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“What lesson?” Daniel laughed bitterly. “Thou shalt not covet thy friend’s sister?”

“Do you know how blasphemous that sounds coming from you?”

“I have never professed myself to be a religious man,” he scoffed at his carefree friend.

Living off scraps, he had learned early on not to rely on the mercy of others or God. He had known better than to rely on others for his survival.

And he had managed well enough on his own until Evie crashed into his life, and all of a sudden, there was nothing in this world he wanted more than her.

But in his selfishness and arrogance, he had destroyed all of that.

“You might not believe in God, but you should at least have some hope that some good will come out of this,” Ethan told him softly.

Daniel smiled bitterly.

“At the very least, he owes her an apology,” Hudson remarked coolly. “That is if he can muster up the courage to beg for her mercy in Blackthorn Estate.”

“There is no hope for me now,” Daniel sighed. “It is over. My only wish is that Evie will live well after this.”

Hudson raised an eyebrow. “How is she supposed to live well when you mean to annul the marriage after only a day? Do you not think that thetonwould hesitate to drag her over the coals for this?”

“They would not dare!” Daniel growled. “I would like to see the first one to speak out against her.”

“You do not wish to remain married to her,” his reclusive friend continued. “But what will you do when she finds another man whowillmarry her?”

Daniel felt his chest clench painfully at Hudson’s words. He had meant to annul the marriage so that Evie could find someonebetter suited for her. Someone who could give her what he could not—children, a family.

A happy life.

He would never be able to give Evie that. Not when he had given his life to ensuring that the Stanton line would end with him.

Ethan shook his head. “You do not want to remain married to her, but you cannot stand the thought of her marrying someone else. EvenIwould tell you that is simply preposterous, Ash.”

“What does it matter what I want?” Daniel bit out harshly. “It is over—there is nothing that can be done about it now.”

His two friends shared a look, and Ethan let out a soft sigh of disappointment. Hudson was still very much aloof, but his fingers around his glass had tensed up considerably.

“Let him be, Ethan,” Hudson finally said.

As much as Daniel wanted to believe that things could be made right again, that he could undo all the hurt he had caused Evie and spare her from more of it, he knew that he could not. The only thing that he could do was make sure that she would never experience it again.

Unfortunately, that meant that he would have to remove himself from the equation.

Whatever it takes to ensure her happiness going forward, I will do it—even if I have to spend the rest of my life in misery.

Sleep does not come easily to one with a broken heart.

Ever since Daniel had walked out on her in his study in Ashton Hall, she had felt a kind of tiredness that seeped deep into her bones. However, try as she might, she could hardly get a wink of sleep, even when she had Jane bring her a cup of her favorite chamomile tea and warm milk with a bit of honey.

Evie stared up at the canopy of her old bed in Blackthorn Estate, biting her bottom lip. A few weeks ago, she would have wanted nothing more than to be back at home, away from Daniel and his overbearing tendencies. Her brother might have a streak of overprotectiveness a mile wide, but at least he did not meddle in her business all the time.

Now, she would give anything to have Daniel show up at their front door.

Or her window.

Or anywhere, really.

But I know better than to expect such things.