Right now, the comments branding Lilah as the other woman were overshadowed by the envious voices of the perfect match.

But Elliana knew how these things worked. Envy faded, gossip stuck. And if Wanda or Trinity fanned the flames, the story would twist until her name was dragged through the mud. Her love story with Cole would carry a stain she could never wash away.

Thinking of this, Elliana narrowed her eyes and then turned to look at Cole outside the car.

Cole had barely pressed the answer button when Eva’s furious voice burst through the receiver. “Cole, what is the meaning of this?”

“What are you referring to, Eva?” Cole asked, his tone calm.

His even tone only fanned Eva’s anger. Her voice grew sharp and hysterical. “Don’t play dumb with me, Cole! Do you think that just because the Evans family cast me out years ago, you can treat me like I’m nothing?”

Cole chuckled derisively. He knew exactly what had set her off, but he had no intention of explaining. His choices—who he loved and who he wanted to marry—were none of her concern. She had no right to question him.

The only valid point in her anger was that he had proposed to Wanda and then backed out. But even that had been settled—he had already given her a hundred million as compensation. So, while Eva raged on the other end of the line, he remained nonchalant.

His indifference made her grind her teeth in fury. “Cole, you said your mother wanted you to marry Arthur’s daughter, so you called off the engagement with Wanda. I understood that, and I even supported you. But now you’re suddenly involved with Lilah? Was everything you told me a lie? Do you play me like a fool?”

Cole, of course, would not reveal that Lilah was Arthur’s daughter without her permission. Listening to Eva’s sharp, uneven breaths, he replied coolly, “This is my personal life, Eva. I don’t owe you an explanation, and you have no right to demand one, do you?”

“You!” Eva’s words caught in her throat. She knew he was right. He had no obligation to explain, and she had no true standing to question him. Her only excuse for calling was the title of “aunt,” and even that carried no weight anymore. His cold rebuttal left her speechless.

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Cole ended the call. He pushed the car door open and slid back into the driver’s seat.

After closing the door, he turned his head toward Lilah. She sat quietly in the passenger seat, eyes fixed on her phone, saying nothing. In less than two minutes, the air between them felt heavy, as though she had pulled away. Was it because he had stepped out of the car to take Eva’s call? She had every reason to be upset about that, and he understood. He broke the silence. “It was Eva who called.”

“Oh,” Elliana answered lightly. She hadn’t expected him to admit it so directly, but she refrained from commenting further.

Cole continued, his voice steady. “Between you and Eva, I’ll always choose you. Even if you killed her right in front of me, I wouldn’t intervene.”

Elliana froze. She hadn’t expected him to speak with such blunt honesty, nor to lay his heart bare so clearly.

She withdrew her gaze from the phone screen and turned to look at him. His face no longer carried the softness of a man pleading for love. It was firm now, resolute. Ruben had once said the same thing to her. Both men had stood by her, making it clear—between her and Eva, their choice was her. Her heart warmed deeply.

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. ? ?s? ?s F?ndNovel.net

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