Page 155 of Babies for the Big Shot
She takes a slow sip from her own cup before setting it down, her fingers brushing lightly against the porcelain. Her eyes drop to her hands for a brief second before meeting mine again.
“There was a time… a long time ago… when Nick tried to help me.” Her words are heavy with the weight of something old, something she’s lived with for years. “I had a breakdown. Severe anxiety. Depression. The kind of darkness that doesn’t just go away with time. And he was the only one who showed up. The only one who didn’t treat me like a problem to be fixed.”
My chest tightens as I watch her, the layers of emotion flickering behind her eyes. It’s clear this isn’t an easy thing for her to talk about.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, unsure of how to say anything more without making it worse.
But Evelyn simply shakes her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
“Don’t be. He was there when I needed him, and for a long time, I thought that was enough. But then the press started… the attention, the pressure, the Ashford name? It all became suffocating. I didn’t have a choice but to escape it. Staying would have broken me.”
She pauses, her eyes clouding for a moment as she stares into the distance. She’s pulled herself back to that time, reliving something that still feels raw.
“Nick begged me to stay,” she explains. “But I couldn’t. I couldn’t be part of that world anymore, not in the way they wanted me to be. I had to leave. For my peace. For my sanity. I mean, he was so well known in the business world, and it was just too much.”
I don’t know how to respond. Part of me wants to comfort her, to reassure her that she made the right choice, but I don’t.
Instead, I just sit there, holding my cup of tea, listening as Evelyn continues.
“So Nick did the only thing he could,” she continues. “He basically did everything he could to erase any mention of me. To help me, Nick hired the best digital lawyers money can buy.” She pauses, her gaze steady on me, before she adds, “To make sure no one could find anything about me. He erased all traces. My name… gone. My life? Inaccessible.”
“Wow, that’s…”
“I know.” She smiles. “But I haven’t really spoken to Nick since I left,” she adds, her eyes now focused on the tea in front of her as if it holds all the answers she’s ever needed. “Or to anyone. I’ve kept to myself. I had to protect my peace, Sara. You don’t understand it until you’re on the other side of it, but peace is a fragile thing. And once you lose it, you have to fight to get it back.”
I swallow hard, feeling the sharp sting of her words. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like for her, living in the shadow of her family while suffering.
“I think Nick’s always carried that guilt,” she adds, her voice gentle now. “That he couldn’t save me. But he never could have. Not from that.”
I set my tea down, my hands trembling slightly. “He never told me any of this.”
Evelyn meets my eyes, her gaze steady. “He wouldn’t. He doesn’t share his burden. But maybe you should know, Sara… Nick Ashford has a history of carrying other people’s weight. He always has.”
I nod, processing her words, feeling like the door to Nick’s past is slowly creaking open.
“So… you and Nick?”
She has a cheeky little twinkle in her eyes, which warms me to her.
“We… met once on a night out. I wasn’t expecting it to lead anywhere, but then he became my boss. Things… got complicated after that.”
She raises an eyebrow, and I can see the understanding in her eyes.
“You don’t have to explain. I know how these things go.” She sips her tea again, her fingers wrapped around the warm cup as she looks at me with a knowing expression. “With Nick… it’s complicated. The press, the expectations, the spotlight… it makes everything harder. Especially when it’s personal.”
I nod, a weight settling in my chest. “Exactly. I never thought it’d go this far. But here we are.”
Again I press my hand to my belly, thinking about everything still to come.
Evelyn looks at me for a long moment, then her eyes soften. “You’re lucky, then.”
I blink, unsure of what she means. “Lucky?”
She nods slowly, setting her tea down and folding her hands in front of her. “Nick is loyal. When he cares about someone, he’ll do anything to protect them. He’s always been that way, even when it meant sacrificing himself. I’ve seen him do it for people who weren’t worth it… but he never complained. He just kept going.”
The way she says it, with such certainty, makes my heart ache a little. I didn’t realize how much of Nick’s past was tied to this. To her. To everything that shaped him into who he is today.
“But it’s not easy for him,” Evelyn adds. “There’s a part of him that’s always trying to control everything, because when he can’t, the world around him falls apart. And people… people get hurt.”
