Chapter 369

Linda's Mandarin carried a thick accent, yet her words were deliberately clear.

She softened her tone, eyes pleading.

Alexander Hamilton idly swirled his glass, ice cubes clinking. "As you wish."

"Thank you!" Linda clapped excitedly. "When you hold your wedding, I must visit China. I hear the feasts last three days and nights?"

Alexander's fingers tightened abruptly. Condensation slid down his knuckles as his gaze sharpened toward Annabelle.

Annabelle quickly changed the subject. "Linda, where's your wedding gown? Why aren't you wearing it?"

"That bulky dress would ruin my dancing." Linda laughed, suddenly grabbing Evelyn Carter's wrist. "Let me introduce our mystery guest—"

Evelyn was yanked into the crowd's center, unprepared for the two piercing stares that locked onto her.

One scorching enough to burn through her. The other frigid as glacial ice.

"This is the Eastern beauty from my favorite oil painting! Her name is Evelyn. Isn't she more stunning than the portrait?"

Evelyn lowered her lashes.

She could feel those twin gazes dissecting her inch by inch.

"Evelyn, meet my dear friends—Jane and her fiancé Alexander." Linda beamed. "Alexander's the devoted type. He pursued Jane for ten whole years!"

Evelyn lifted her eyes, lips curving. "Congratulations."

The air turned to stone.

Annabelle's face drained of color. Alexander let out a cold laugh, switching to Mandarin. "Phone broken?"

"No."

"Then why ignore my calls?"

"I didn't want to answer."

"So you'd rather elope with Gregory Wilson?"

"Yes."

Alexander's knuckles whitened. The glass creaked ominously in his grip. "Running from me? Or running to him?"

"Which answer would you prefer?"

"Where is he?" Alexander scanned the room. "Ditched you here alone while he hides?"

"Why do you need him?"

"What do you think?"

Uncle Dempsey's warning flashed through Evelyn's mind—the maritime disaster where Alexander was the sole survivor.

Her fingers instinctively clenched the railing. "Today's meant for celebration."

Alexander's chest heaved before he finally hissed, "Engine room. Ten minutes."

Linda leaned in curiously. "What were you discussing? You all know Evelyn?"

Annabelle forced a smile. "We're... old friends."

"What a coincidence!"

"Yes..."

Alexander slammed his glass onto a passing tray. "Excuse me."

As he passed Evelyn, he paused just long enough to whisper, "Dare to skip this, and see what happens."

His silhouette vanished into the ship's shadows, leaving only shattered ice in his wake.