CHAPTER 8 Who Has She Been With?

　　Nathan's POV

　　Evelyn had no idea how much it hurt me to see her like that — broken, her tears falling like a river I couldn't stop.

　　She didn't know how tightly I had to hold myself, how much effort it took to keep my emotions locked away.

　　That was why I turned my back on her. Not because I didn't care.

　　God, I cared too much.

　　But because if I looked at her, if I saw her pain, I'd lose every bit of control I had left.

　　And after all these years of planning, of preparing for this moment, I couldn't afford to break.

　　Isabella had drilled that into me over and over. "You can't let her see your heart, Nathan. Not yet."

　　I had agreed to the plan, agreed to her playing the role of my fiancée. But it was never real. Not for a second.

　　My heart had always belonged to Evelyn. Not even death could take that from me.

　　Not a day passed in those seven years when I didn't think of her. I'd picture her laugh, the way her eyes sparkled when she was happy.