"And I understand that since I came here to negotiate, I should be prepared to make concessions. Your terms aren''t unreasonable. I can agree to them," she said, her voice all business.


    She was calm, rational.


    Every word was ordinary, yet for some reason, each one grated on Soren''s ears.


    She was treating this like a transaction? And agreeing so flippantly?


    Soren''s lips trembled with rage. "Evangeline, are you out of your mind? You can actually agree to... to a demand like that?"


    Did she have any shame left?


    Evangeline looked at him, puzzled. "Weren''t you the one who proposed it? If you made the offer, didn''t you want me to ept?"


    Her logic left Soren speechless.


    Furious and flustered, heshed out without thinking. "So if any other man made you the same offer, would you just ept it? Evangeline, when did you be so... promiscuous?"


    *Promiscuous?*


    The word hung in the air, and for a moment, the blood in Evangeline''s veins seemed to freeze. But just as quickly, she regained herposure. A faint, ironic smile touched her lips as she spoke softly. "Why are you so surprised?"


    "If you didn''t already know, Mr. Fawkes, why did you sneak into my apartment after our divorce to do what we did?"


    "I..."


    The memory of that night was like a lump in Soren''s throat, impossible to swallow or spit out. He couldn''t even recall the details clearly. Poppy had followed him out of concern, and as for what happened next... he couldn''t remember who had made the first move. But dwelling on it now was pointless. It had happened. Besides, Poppy was the woman in the situation; he couldn''t exactly chase her down for an interrogation.


    Seeing his silence, Evangeline pressed on. "But you''re not wrong. I admit I''m not that chaste. I couldn''t bring myself to save myself only for you, not even when we were married."


    "That makes us two of a kind, doesn''t it? We''re the same now."


    "I can ept spending a night with you. I just wonder, Mr. Fawkes, when we''re in bed together and you think of me with other men, will you find me dirty?"


    She threw the very words he had once used to question Finn right back in his face.


    Soren heard the deliberate sting in her voice, and his anger red. He clenched his fists, his face flushing a deep red.


    "Get out!" Soren pointed toward the hospital entrance, his eyes filled with a disgust typically reserved for trash. His voice was cold and venomous. "Evangeline, I never want to see you again!"


    voice


    Evangeline had anticipated this reaction. She gestured toward the documents in his hand. "Sign the agreement, and I''ll be gone for good. You''ll never have to see me again."


    This only infuriated him more.


    His chest heaved as he flipped to thest page, viciously scrawling his signature. He then tore off her copy and threw it at her.


    Evangeline picked it up and checked it over. Seeing that everything was in order, she finally let out a sigh of relief.


    "Thank you for your cooperation."


    With that, she turned and walked away.


    Soren could have sworn she was practically jogging, as if she were terrified he might change his mind.


    He watched her retreating figure, a


    sharp, inexplicable painncing through his chest. Something felt deeply wrong, but he couldn''t put his finger on it. It took him a long


    moment to realize that in this confrontation he thought he''d won, he had actually lost.


    Evangeline had intentionally provoked him and, in doing so, had gotten exactly what she came for,pletely unscathed. She''d even managed to get out of his degrading Condition


    And when she''d said she would be *gone for good*... did she actually look happy


    about it?