Chapter 5

Salvatore

"My shares or Lara's life, which is more important?" My hand was already on the door knob, ready to push it open, when I heard these words.

I froze at once, when I heard what was being said inside.

It was obviously Evelyn's voice, but I found it hard to believe that the person saying those words was the woman I had married yesterday.

She seemed to have.... changed.

It started when she jolted awake this early morning.

First she claimed we were married for years, and then she wanted a divorce?

I had no intention of giving her a divorce, but I had every intention of getting down to the bottom of what was going on in her head.

Even though it was a political marriage her parents had fought for just to be connected to me, I could tell that Evelyn had wanted this marriage as much as I did a few days ago.

So why did she change her mind after just one night?

Could it be that she....

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the door was pushed open and an angry looking Evelyn rushed out.

She froze, an obvious look of shock on her face when she saw me.

Obviously, she was not expecting me to be here.

The shock looked on her face soon morphed into something different, a sarcastic smirk that unnerved me.

What was wrong with Evelyn? She never looked at me like this in the past.

"What? Are you shocked to see me like this? Do you think that I am especially mean for asking for something in exchange for giving Lara my blood?"

Evelyn's words were dripping with sarcasm, but there was also another emotion I noticed from her voice. Jealousy.

Evelyn was jealous. A smile spread across my face when I realized that.

If she was jealous, it meant that there was still some hope for us, right?

"I am just this type of person. If someone wants to use me, I will make sure to get as much as I can from them. Those shares belong to me and I...."

"You should get them back, since they are yours," I said, cutting her off.

Evelyn blinked once, disbelief written all over her face.

"What?" She asked, as she looked at me incredulously.

I didn't give her a direct answer, instead, pulling on her hand, I dragged her back into the hospital room.

"Can I know why Evelyn's shares were taken away from her when she was getting married to me?"

My eyes fell on the couple in the living room, disdain for them spreading in my heart.

The only reason I was willing to respect them enough to have a conversation was because they were Evelyn's parents.

And as for Lara....my gaze landed on the woman who was lying still on the bed.

I felt immense gratitude towards her, and once, that gratitude had ruined my life.

However, I was not going to make that same mistake again.

"Salvatore," Clara was the one who spoke first, an amicable smile on her face.

"We just thought that since she was getting married to you, she wouldn't be needing it. She's your wife, and the madam of the Harrington Empire...."

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Evelyn roll her eyes when Clara mentioned that she was my wife.

"Being my wife doesn't take away what belongs to her, Clara. Besides, if I remember correctly, your company was started by your late wife, Evelyn's birth mother, right?"

I shifted my gaze towards Evelyn's father as I said this, and even though I couldn't see her reaction, I felt Evelyn's grip tighten in my hands.

It seemed, there was more to this family than meets the eye.

The older man's face darkened, and seeing his fierce gaze fall on Evelyn, I stood protectively in front of her.

"Evelyn is my daughter, of course, she is going to get what should be hers," he said through clenched teeth, obviously not meaning those words.

"You should make sure of that, otherwise, I would have to get my lawyers involved, and see that Evelyn gets every cent that should be hers!"

Although I was smiling, my words were an obvious threat.

Everyone in the room knew that, it was obvious from how their face tightened.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Clara chuckled loudly, in an attempt to ease the atmosphere.

"Hahaha....you've only been married for a day, and yet you are already defending Evelyn so fiercely!"

"She is my wife, of course, I have to be on her side!"

Saying this, I pulled Evelyn closer to myself.

However, with insane strength, Evelyn pushed me away just then and dashed out of the room.

As she made her way out, I could see her face turn pale.

Feeling worried, I hurried after her.

"Evelyn, where are you going?!"

.....

Evelyn was about to get into a taxi when I caught up with her.

Grabbing her hand, I pulled her out of the taxi.

"What's going on? Why were your shares taken away?" I questioned her, my gaze on her searching for any hints of what might be going on.

With a stoic look, Evelyn tried to push me away once again but I was prepared. I wasn't going to let go so easily.

I would never let her go again.

"It's none of your business,"she snapped at me, as she avoided my gaze.

"None of my business? I just helped you," I reminded her.

Why didn't I remember her being so ungrateful?

Sucking in a deep breath, Evelyn finally looked into my eyes.

"Thank you for your help earlier, but I really didn't need you to. I have to go somewhere now, so please let go!" She spoke harshly.

"I am not letting go," I fired back at her, as I started to lose my temper.

"Why don't you explain what's going on? First you want a divorce out of nowhere and now you...."

"I do want a divorce, Salvatore. And I am going to get it. You and I aren't compatible with each other! We..."

Evelyn was still speaking when my ringtone interrupted her.

Pulling out my phone from my pocket, my eyes darkened once I saw the name of the caller.

There was just one word. Father.

With irritation in my heart, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Salvatore, there's something I need to talk to you about. Why don't you come home?" My father's voice sounded in my ear.

Although he spoke calmly, I knew it was an order, not a suggestion.

"I am busy. I..."

Looking up, I found out that Evelyn and the taxi were gone.

Damn it, she had escaped while I was on the phone.

"I want to see you in an hour!" My father's booming voice sounded before the line went dead.

.....

"Master Salvatore," the butler bowed to acknowledge my presence when I walked into the house.

Making my way into the living room, I saw someone I never expected to see in my house again.

"Salvatore," she stood up with a smile on her face.

"Did you miss me?"

Salvatore

"Did you miss me?" Penelope had a perfect smile on her face, a smile that I had not seen for the past few years, a smile that I would have been very content going the rest of my life without ever seeing again.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out without thinking much, my sharp words betraying my disdain towards her.

My eyes were cold as I coldly regarded the woman in front of me.

She wasn't supposed to be back yet. I knew she was going to come back to the country at some point. However, now was not the time.

Did something happen? Did she ...want something?

"You don't need to look at me like I have some ulterior motives, Salvatore," Penelope chuckled, as if she had something extremely funny.

This woman was so fake she could summon her tears and laughter with one move, and so I wasn't impressed.

Folding my arms across my chest, I spoke again, my voice steadier and colder this time.

"What do you want, Penelope?"

Standing up from the couch, she approached me, her steps calculated.

"Why? Can't I come to check up on an old friend?"

Saying this, her eyes fell to my ring finger, her lips curling up in a smirk.

"You really are married," she noted, a frown flashing past her face.

When she looked up at me, the frown was gone and replaced with her fake smile.

"I always thought that if you had to get married, you would marry Lara Withtaker, since when were you interested in her older sister?"

Penelope tilted her head as she said this, "women like that never seemed to be your type," she added.

"You have no idea what my type is, and if you know what's good for you, you are going to stay away from my wife and out of my life!" I warned her.

Penelope might look innocent but there was nothing innocent about the things she was capable of.

There was a reason she was mentioning Evelyn, and it couldn't be good at all!

Penelope shook her head and wisely took two steps away from me.

"I know your type, Salvatore, have you forgotten that at some point, I was your type?"

I didn't respond to her attempt to goad me, I just stared at her blankly, trying to determine if she really believed the things she said.

Clearing her throat, Penelope had the decency to look ashamed.

"There's no need for you to be so cold to me, Salvatore. Regardless of our past, I am with your brother now, and we are going to be a family so maybe we should figure out a way to get along with each other," she stated, looking straight into my eyes as she said this.

"You and I will never get along, Penelope. Besides, do you think your boyfriend wants you to get along fine with me?" I smirked at her as I asked this.

Since Penelope was back, it only meant that my brother was back.

All of this wasn't supposed to happen now, however, it didn't mean I couldn't deal with both of them.

Penelope pinched her eyebrows, "Ethan has decided to come back and..."

"Salvatore, you are back!"

Hearing my mother's voice, I looked away from Penelope and focused on the well dressed woman who was coming down the stairs, my father by her side, Ethan trailing behind them.

It was the only time I was relieved to hear my mother's voice, because it meant I wouldn't need to deal with Penelope.

"Where is your wife? Isn't she supposed to come back with you? She married you just yesterday, doesn't she know that she has responsibilities as your wife?" My mother asked, all of the relief that I felt on seeing her face evaporating into thin air.

In the past,I might have felt a bit of something for her since she was my mother, however now, I could barely stand her presence.

This woman had ruined my life in the past, however, I was not going to give her that chance anyway.

Looking away from her, my eyes landed on Ethan who was smirking at me, that gaze on his face, I was used to it.

He wasn't here for anything good at all!

"You are back," I noted, a calm look on his face.

In the past, he might have been able to get under my skin .

However, I was not going to give him that opportunity this time.

Ethan nodded, directly walking over to Penelope's side and throwing his arms around her.

If he thought this was going to get a reaction out of me, he was dead wrong.

"Yes, Penelope said that she wanted to come back. There's no reason why we have to stay away from our families, so we came back earlier than we planned," Ethan smirked, a victorious smirk on his face like he had won something.

My gaze landed on my father who was looking anywhere else but me.

Something had definitely happened.

"You never had to leave in the first place," I reminded him.

He had only run away because he was scared .

"This is not the time for us to talk about this. Where is your wife, Salvatore? Why isn't she here? Don't think that Nora didn't tell me about what she said. That woman is .."

"Mother!" I snapped, raising my voice a bit so she knew I wasn't playing around.

She flinched as if I had hit her, but she wisely didn't say anything else, she just looked at my father for support.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about my wife or my marriage with Nora," I warned.

I was sure that Nora had told my mother about Evelyn wanting a divorce.

However, no matter what Evelyn or anyone else said, I wasn't going to give her the divorce she wanted.

I would never let her go this time.

My father cleared his throat just then, drawing attention to himself.

"Salvatore's marriage with Evelyn Withtaker is important to the family, so nothing can go wrong just yet," he stated, his eyes lingering on me as if he really cared.

"However, since Ethan is back, we need to get to what's more important," he said, finally going straight to the point.

"Ethan will be working in the company from now on!" He announced.