I softened my tone, feeling a pang of guilt. "Get out of the car. Let's talk properly."
Evander followed me eagerly, explaining as we walked.
"Cassandra told me everything. My mother went too far."
I patiently asked, "And what do you plan to do about it?"
Blood ties are never so easily untangled.
Evander's expression grew serious. For the first time, he earnestly and sincerely spoke about how he had spent the past three years.
While I had been working hard, so had he.
His voice was hoarse. "I've taken over most of the family business now. No one can stop us anymore."
The man before me had shed his youthful arrogance and impulsiveness, becoming steady and dependable.
Others now greeted him with deference, calling him "Mr. Lonsdale."
For the first time, I could feel it clearly—Evander had grown up.
"Joanna, you could try leaning on me for once."
The moment he said this, tears threatened to spill.
I realized I had been waiting for those words for a very long time.
So long that I had thought there was no longer any hope for us.
"Don't cry. If your makeup smudges, you'll have to fix it," Evander said clumsily, wiping my tears with his thumb, only making me cry harder.
Years of grievances and insecurity, three years of longing and guilt, all poured out at once.
Evander held me tightly in his arms, letting my tears and makeup stain his suit.
When I finally finished crying, he cautiously asked, "Aren't you going to ask about Selene?"
"Selene? The substitute?" I dabbed my eyes with a tissue and looked at him with feigned amusement.
Evander panicked.
He grabbed my hand, ready to start explaining, but when he saw the glint of humor in my eyes, he paused. "You overheard everything, didn't you?"
I nodded, stifling a laugh.
He laughed too, albeit sheepishly. "Even if you already know, I still want to explain."
Evander explained that shortly after I left, Lady Lonsdale's uncle, whom she had once offended, fell gravely ill. Fearing retribution from local gangsters after his death, he wrote a letter to Lady Lonsdale asking her to take care of his orphaned daughter.
That's how Selene entered the Lonsdale household.
She was beautiful and charming, quickly earning Lady Lonsdale's favor.
At the time, Evander was busy with the family business while also fending off his mother's matchmaking efforts.
Selene approached him with a proposal—she would act as a shield against unwanted advances if he helped her break into the entertainment industry.
The turning point came when Selene saw a photo fall out of Evander's wallet.
In the picture, I was smiling, my eyes crinkling in a way that resembled hers.
After that, Selene began imitating me subtly in front of Evander, even spreading rumors that she was a substitute to fuel speculation.
"Why didn't you clear things up?" I asked.
Evander rarely faltered, but now he averted his gaze, embarrassed.
"At first, I hated you for disappearing. But later, I thought... if someone mentioned it to you, said I had found a substitute, would it make you angry enough to come back and yell at me?"
He looked at me pitifully. "Why didn't you get angry? Why didn't you come back to me?"
"I waited for so long. From wishing for you to cook for me forever, to simply wanting a single word from you to forgive it all. But you never responded."
"In the end, I couldn't take it anymore. I tried calling you with different numbers, but you never answered."
Awkwardly, I rubbed my nose.
When I first went abroad, I was alone and unfamiliar with the place, nearly scammed out of everything I had.
After that, I blocked every unknown number that called me.
He looked so pitiful that I couldn't help but soften, reaching out to touch his face. "It won't happen again."
Evander lowered his head, nuzzling against my palm with an almost childlike dependency.
"So, Joanna, I'm clean, you know."
"Please don't abandon me, okay?"
I didn't respond.
All my courage had been drained three years ago, fighting against the prejudice of Evander's world.
Three years later, I was wrapped in layers of protective armor, only wanting to escape.
Evander finally noticed my unease.
Tilting his head, he kissed my palm softly. "Three years ago, you were the one who took every step closer to me. Now, it's my turn to walk every step toward you."
