She had heard a rumor that Mr. Howard had been in a car ident a while back, losing a leg, and that Soren had something to do with it. She had dismissed it as gossip at the time.


    But looking at him now, could it be true?


    Just then, Evangeline caught a strange look from Poppy, who quickly averted her gaze when their eyes met. She frowned, sensing Poppy was hiding something.


    While Evangeline was trying to figure it out, Poppy put on a cating smile. "Mr. Howard, what are you doing here? There must be some kind of misunderstanding." "Misunderstanding?" Mr. Howard patted his empty pant leg and sneered. "What misunderstanding could there be? Soren cost me my leg, and..." His jaw clenched. "Now, I just want him toe here and end up just like me."


    "As for you two," he added, his voice dangerously calm, "I can let it go."


    Poppy''s heart clenched. Her wedding to Soren was only days away. She didn''t want anything to happen to her, nor could she bear to see Soren hurt.


    She bit her lip, her gaze flickering toward Evangeline as she hesitated.


    Evangeline didn''t notice. Hearing Mr. Howard''s words, some of her tension eased, but she was still confused. This had nothing to do with her. If he just wanted to lure Soren here, why kidnap her?


    As if sensing her confusion, Mr. Howard wheeled himself over to her. "Don''t think you''re innocent in all this. I lost this leg because of you."


    "Because of me?" Evangeline frowned,pletely baffled. How was she involved?


    Seeing her bewildered expression, Mr. Howard let out a cold, harshugh. "How amusing. Soren never told you, did he?"


    His eyes roamed over her, his gaze greedy and unsettling. Evangeline felt a chill and instinctively tried to pull back, but the ropes held her fast.


    Mr. Howard leaned in, his hand mping down on her face. "A true siren. No wonder Soren can''t get you out of his head."


    "All because I mentioned I wanted a chance to take you home for myself, he broke my leg and made sure I could never be a man again."


    As he spoke, his grip tightened, and Evangeline felt a sharp, burning pain in her jaw, as if the bone itself might crack. But her confusion overshadowed the pain. Soren was rarely so extreme, especially not for her sake. Content Belongs


    "Oh, and you probably don''t know this, but I hear that since you''ve been missing, Soren has been losing his mind, searching for you


    everywhere," Mr. Howard said with a twisted smile releasing her. He nced at Poppy, then back at Evangeline.


    "Isn''t it tragic?"


    "His own fiancée gets kidnapped, and he''s not nearly as panicked or terrified."


    "But when his ex-wife goes missing, he''s about to go insane."


    Evangeline was speechless. She instinctively looked at Poppy, who was now clenching her fists, her lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes welling with tears.


    Poppy had suspected Soren''s


    feelings for a while now, but hearing it confirmed so bluntly still felt like a punch to the gut. The hatred she felt for Evangeline intensified.


    "He''s just saying that to get under your skin," Evangeline cut in. "We''re stuck in


    here. We don''t know what''s actually going on out there."


    Mr. Howard just smiled and raised a hand. One of his men immediately came forward and untied Poppy.


    Poppy remained frozen in ce.


    Mr. Howard produced a dagger from his pocket and pressed it into Poppy''s hand. "I


    don''t know if you can stand it, but if I were you, I certainly couldn''t."


    "So, kill her."