Chapter 226


    "You might think you''re just keeping your promise to take me out to eat, but it''s not that simple for me.


    "Your uncles picked this ce for dinner on purpose. They wanted to set us up on a blind date." Each word Hank spoke hit Evangeline like a bolt of lightning, leaving her mind a total nk.


    As she tried to wrap her head around his revtion, her mouth opened and closed, speechless.


    Hank had already shifted his focus to Walter.


    "Walter," he said. "What gives you the right to sit here and act out some drama about catching a cheater? Evie is her own person. It doesn''t matter to you if we''re just having dinner or if we''re more than that. Her uncles are cool with us, so why should you have a say?" Hank delivered his speech coolly, leaving Evangeline with one thought: This guy was a master at dropping bombshells!


    Stunned, Evangeline could not help but feel a twinge of glee at Walter''s contorted, bitter expression. It was like he had swallowed a lemon.N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.


    She could not help butugh inwardly. Walter was finally put in his ce.


    Silently, she gave Hank a mental thumbs-up for his audacity.


    Nice one!


    Walter was not about to let that slide. He hit back with a cold sneer, his good looks turning icy, like he was channeling a blizzard that had been brewing for eons.


    "Mr. Tarp, are you familiar with the fact that I am still her husband?"


    Evangeline shivered at his words, and Hank''s face lost all color in a sh.


    Walter, seeing their reactions, ditched his earlier slump and beamed with


    smug satisfaction.


    "That means I''m not quite Evangeline''s ex yet. You might be Mr. Perfect with her family''s thumbs-up, but unless I bow out, you''re out of luck. No offense, but I think you''re celebrating too soon."


    He finished with a taunting eyebrow raised at Hank, oozing arrogance that could make anyone''s blood boil.


    "Too soon? I don''t think so. If anything, it''s a tadte."


    Hank brushed it off.


    "What''s your oath of marriage worth, anyway? We''ve all seen how you''ve treated Evie. If things were peachy, why would her uncles even think of passing her happiness to me? Since you''re clearly not the dream team, isn''t a split just a ticking time bomb? Plus, James men off period is almost up, isn''t it? I''m not sure what you''re trying to prove by being so stubborn."


    Hank hit back hard, cool as a cucumber on the outside. Internally, however, he was riding a tidal wave of emotions.


    He was dead set on being Evangeline''s real deal, and that meant he had to leap over the Walter hurdle.


    Even though Evangeline had not said yes to being with him yet, he was determined to win her over. He nned to take care of everything so that all she would have to do wase to him and bask in their shared joy.


    That was why putting Walter in his ce and clearing away the messy ties of a post-divorce life was absolutely essential.


    "Stubborn, am I?"


    Walter''sugh was unapologetically loud. "Just a friendly reminder, Evangeline and I haven''t signed those divorce papers yet. There''s always a chance we won''t go through with it. Imagine pouring out all that love for nothing, only to end up loitering around us, all bitter and