Save Her Lose Us (Evangeline and Soren) novel Chapter 136

Soren and Poppy didn't stay long before deciding to head home.

Flora looked puzzled. "Did something happen?" she asked as the two of them gathered their things.

Soren kept silent.

Poppy forced a smile. "We've been out all day—it's exhausting. We should probably get some rest."

Flora could sense something was off. It was obvious they weren't in the best of moods. But she knew better than to press for answers now. Once Soren was in the car, she quietly pulled Poppy aside.

"Poppy, is this about Evangeline?"

Poppy glanced at Soren in the driver's seat, then gave a weary smile and nodded.

"I knew it!" Flora huffed. "She must have ruined your evening."

"Let it go, Flora. She's still Soren's wife, after all." Poppy's voice was soft, her words meant to soothe.

What she didn't share was what Soren had just told her: tonight's trip to the fairground had been planned for Evangeline. Even though Poppy knew it didn't necessarily mean anything, Soren had never gone out of his way to defend Evangeline in front of her before.

When Evangeline got back to her apartment, she found Glenn waiting by the door.

The moment she arrived, he hurried over. "About the issue you raised earlier—the sensory partitioning problem—I think I've found a solution."

Evangeline wasn't surprised. That was always how it worked between them: she'd have a good idea, figure out most of the technical hurdles, and Glenn would find a way to fill in the gaps.

What did surprise her was how quickly he'd done it. She'd spent over two weeks making headway, and he'd finished it in a single afternoon.

Glenn opened his laptop and ran the algorithm he'd just completed. To be sure there were no mistakes, he'd checked the results three times.

When the numbers came out perfectly, Evangeline could feel her pulse racing.

"This is incredible," she breathed. "It actually works!"

"Send it over to me—I'll get everything organized right now!" Excitement made her voice tremble.

Evangeline declined without hesitation.

On the other end, Poppy received the rejection notice, sipped her wine, and let a faint, knowing smile tug at her lips.

She'd expected this. She'd known Evangeline wouldn't accept.

But still…

Poppy opened her social feed. Her latest post was a gallery of photos showing off a gift Soren had supposedly given her. In the center photo, her hand—wearing a matching diamond ring—was intertwined with a man's hand, also wearing the same ring.

The hand wasn't Soren's, of course. She'd borrowed someone else for the photo, and as long as no faces were shown, Evangeline would assume it was Soren.

Poppy had shared that image on her private feed, knowing exactly who she wanted to see it.

Even if Evangeline could swallow her pride, seeing her own husband and another woman wearing matching rings would surely be too much.

Still, Poppy knew it wouldn't actually make a difference or speed up their divorce. She didn't expect it to fix anything; she just wanted Evangeline to feel a little worse.