The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 344

"Evelyn."

Sebastian's voice wasn't loud, but it reached her ears with absolute clarity.

She looked up at him.

His face was slightly flushed, a fine sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead. Those typically stoic, cold eyes were now swirling with an indescribable urgency and unease.

Evelyn furrowed her brow.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Sebastian opened his mouth to speak, but found his throat suddenly tight, the words refusing to come out.

He glanced at Charles and Alain standing right beside her, both old men eyeing him with intense scrutiny. He looked around at the curious stares and the whispering crowd.

His mouth felt like sandpaper.

But he forced the words out, keeping his voice so low that only Evelyn could hear:

"Could you... not pick anyone else?"

Evelyn blinked in surprise.

"What?"

She hadn't quite caught it.

Henry, who had followed a few steps behind Sebastian out of sheer worry, heard it perfectly. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

What the hell?

Not pick anyone else?

Was this the same ruthless, unyielding Sebastian Thorne who decimated opponents in the boardroom?

The ice-cold CEO he had known for over a decade?

Had he lost his damn mind?

Sebastian completely ignored his friend's horrified stare. He took a massive breath, seemingly gathering every ounce of courage he possessed in his entire life, and suddenly raised his voice.

"Don't pick anyone else! I can do it!"

He yelled it so loudly that it echoed through the massive hall.

The entire venue fell dead silent.

So quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Every single person turned their head to stare at them.

The young man who had trailed behind Charles earlier was now standing in front of Iris, desperately shouting about 'not picking anyone else.'

What did that mean?

Who wasn't she supposed to pick?

Evelyn had just taken a sip of juice from a glass a passing waiter had handed her.

Then she heard his declaration.

"Pfft—"

She choked, spraying the juice everywhere.

Right onto Sebastian.

His flawlessly tailored, astronomically expensive dark gray suit was instantly splattered with pale yellow stains.

Evelyn gripped her glass, staring at him as her eye twitched.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Sebastian glanced down at the juice on his suit, but seemed entirely unbothered by it. He looked back up at Evelyn, his expression as serious as if he were delivering a quarterly earnings report.

"Mr. Montebello just said you could take your pick of his grandsons, and that you could have more than one." His words tumbled out rapidly. "I don't want you to pick anyone else. I can be the one."

The entire hall sucked in a collective breath.

Was he... proposing?

Right in front of Charles de Rothschild?

Standing in the distance, Lyra's expression was beyond description.

Evelyn being revealed as Charles's granddaughter had already driven her mad with jealousy.

Now, Sebastian Thorne was publicly proposing to her?

Giving her all his assets?

The kids taking her last name?

Walking away with nothing if he cheated?

She stared at Sebastian's earnest face, at the desperate adoration in his eyes as he looked at Evelyn, and felt a toxic blend of jealousy and despair choke her.

Why?

Why did Evelyn get every single good thing in the world?

A suffocating wave of despair washed over her as she curled her hands into tight fists.

***

Christian stood frozen.

He watched Sebastian stand before Evelyn, listened to the vows he made, and saw the profound devotion shining in the man's eyes.

He had never looked at Evelyn like that.

In three years of marriage, he had never once given her a look of such absolute surrender.

Now, another man was doing exactly that.

He clenched his right fist, the emotional weight manifesting as a heavy throb in his injured hand.

***

Evelyn finally managed to collect herself.

She looked at Sebastian, her mouth twitching again. "You... stand up straight first."

Sebastian finally realized he had been leaning forward eagerly the whole time. He straightened his posture, but his eyes never left hers.