Chapter 80 Unfinished Business
Evelyn had completely forgotten about the Hayes family.
After she chose to cut ties with them, she had blocked every possible means of communication. Calls, messages, emails—everything. As far as she was concerned, that chapter of her life was closed.
And truthfully, life had been so… Roman lately that she hadn’t even noticed how little she thought about them anymore.
Until now.
For some reason, curiosity stirred in her chest.
“What kind of news?” she asked again, leaning back into the couch.
There was a brief pause on the other end of the call.
“Well…” Lena began slowly. “You know Richard has been desperately trying to keep things afloat after the whole mess they created—which, by the way, you should honestly be grateful for.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
But she had to admit Lena wasn’t entirely wrong.
Without the Hayes family’s betrayal and everything that followed, she might never have completely broken free from them.
Lena continued.
“Without the Sinclair connection, a lot of doors just… slammed shut.
Evelyn listened quietly.
“And then Maya’s miscarriage became headline news,” Lena added. “Plus that lawsuit from the accident they caused? It scared the hell out of investors. People started pulling out their money fast.”
Evelyn sighed.
“So where’s the interesting part?” she asked dryly. “I already know all of that.”
Lena groaned loudly.
“Will you let me finish?”
“Go on.”
“As I was saying,” Lena continued, “they were drowning in debt. And when I say debt, I mean serious debt. The kind that turns rich families into paupers overnight.”
Evelyn frowned slightly.
She knew the Hayes family had taken a hit, but she hadn’t realized it was that severe.
“But…” Lena suddenly paused.
Evelyn immediately sensed the shift in her tone.
“But what?”
“Recently,” Lena said slowly, “they’ve been rising again. And not just a little. At an astronomical rate.”
Evelyn straightened.
“What?”
Her brows furrowed deeply.
“I know, right?” Lena said. “Even I find it hard to believe.”
She let out a small huff.
“My guess is they got connected with some big shot investor or some powerful backer. Someone with deep pockets and deeper influence.”
Evelyn’s fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
“I’ve been too busy with my own stuff to dig deeper,” Lena continued.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel like wasting time on their nonsense.”
She paused briefly before adding,
“But get this—they’re even trying to snatch a project from Sinclair Industries.”
Evelyn let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Seriously?”
“Mhm,” Lena hummed. “Bold, right? It's all over the news.”
She snorted.
“Normally Roman wouldn’t even let them get close enough to sniff a Sinclair project. But since he’s on sabbatical…”
Lena let the sentence trail off meaningfully.
“But now,” she added with amusement, “he’s sending you.”
Evelyn pressed her lips into a thin line.
“You should absolutely give them a hard time,” Lena said gleefully.
Evelyn didn’t respond immediately.
Her thoughts were already racing.
Now she was even more curious about what was happening inside the Hayes family.
Before she could ask another question, a rustling sound came from the other side of the call.
Lena's voice became muffled, like she was covering the receiver. Then:
“Eve, I gotta go. Let me call you back later.”
“Alright.” Evelyn smiled faintly. “Thanks for lending me your cheerful spirit. I needed that.”
“Anytime,” Lena replied warmly. “That’s what I’m here for.”
Then she paused.
“And just in case you decide you want revenge on the Hayes family, I have some excellent ideas that involve public humiliation and possibly glitter.
Evelyn laughed. “I’ll keep that in my back pocket.”
“You do that.”
They exchanged their goodbyes, and the call ended.
The living room suddenly felt quiet again.
Evelyn lowered the phone slowly, staring ahead as Lena’s words echoed in her mind.
The Hayes family… rising again?
Evelyn exhaled slowly and shrugged to herself.
“Well… time to put my brain to use now.”
She closed her phone and pushed herself off the couch before heading upstairs to their bedroom.
Once inside, she settled comfortably against the headboard, opening her laptop. Soon, the room filled with the faint glow of the screen as page after page of research appeared before her.
Evelyn spent the rest of the afternoon buried in study.
Articles about corporate governance. Strategy frameworks from top business schools. Case studies about crisis management. She even dug through archived news and reports about Sinclair Industries itself.
The deeper she read, the more fascinated she became.
Sinclair Industries wasn’t just large—it was an empire. Technology, real estate, logistics, finance… its influence stretched into nearly every major sector.
And the role Roman had insisted on giving her—Special Strategic Advisor to the Chairman—sat close to the center of all those decisions.
Which meant one thing.
If she was going to step into that world, she had to be prepared.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she opened more documents, jotting notes and highlighting key points.
Time passed unnoticed.
Outside the window, the bright afternoon sky slowly melted into evening. But Evelyn didn’t notice.
She was too focused.
So focused, in fact, that she didn’t notice when the bedroom door quietly opened.
Roman stepped inside.
He paused near the doorway, his gaze immediately finding her on the bed, her eyes glued to the laptop screen.
For a moment, he simply stood there, watching.
Her brows were slightly furrowed in concentration. One leg was tucked beneath the other, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.
She hadn’t even realized he was there.
Roman pressed his lips into a thin line.
Without a word, he turned and walked into the bathroom.
The sound of running water eventually pulled Evelyn out of her thoughts.
She blinked and looked toward the bathroom door.
“Roman?” she murmured softly.
He must have returned from his study without her noticing.
She rubbed her tired eyes and stretched her neck slightly.
Then, almost instinctively, she pulled the laptop back toward herself and continued reading.
Several minutes later, the bathroom door opened.
Roman stepped out wearing loose pajama pants, his upper body bare.
Water droplets still clung to his shoulders as he lazily wiped his hair with a towel.
His eyes immediately found Evelyn. Still studying.
His brows slowly furrowed.
Roman walked toward the bed and, without warning, reached down and lifted the laptop straight off her lap.
Click.
He shut it.
Then tossed it onto the bedside table.
Evelyn blinked in surprise.
“Hey—”
She looked up at him, confused by the sudden action. The room lights were dim, casting soft shadows across his face, but she could clearly see the sharp line of his jaw.
Before she could say anything else, Roman bent down and lifted her off the bed as easily as if she weighed nothing.
“What are you doing?!” Evelyn asked, startled.
He placed her gently in the center of the bed before climbing beside her.
Roman chuckled softly.
“You haven’t even started working yet,” he said, amusement in his voice, “and you’re already ignoring your husband?”
Evelyn stared at him, her mouth opening and closing.
“I—I wasn’t ignoring you. I was just—”
Her words died in her throat when Roman suddenly lay down beside her and rested his head comfortably on her lap.
His damp hair brushed against her thighs, cool against her skin.
Roman reached out, grabbed the towel from the bed, and held it up to her.
“Help me dry my hair.”
Evelyn sighed softly, though a small smile tugged at her lips.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Still, she took the towel.
Her fingers moved gently through his dark hair as she began drying it. Slowly, almost absentmindedly, she began lightly combing her fingers through it.
Roman closed his eyes. Completely relaxed.
He always liked this.
It had somehow become their quiet little habit.
After a while, Evelyn spoke softly.
“I won’t be able to do this all the time anymore, you know.”
Roman’s eyes opened.
His gaze lifted to meet hers, confusion flickering there.
Evelyn continued quietly.
“I’ll be getting busy soon. I won’t have this much time again.”
Roman smirked faintly.
“Lyn,” he said. “I just told you about working at the company today.”
“Yes,” she replied. “And if I’m starting suddenly, I should prepare, right?”
Roman studied her for a moment before replying calmly.
“When I said you could work at the company… I didn’t mean you had to actually ‘work.’”
Evelyn blinked.
“What?”
Roman took her hand gently.
Then he placed it against his bare chest.
Her palm pressed against warm, firm muscle. She could feel his heartbeat, steady and strong, beneath her touch. Her own heart rate accelerated in response.
Roman’s hand closed over hers, guiding her slowly as her fingers moved slightly across his chest.
His eyes never left hers.
“You know,” he said quietly, a teasing glint in his gaze, “there’s another way you could work.”
Evelyn swallowed nervously.
“What way?”
Roman’s lips curved slightly.
“If you keep me pleased enough,” he murmured lazily, “I’ll handle all the work from home. You can just go to the company and sit there looking beautiful.”
Evelyn stared at him.
Her jaw dropped. "That's—you can't be serious—”
Before she could react, the world shifted.
Roman moved quickly, rolling over and pinning her gently beneath him.
He hovered above her, one arm braced beside her head.
Evelyn’s heart began racing again.
His gaze softened as he looked down at her flushed face.
“Relax,” he murmured.
Slowly, he leaned down. His gaze heated.