Chapter 5 - The Breaking of the Engagement
The grand parlor of the Stanton residence in Chestnut Hill was a monument to old money and high-society pretense. Crystal chandeliers hung from the molded ceilings, and the walls were lined with oil paintings of federal judges and revolutionary-war ancestors.
Judge Thomas Stanton sat in a high-backed leather armchair, his expression severe, while his wife, Beatrice, paced the Persian rug, a silver phone clutched in her hand. Noelle sat on the silk velvet sofa, her face pale, her wedding planner’s binder open on the coffee table in front of her like a useless relic.
The heavy oak front door opened, and I stepped into the room.
Noelle stood up immediately, her blue eyes flashing with white-hot fury. "Where have you been, Evan? Your mother has been calling us all morning! She said you threatened her! She said you’ve completely lost your mind over some girl from your past!"
I walked into the center of the room, my posture straight, my mind clearer than it had been in years. I didn't look at the judge, and I didn't look at Beatrice. I looked directly at Noelle.
"The wedding is off, Noelle," I said, my voice calm, steady, and loud enough to echo in the cavernous room.
Beatrice Stanton gasped, her hand flying to her throat. "Evan Brooks! What is the meaning of this? The catering contracts are signed! The governor’s office has already confirmed their attendance for the reception! You cannot simply call off a wedding of this magnitude!"
"I am calling it off, Mrs. Stanton," I said, removing the platinum engagement band from my small finger—the one Noelle had given me to match her diamond—and placing it quietly on the glass coffee table. "Noelle, I am sorry for the public embarrassment this will cause you. But I cannot marry you. I am in love with someone else. I have always been in love with someone else."
Noelle marched up to me, her chest heaving, her hand raised as if she wanted to strike my face. "Is it her? That girl from the park? The one with the cheap stroller and the three bastards?"
"They are not bastards, Noelle," I said, my voice dropping into a cold, lethal register that made Judge Stanton sit up in his chair. "They are my children. My triplets. Rachel Ames left four years ago because my mother threatened her family and forged a separation letter. I found them today. And I am going to be their father."
Noelle’s face twisted into an ugly, sneering mask that looked terrifyingly similar to my mother’s expression during her worst moments. "You think you can just walk away from me for some trashy single mother? My father is a federal judge, Evan! Your family’s firm relies on the municipal development grants that my father’s committee approves! If you walk out that door, we will make sure Brooks & Partners never receives a single public contract in this state again!"
Judge Stanton stood up, his towering figure imposing, his voice carrying the weight of a man who ruled a courtroom. "Evan, think very carefully about your next steps. Your father and I have a long-standing financial understanding. A scandal of this nature will destroy your standing in the firm. Your mother has already indicated that if you do not fulfill your obligation to Noelle, you will be stripped of your partnership and your inheritance."
I looked at the judge, then at Noelle, and finally felt the last remaining chains of the Brooks family dynasty snap inside my chest. It felt magnificent.
"You can keep the contracts, Judge," I said, a genuine smile breaking across my face for the first time in years. "And my mother can keep her inheritance. I built my architectural designs with my own hands, and I can build a new firm from scratch. I spent four years living a lie because I thought the woman I loved didn't want me. Now that I know the truth, there isn't a single thing in this world that can keep me in this room."
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I turned my back on the Stanton family wealth, ignored Noelle’s hysterical screams of rage behind me, and walked out into the bright, clean afternoon light of Chestnut Hill. I was officially broke, un-engaged, and cast out of high society.
And I had never felt richer in my entire life.
