Chapter 480

"I'm not afraid. I simply wanted to avoid complicating things and creating unnecessary tension between your sister and Mister Nathaniel," Evelyn replied, meeting Samuel's sharp gaze in the rearview mirror.

Samuel narrowed his eyes, his expression dripping with arrogance before letting out a derisive scoff. "So you genuinely believe your mere presence could disrupt my sister's relationship with her fiancé? Is that it?"

Evelyn turned her attention to the blur of scenery outside the window and answered honestly, "Yes. To some extent, it would."

A smirk curled Samuel's lips. "Miss Evelyn, where does this unshakable confidence of yours come from? Do you truly think you can compete with Amelia?"

Unfazed by his mocking tone, Evelyn simply smiled. "Mister Samuel, it's natural for you to believe no one compares to your sister—the girl you've doted on her entire life. Just like how, to me, a man as accomplished as you will never be as endearing as the stray cat I rescued years ago. Same logic."

The driver clenched his jaw, fighting back laughter. He'd worked for Samuel for over a decade and had never heard anyone dare speak to him like that.

Samuel fell silent.

His dark eyes lingered on Evelyn's reflection for a long moment before his lips twisted into another smirk. "Enlighten me. What exactly makes you think you measure up to my sister?"

Evelyn's youth contrasted sharply with the steel in her voice. Criticism and mockery didn’t shake her—her confidence wasn’t arrogance, but the quiet certainty of someone who knew her worth.

"Of course, my circumstances aren’t as privileged as Amelia’s. I don’t have a powerful family, a protective older brother, or the refined beauty of someone raised in a gilded cage."

"The fundamental difference between us? Your sister is a delicate orchid nurtured in a greenhouse, while I’m the stubborn weed that clawed its way through concrete. Amelia is fortunate—she’s had you, a towering oak, sheltering her since birth. The Rivers family is her fertile soil."

"But the world I grew up in forced me to become my own shelter. I couldn’t afford to be a vine clinging to someone else’s strength. Vines wither when their host dies. I’ve weathered storms since childhood, and no matter where life plants me, I’ll bloom—because I’ve learned to thrive anywhere."

"So yes, Mister Samuel, Amelia and I are different. But lacking? That’s not a word I’d use for myself."

Samuel studied her through the mirror—this girl who laid out her flaws and strengths with unflinching clarity. For the first time, he saw a brilliance in her that had nothing to do with pedigree or polish. It was the raw, unyielding glow of survival.

Amelia didn’t possess that kind of grit. She didn’t need to. As long as he breathed, his sister would want for nothing.

Samuel leaned back, closing his eyes. "Let’s hope that self-awareness of yours holds true. May you never become a fallen tree."

Evelyn’s smile didn’t waver. "Thank you for the well-wishes, Mister Samuel."