“Honestly, I thought you would know the moment you saw me,” he continued, his voice almost thoughtful now. “I mean… I knew you would take a little time, considering the change… but this p>

He gestured to himself lightly.

“This is disappointing p>

My breathing grew uneven. Each word he spoke felt like a piece of something falling into place… something I didn’t want to see, something I refused to accept.

“How could you not recognize me,” he went on, inching closer again, “after everything we have been through p>

My pulse pounded harder.

“No I whispered, shaking my head weakly.

But he didn’t stop.

“How could you forget,” he murmured, his voice dropping lower, “after all the time we spent together p>

My stomach dropped and cold dread seeped into my veins.

“After all the love I gave you p>

The words echoed in my head – loud, deafening. Everything felt wrong. So wrong.

My heart started racing so fast I felt like it might jump out of my chest at any given second.

“No I said again, but it came out weaker this time. Because I knew… even before he said it, even before the final piece fell into place… a part of me had already recognized him, ha already understood.

But I pushed it away and tried to bury that unsettling thought away. I refused to see it as a possibility. Because if I did… then this would be real.

And I couldn’t – I couldn’t face that.

Not again.

Not him.