The story of Soren and Poppy''s thwarted young love was well-known in Serenity City. His subsequent coldness toward Evangeline during their marriage and his unwavering support for Poppy were alsomon knowledge. More people had been rooting for them to get back together than for him to get a divorce. Their reunion was hailed as a fairy tale romance, and the engagement was met with widespread approval.


    What no one knew was that on the night before the announcement, Soren sent Evangeline a text. It was ast-ditch offer to call it all off and get back together. Evangeline nced at it once before blocking his number. The next day, news of his engagement to Poppy exploded across their social circles.


    When Evangeline saw the headlines, she felt nothing. She was too busy reviewing the evidence she had collected.


    She continued her nightly visits to the hospital to see her grandmother, but she always called the caregiver beforehand to make sure no other family members were present. She wanted nothing more to do with any of them, and she was certain they felt the same way.


    One day, however, an encounter was unavoidable. Flora, having forgotten her purse, had returned to the hospital and ran right into her.


    Flora shot her a venomous re. "What are you still doing here? My brother and Poppy are about to get engaged. No matter how much you pretend, he''s not going to take you back."


    "You probably haven''t heard," Flora continued, her voice dripping with malice. "They''re already taking their engagement photos. My brother personallymissioned a designer for her dress and his suit. He''s personally handling all the wedding arrangements. He never did anything that special for you, did he?"


    Evangeline hadn''t felt anything, but Flora''s words stirred a memory. Soren had never liked her, so their wedding had been a rushed, impersonal affair. There were no engagement photos. She had picked out a matching wedding dress and suit, but on the day of the wedding, Soren had shown up in apletely different suit. He made a brief appearance, left in the middle of the ceremony to take a phone call, and didn''t evene home that night. She had been theughingstock of the city for months.


    And now, for ra mere engagement, Soren was pouring his heart into it. Even the Fawkes Enterprises official website was promoting their love story with a special sale. She didn''t need Flora to spell it out for her she


    could see how mi Sorenvalued Poppy.


    She nodded calmly. "I''m here to see Grandma. It has nothing to do with your brother."


    "It better not," Flora snapped. "And I''m warning you, he won''t fall for your games of ying hard to get."


    Having delivered her warning, Flora hurried away.


    Evangeline entered the hospital room. The doctor had said Mrs. Fawkes was still not doing well. Although she was awake, she was often disoriented and unable to speak. Evangeline reced the old flowers with fresh ones, gently massaged the old woman''s legs, and chatted about her life, carefully censoring anything negative and focusing on trivial, happy news. After an hour or two, she would leave.


    The days passed.


    One evening, returning from supervising work at the factory site, Evangeline was met by Finn. The site located in the countryside was dusty and her casual clothes were covered in a fineyer of dirt Finn almost didn''t recognize her.


    "Well, well, beautiful. You''re certainly gettingfortable around me," he teased


    with a smile.


    ***