Evelyn walked inside the mansion, with Xavier following close behind her.
His gaze immediately went to Madam Callahan before darting towards his boss.
However, he didn’t rush to explain anything.
With his boss’s mother at the center of the situation, he didn’t dare complicate things any further.
“Mother, I know what I’m doing,” Damian said without explaining.
He simply gave her one statement.
And somehow, that only made Helena angrier.
“You know what you’re doing?” she repeated, pointing at Evelyn again.
“And this is it?”
“Marrying some random woman?”
“Mother—”
“Damian,” Helena interrupted him, her eyes darkening.
“Do you still remember the responsibility you carry?”
Her gaze sharpened.
“Or have you forgotten it under the spell of her seduction?”
She turned sharply towards Evelyn.
Her flawless, delicate face was only further proof, in Helena’s eyes, that she possessed every charm capable of distracting her son from the promise he had made to her.
And there was no way Helena would allow that to happen.
Not under her watch.
And definitely not until Damian fulfills what he had promised her.
“Son, I thought you were taught better than to fall for some useless woman’s charms,” she said, glaring at him.
“But it seems I overestimated you.”
“Mom!”
Damian’s voice rose above hers.
He respected his mother more than anyone.
But respecting her didn’t mean he would allow himself to be disrespected.
Not by anyone.
And certainly not in front of others.
Helena stared at her son.
Her fingers clenched, but in contrast, her eyes began to glisten with tears.
She didn’t speak for a moment.
She simply stared at Damian.
“Now you’d raise your voice at me because of her?” she asked.
There was a brutal edge to her words, aimed precisely at the place she knew would hurt him most.
“Have you fallen for her so deeply, Damian?”
Damian’s brows immediately knitted together, and his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“Mom, I don’t—”
Before he could finish, Evelyn’s cold chuckle cut through the air.
Damian frowned and looked at her.
Helena did the same.
Even Xavier, who had been standing close to Evelyn, looked at her in surprise.
“Madam Callahan, you truly overestimate your son,” Evelyn said.
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of politeness left in her tone.
Helena’s brows furrowed.
But Evelyn didn’t flinch.
She looked at Helena for a moment, then glanced at Damian with open mockery before turning back toward Helena.
“Your son is incapable of feeling someone’s love and trust, and you think he would ever fall for someone?” She gave a quiet scoff.
“That too —me?”
Her lips curved faintly, though there was no humor in it.
“You’re giving me far too much credit, Madam Callahan.
Please don’t.
Otherwise, I might end up even more embarrassed than I already am.”
Helena stared at her, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.
But the more audaciously Evelyn spoke about her son, the more difficult it became for Helena to tolerate.
“Who do you think you are, talking about him like that?” she demanded, her voice carrying a quiet growl.
“You’re calling my son incapable?”
Her gaze swept over Evelyn.
“Look at yourself in the mirror, and you’ll see just how incapable he is of falling for someone like you.”
Evelyn paused.
She didn’t understand what Helena meant.
Look at herself in the mirror?
Her brows furrowed in confusion.
Seeing her reaction, Helena’s eyes traveled slowly from Evelyn’s head to her feet before settling on the red wedding gown.
“Wedding gowns are usually white or red,” Helena said.
“But do you know what a red wedding gown from the Callahans means?”
Evelyn stared at her.
Only then did she glance down at the gown she was wearing.
She had barely looked at it since changing into it.
After all, to her, this piece of couture was no different from a coffin.
And the dead didn’t stare at the intricate details of their coffins.
They simply got buried in them.
Xavier, on the other hand, pursed his lips.
Others might not know, but he knew exactly what he had carried into that wedding hall earlier.
It wasn’t just another wedding gown.
It was the red wedding gown of the Callahans.
And red in the Callahan family wasn’t merely a color.
It was a promise.
A promise reserved for something exclusive —love, passion, and a lifetime together.
So when Damian had ordered him to take that bridal gown to the Grand Meridian Resort, Xavier hadn’t been entirely sure what his boss was planning.
A wedding built on revenge —and a gown that carried the promise of a lifetime —was a incomprehensible combination.
One that was almost impossible to understand.
But it had been an absolute command.
So Xavier had simply followed it.
Evelyn, however, had no idea what the gown meant.
So when Helena put it that way, she couldn’t help but look down at the dress again.
Her fingers lightly brushed over the fabric against her skin before she slowly lifted her eyes toward Damian.
His gaze remained calm —far too calm to offer either confirmation or explanation.
“Callahan men design and weave their brides’ wedding gowns themselves,” Helena continued, her voice edged with sharpness. The source of this chapter is g.com.
As if she was forcing herself to accept something she didn’t want to.
“And the shade of red they choose carries a meaning.
A promise.”
Her eyes settled on Evelyn.
“And you think my son would do all that for you without meaning any of it?”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
She looked at the dress once again.
Helena glanced at her before turning toward her son, disappointment evident in her eyes.
“What were you thinking, Damian?” Her gaze swept over Evelyn.
“You brought a nobody like her into this house dressed in red.
Has love made you so incompetent to think?”
At that, Evelyn’s gaze snapped toward her.
“A nobody like me?” Her voice was calm, but the sharpness beneath it was unmistakable.
“Madam Callahan, who are you to judge me as a nobody?
Do you even know me?”
Helena’s face flushed with anger.
No one had dared speak to her with such disrespect in years.
Yet this girl hadn’t merely done it once.
She had dared to challenge her again and again.
Her fingers clenched as she glared at Evelyn.
“You certainly don’t sound like a nobody.” She paused.
“Tell me, then.
Who are you?”
Her gaze briefly shifted toward Damian.
“Let me know what woman has my son chosen so absolutely?”
Evelyn had never used her family name to intimidate anyone.
She never needed to.
But the irony was that when she finally needed the protection of that name, her own family seemed to have already abandoned her.
Her father had abandoned her.
Yet being abandoned didn’t mean she would allow anyone else to bully or humiliate her.
She straightened.
Taking a slow breath, she composed herself.
The pride she had always carried remained in her eyes.
Then she looked directly at Helena.
“I’m Evelyn Beaumont.” She paused.
“The second daughter of the Beaumont family.”
Helena froze.
For a moment, the color drained from her face without her even realizing it.
She staggered a step backwards, almost losing her balance.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“What did you say?”
Her voice trembled.
“Whose daughter did you say you are?”