Chapter 402

"Just today," Evelyn answered softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Did something happen? Why did you two separate so suddenly?" Eleanor's tone remained composed, though her eyes betrayed deep concern. She had received an invitation to Leonard's birthday celebration but had politely declined with a prior engagement excuse. Thus, she remained unaware of the dramatic events that had unfolded at the gala.

Evelyn didn't hold back, recounting every painful detail from both the holiday villa incident and Leonard's disastrous banquet. As the story unfolded, Eleanor's face darkened with growing fury. She could never have imagined the depths of suffering her beloved granddaughter had endured—Evelyn had nearly lost her life! The revelation made Eleanor's blood boil.

"My dear, you did absolutely nothing wrong. Your decision was courageous and right," Eleanor said firmly, placing a comforting hand over Evelyn's trembling ones. "Nathan never deserved you. Ending this marriage is your liberation." Her wise eyes searched Evelyn's face. "Can you imagine spending another decade trapped in that loveless cage?"

A fragile smile touched Evelyn's lips. "Exactly! I refuse to be anyone's afterthought ever again." Even as she spoke these words, hot tears began tracing paths down her pale cheeks.

The sight of Evelyn's silent weeping made Eleanor's own eyes sting. She pulled her granddaughter into a warm embrace, murmuring, "Let it all out, my darling. Here with me, you don't need to wear that brave mask."

Those tender words shattered Evelyn's last defenses. Like a dam breaking, her carefully controlled composure collapsed completely.

All day she had maintained perfect poise—through the courthouse proceedings, through signing the papers, through every polite goodbye. But now, curled against Eleanor's shoulder, Evelyn sobbed with gut-wrenching intensity. Each ragged breath carried months of pent-up anguish.

From the moment she'd stepped into the divorce court that morning, excruciating pain had been clawing at her insides. Yet she'd kept repeating her mantra: This is freedom. This is survival. Nathan Black would no longer own any piece of her heart.

Now, in her grandmother's safe embrace, every suppressed emotion came flooding out. Her body shook with the force of her weeping as she gasped between sobs, "Grandmother... I swear... this is the last time... I'll ever cry for Nathan! After tonight... he's dead to me!"

"That's my strong girl," Eleanor whispered, stroking Evelyn's hair as her own tears fell. "By sunrise, he'll be nothing but a bad memory."

The raw pain in Evelyn's cries tore at Eleanor's heart. Yet she knew this purging was necessary—only by fully feeling this grief could her granddaughter truly move forward.

When the storm of tears finally began to subside, Evelyn sniffled and whispered a promise: "I'll find real love one day, Grandmother. Someone who sees me as their first choice, their only choice."

"Of course you will," Eleanor affirmed fiercely, dabbing at her own damp cheeks. Evelyn deserved nothing less than complete devotion.

The emotional exhaustion eventually pulled Evelyn into a fitful sleep. Before bed, she pressed chilled spoons against her swollen eyelids, though morning still found them puffy. After freshening up, she slipped out of the Prescott estate quietly.

It wasn't until breakfast that Grace noticed her daughter's return the previous night. Sipping her tea, she casually inquired, "Mother, when did Evelyn come home last night?"