She spoke quietly.
“My father was very careful with his records.”
Victor turned.
“Perhaps he was.”
Then he smiled.
“Unfortunately, recordkeeping didn't save him.”
The guests became uncomfortable.
Evelyn looked toward her plate.
Victor continued.
“Of course, we're happy to provide his daughter with a position. There aren't many respectable employers willing to make the necessary arrangements for a lady of Evelyn's extraordinary proportions.”
For a moment, the table went silent.
Then one of the guests laughed awkwardly.
Another looked away.
Evelyn's cheeks burned.
Victor raised his glass.
“Compassion is part of good business.”
She stared at him.
The humiliation was deliberate.
She knew it.
He knew she knew it.
And the entire room seemed to be waiting for her to accept the insult with a grateful smile.
Instead, Evelyn slowly set down her fork.
She looked directly at Victor.
“Compassion, Mr. Harrow, doesn't require an audience.”
The room became silent.
Victor's smile disappeared.
She continued.
“And if you're employing me because my work is useful, I would prefer you speak about that work rather than my body.”
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then an older woman near the end of the table nodded.
“Well said.”
Victor's face reddened.
He placed his glass down.
“Evelyn, I think you've misunderstood—”
“No.”
Her voice remained calm.
“I understood perfectly.”
Then she excused herself.
She didn't rush.
Didn't apologize.
And didn't look back.
But by the time she reached the barn, she was crying.
Caleb found her sitting on the reinforced platform her father built when she was a girl.
It stood along the western wall beneath a broad window, protected from the main aisle and supported by heavy timber posts.
Henry originally constructed it so Evelyn could sit comfortably in the barn while he read to her after long days working cattle.
Over the years, it became her favorite place.
She could see the stalls.
Hear the horses.
And watch sunlight move across the hay.
Now she sat there in her green dress, crying quietly into a handkerchief.
Caleb stopped several feet away.
“Evelyn?”
She turned.
Her expression changed.
For a moment, she seemed embarrassed.
Then she wiped her face.
“I'm fine.”
Caleb looked toward her.
He didn't believe her.
But he didn't challenge the obvious lie.