The moment Evan saw the grave look on Amos’s face, his heart sank.
Something had happened.
But both Yara and Evan had been in Seaborne this whole time.
What else could possibly have gone wrong?
Amos said, “Aaron took your mother, Fiona, and your father.”
Evan froze.
“What?”
It took only a second for all the color to drain from his face.
“You know what Aaron’s like,” Amos said. “When he wants something, he gets it.”
Compared to this, the way Aaron had treated Stella before had practically been gentle.
Now, all he wanted was Evan’s signature on the divorce papers.
But that wasn’t all.
He also wanted Evan to stop looking for Felix and let Stella go once and for all.
Aaron was determined to strip Evan of every last claim he had on Stella.
“They... he took all of them?”
Evan could barely get the words out.
How had it come to this?
What the hell was Aaron trying to do?
Amos nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then send someone to...”
“Don’t even think about it,” Amos cut him off. “The second any of our people set foot in Aaron’s territory, he’ll tear them apart.”
Was Evan thinking about sneaking them out the same way they had once smuggled Stella away?
That was way too naive.
Remi and Seymour still hadn’t recovered from what happened last time.
Who would dare go now?
Amos might have gone head-to-head with Aaron plenty of times before, but even he knew better than to get anywhere near Aaron when the man truly lost it.
Aaron was a genuine lunatic.
The smartest thing anyone could do was stay as far away from him as possible.
“You should just sign the papers,” Amos advised. “Stella’s already gone.”
But Aaron had Evan’s family now.
Was he really still going to refuse?
After all, Aaron was only demanding one thing from him right now.
His signature on the divorce papers.
Aaron had probably known from the start that Evan would never sign willingly, which was why he’d gone straight for the harshest leverage he could find.
Now, even if Evan wanted to refuse, he had no choice but to think about what that refusal might cost.
“Think it over,” Amos said. “The lawyer said you have one day.”
One day.
For a man as notoriously impatient as Aaron, that was already more patience than anyone could have expected.
Especially when it came to his sister.
Evan said nothing.
This time, he didn’t immediately refuse.
The moment Amos reminded him that his entire family was in Aaron’s hands, it was as if an invisible hand had closed around his throat.
Evan had never imagined that even his final, desperate refusal to let Stella go would now be used against him.

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