EVA POVI always thought the past would stay buried, until it walked straight into my engagement party wearing a black suit with the same cold smile that once made me forget how to breathe.The lights of the Grand hall burned brighter than I could stand, chandeliers glittering above rows of powerful people who all wanted the same thing, a glimpse of my love story that looked perfect. I stood beside Henry Scott, my fiancé, the city's current golden man handsome, influential, and gentle.
Cameras flashed around us, music hummed softly, and everything looked flawless. Except for the way my hands trembled around the champagne glass I had barely touched.
I told myself it was coming from the excitement but it's all a lie.
It was the kind of unease that lives in your bones when something is about to shatter.
"Eva," Henry my fiancé whispered, brushing his thumb over my ring finger. "Are you sure you are okay? You look tense."
"I am fine," I lied, and smiled for the cameras.
The applause rose again as the host announced our engagement to the world.
"It's finally the most anticipated day, the engagement of Henry Scott, one of the city's most eligible bachelors after years of being single, and Eva…" the host hesitated, searching for my last name.
"Sinclair," Henry finished for him. A small smile touched my lips. I wasn't the high-society woman everyone expected me to be, so I wasn't surprised he forgot and honestly, I wasn't even mad about it.
Reporters clapped, friends cheered, and I almost let myself believe that this new beginning was real. That I would finally escape the shadow of the man who ruined and rebuilt me all in the same breath.
Then I saw him across the hall slowly sipping his wine making me stunned, I had thought I was hallucinating but I wasn't.
He didn't belong in this crowd, and yet every eye in the room began to follow him. A sly grin laced on his face as they bore into that of mine…Ethan Brooks.
My ex-husband.
For a second, the air left my lungs. The memory of his voice, the way he used to say my name, the way his touch could silence every thought it all came rushing back so fast I forgot where I was.
It had been three years since I walked away from him. He was supposed to be my past. So why did the sight of him feel like a beginning?
I blinked hard, pretending not to see him. I had signed the papers and moved on. So that chapter was supposed to be closed.
Henry said something about the press, about moving closer to the photographers. I nodded, forcing my lips to curve upward.
But the world around me had already blurred because Ethan Brooks was walking toward me now, and I didn't like where this was going.
Each step he took toward me made me tremble.
"Isn't that Ethan Brooks?" some of the guests murmured, confirming my suspicion.
"How come he is here?"
"He hardly comes to events like this."
Ethan is the richest man in the city. I get why he could come inside, without being stopped even though he is a rival of Henry.
The more he moved closer I tried to move but I couldn't. It was as if the ground refused to let me leave.
"Congratulations," he let out when he stopped in front of me, his voice low, calm that same voice that used to whisper my name in the past.
"You move on fast." My blood ran cold instantly. "What are you doing here?" Henry asked before I could reply to him.
His mouth lifted in a humorless smile. "Collecting what's mine." I froze at his statement, I got that I was terrified by his appearance but it wasn't supposed to be this brutal.
"What?"I breathe out.
He ignored my question. Instead, he reached into his jacket and unfolded a piece of paper crisp, white, and terrifyingly familiar, and placed it on the table beside the champagne tower.
The music stopped instantly and the crowd went silent. My voice barely made it out but it was too late. "Ethan, don't…"
"Ladies and gentlemen," he called out clearly, his tone effortlessly calm. "This engagement cannot proceed. Because, legally, Eva Brooks is still my wife."
The hall fell silent for a full breath, no one moved. Until Henry stepped in front of me, his calm voice was gone already.
"Excuse me? That's absurd." Ethan's eyes didn't leave mine like he was waiting for confirmation from me.
"Is it?"He lifted the paper so everyone could see. "Marriage contract. Signed three years ago. Registered under the High Court and no record of annulment or divorce."
The blood in my veins turned to ice.
"That's impossible," I whispered. "I signed the papers. My lawyer handled it.."
"You signed a version, yes," he said softly, almost kindly. "But not the final one. You didn't read the clause I added, remember?"
"What clause?" Henry asked, frustrated.
Ethan turned the paper around. I saw the handwriting at the bottom of the last page.
And then my eyes landed on the words that made my stomach drop.
'Marriage ends only when love does.' Beneath it, my signature.
I took a step back, my breath catching. "You… forged this… You never loved me."
"Did I?" His expression didn't change. "How can you tell if I love you or not?"
My throat tightened and the room had gone eerily quiet except for the distant clicks of camera shutters. People were whispering. Henry looked from me to Ethan, fury breaking through his shock.
"Eva," Henry called quietly, "what is he talking about? How did you even know him? What love are you talking about?" I couldn't speak.
My life and future are getting ruined and I can't even explain myself. I wanted to throw that paper in his face, tell the crowd this was all a lie but a word wasn't coming out of my mouth.
"Speak… Eva… everyone is watching, you told me you don't have a bad past." Henry yelled at me but I couldn't say a word, it felt like my brain went into shock.
"Check the records, and stop trying to lie to yourself, dude," Ethan said simply, tucking the document back into his pocket.
"I would be waiting," he added and walked away, leaving chaos in his wake.
Instantly cameras flashed on mine and Henry's face was pale with disbelief.
I stood there, shaking, staring at the spot where Ethan had been, my knee couldn't take it anymore and it hit the ground.