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“I would rather not talk about it, but I had to stand up to my father when he began to beat my sister too,” Magnus added. His eyes were so full of pain that it was unimaginable.

“If you have all experienced this with your fathers, then you must understand why I pushed Eveline away,” William said, looking from Edwin to Magnus and then to Theo.

They all shook their heads.

“If I ever met a woman I care about as you do Eveline, I could never hurt her,” Edwin declared.

William was surprised. “But if she died or if she were hurt in any way, I could never live with myself.”

“Then this should make you cherish every moment you spend with her,” Magnus argued.

“Why would you let fear of the unknown lead you to punish yourself?” Theo asked.

That struck William hard. Was he truly punishing himself due to the fear of death?

“We can never truly avoid pain and death, can we? After all, they are inevitable,” Magnus said. “The only thing we can do is live to the fullest so that when death finally comes, we will have fond memories to look back on.”

Fond memories.

William remembered the time he and Eveline had spent together in the castle. How he had caught her just in time before she fell off the ladder in the library, how they had gone to the ball together and ended the night on an eventful note, and, finally, their first night together.

He knew right there and then that he wanted to make more fond memories with her.

He wanted to watch her eyes twinkle while she teased him.

He wanted to watch her eyes roll to the back of her head and her back arch when he pleasured her.

He did not yet know how bitter losing someone to death was. However, he now knew the sorrow of living without Eveline.

And at that moment, he chose to put an end to his sorrow.

“I must go to Eveline!” he announced as he rose to his feet with renewed strength. “Prepare the carriage, I am returning to London,” he said to his butler.”

CHAPTER 27

William had been on the road well over a day. However, despite being weary and tired, not once did he take his mind off his goal: getting his wife back. He had only stopped for a moment to get a bouquet of his wife’s favorite flowers—white tulips.

This was why he was so elated when the carriage finally pulled up to Notley Manor.

The carriage had barely stopped in front of the house when he jumped out, breezing past the butler, who announced his arrival.

“The Duke of Mayfield!”

There was a flurry of footsteps, and the next moment, Eveline’s sisters rushed down the stairs towards him. However, William continued to search for his wife.

Her sisters stopped at the bottom of the stairs, blocking his way to the rest of the house.

“What are you doing here?” Ava asked, glaring daggers at him.

Even Stella did not look kindly at him.

William could not fault them, of course. After all, he had treated their sister rather horribly.

“I only want a moment with Eveline,” he explained.

Ava laughed at him as though he was a jester.

“You only want a moment with Eveline?” she repeated. “You can never have a moment with Eveline. In fact, I would advise you to leave this moment.”