Page 12 of Tangled In Lies

We’d like to circle back to that great partnership with you.

With you.

With. Me.

“Evangeline, you’re going to take over Constance’s spot and marry Phoenix.”

That’s the last thing I hear before my body decides it’s had enough and everything goes black.

Chapter 4

Phoenix

It would be so easy to kill her.

So easy to walk up to the bed and slit her throat and let her bleed out.

Yet, after everything that happened, there’s still no satisfaction at the thought. No punishment will ever be enough. Nothing will give me back the last three years of my life or the hit my reputation, as well as my family’s, took.

Nothing will ever make up for it.

But making her life a living hell will help some.

She’ll be mine to ruin, and having her become my wife is only the first step, one I know she’ll resent me for with all her being. All while I have a front-row seat to her misery.

I can’t wait.

And maybe this was a long time coming. Who knows? Perhaps we were always inevitable, our life paths chosen long before we ever stepped foot on them.

Everything started falling apart when I got engaged to Connie. Though, to be fair, I knew this might be an issue for Evie. I didn’t anticipate such a strong reactionfrom her, though, to the point where she put a wedge between her and her sister. I don’t know everything that went on between them, but as far as I’m aware, their relationship went from good to rocky when Evie—no more nicknames, it’s Evangeline now—found out about us.

Then Connie died, and everything went to shit from there. I didn’t even have the chance to pay my respects to her before the police arrested me.

Granted, the charges were warranted, but they should have never happened in the first place. I just wanted to dish out some much-deserved punishment because Chris Wellinger deserved it. Of course, the police didn’t agree with me. My father had groomed me for years, having me do a ton of shady shit for him, but I was never caught. Until that dreadful night.

Unfortunately, this time, the judge couldn’t be bought. To say my father was livid is the understatement of the year. No one ever says no to Spencer Montgomery; it was the reality check he didn’t want or need. I certainly didn’t either.

Evangeline groans on the bed. “What . . .”

Her parents asked me to carry her into the closest guest bedroom after she fainted. Yes,carry, because my dumb-ass reflexes kicked in and overrode everything else when I saw her collapse. I jumped up and caught her before she hit her head on the floor. I should have been so lucky. Instead, I was the white knight everyone was grateful for.

I had to hold her in my arms like she was precious, with her lush curves pressed against me. My traitorous former self came to the surface and wanted to touch her some more, to trace her high cheekbones and grab her hips. Why does she have to be so damn beautiful? I thought all of these oldfeelings and the desire would be gone forever with how much hatred I have for her in my heart.

She shifts again, lifting her hand to her head and resting it on her dark hair. Her eyes flutter as she slowly blinks them open and stares at the ceiling. I know the second her memories come back to her. She gasps and sits upright, her gaze immediately zooming around the room until it lands on me with wide eyes.

“Welcome back,fiancée.” I push my hands in my pockets and don’t move from where I stand, with several feet between us.

Be nice. You want to keep the upper hand and not let her immediately see all of your cards.

Her head goes left and right several times. “That can’t be . . . No . . . We can’t.”

“Well, it seems like the decision was already made for us, but feel free to try and get us out of it. You can go find Daddy and tell him the business deal of his dreams will go up in flames after all.”

I try to be nonchalant without sounding too desperate. I didn’t expect her to go along with our engagement, but I’m also banking on her dad holding up his end of the bargain. There’s a reason I made sure my father dangled the biggest carrot under his nose we could offer. Dropping our current consulting firm and using Byron’s instead. My future father-in-law doesn’t need to know my father was planning on switching companies anyway.

Evangeline could still say screw it and leave her princess life behind in favor of not getting married to me, but I don’t think she’ll do that.

At least, that’s what I’m banking on. If she proves mewrong and her father can’t convince her, I still have an ace up my sleeve.

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