Chapter 170: Damian's Redemption
Over the next few days, Evelyn could clearly feel the tension building around her.
Ryan was extremely busy. He still sent texts to check in each day, but he appeared at the apartment less and less.
Meanwhile, Damian seemed like a different person. He stopped his relentless pursuit and harassment. No more suffocating apology texts.
Instead, an anonymous package arrived.
Evelyn opened it. Inside wasn't a threatening letter. Just a thick stack of documents.
It was all dirt on the internal power struggle within the Lawrence family, along with Marcus's faction's plans to assassinate and purge Ryan.
A card was clipped to the top, the handwriting rushed, like it had been written in a hurry.
[I know you'll think this is just me trying to cause trouble. But I want you to know how dangerous his situation really is. That family is a man-eating pit. If you and your son stay with him, your lives could be on the line at any moment.]
Evelyn looked at the horrifying documents, her hands and feet going cold.
She knew Ryan came from a powerful family. She never imagined the darkness behind all that glamour could be this bloody.
That afternoon, Evelyn left the studio after work.
Ryan's car wasn't there. Instead, a plain black sedan was parked around the corner.
Damian stood beside it. He didn't approach. He just watched her from afar.
When he saw her looking, he didn't come over to talk. He just pointed to a bouquet of white bellflowers sitting on a nearby flower bed, then turned and got in the car and drove away.
Under the flowers was a note.
[If you're ever in trouble, you can find me. No strings attached this time.]
This uncharacteristic humility and restraint made Evelyn even more uneasy.
The calm before the storm was always the most terrifying.
Sure enough, the next morning, disaster struck.
"Boss! Something terrible has happened!"
Her assistant burst into the office in a panic, not even bothering to knock. "Articles are all over the internet accusing you of plagiarizing your 'Redemption' collection! They say you copied a small Italian brand! They're even showing so-called 'original sketches!'"
Evelyn shot to her feet. "That's impossible! I drew every single design myself!"
"I know, but it's spreading so fast!" Her assistant looked ready to cry. "And several fabric suppliers we had deals with just called to cancel. They'd rather pay the breach penalty than be associated with us."
"And the organizers... New York Fashion Week just sent an email. They're suspending our booth until the plagiarism claims are cleared."
This was a death blow.
For a designer, once a plagiarism accusation stuck, their career was finished.
Evelyn opened her laptop and saw the flood of attacks online, along with those so-called "comparison images."
The compositions were similar, but it was obvious this was a smear job. Someone had taken her discarded sketches and faked the timeline.
"Where's Ryan?" Evelyn reached for her phone instinctively.
"Mr. Lawrence isn't answering..." Her assistant said quietly. "I heard Nova Group also got hit with a surprise audit by regulators today. Their stock is tanking. Everything over there is in chaos."
Evelyn's heart sank.
This was Marcus. He was taking down Ryan while destroying her at the same time.
For the next twenty-four hours, Evelyn didn't close her eyes.
She had her team work through the night gathering her design notebooks and creative process documentation, trying to prove her innocence. But those partners wouldn't even listen to explanations. They all ran for cover.
The money flow stopped. Inventory piled up in the warehouse. Penalty fees stacked up...
It felt like the studio had fallen from the clouds into the abyss overnight.
Just as Evelyn stared at the red numbers in the account ledger in despair, her CFO suddenly gasped.
"Boss! Twenty million dollars just hit our company account!"
Evelyn was stunned. "Who sent it?"
"An anonymous account. The memo just says: 'Simply supporting a talented designer.'"
Then the office phone rang.
It was the editor-in-chief of VOGUE, and her attitude had done a complete one-eighty. "Darling Sophia, someone just sent me some dirt on that Italian brand. Turns out it's a shell company! We've already assigned a reporter to clear your name!"
Ryan was still dealing with his own crisis. There was no way he could have freed up resources to help her this fast.
She hung up and immediately had her tech team trace the source of the funds.
Thirty minutes later, they had an answer.
The money had been routed through dozens of shell companies. But it all ultimately traced back to one familiar name: Green Trust Fund.
It was Damian.
Evelyn stared at that name on the screen, her emotions a complicated mess.
She thought about him kneeling in the storm that night. The documents he'd sent. The way he'd turned and walked away at the street corner.
The man who used to be so arrogant and selfish... he was actually doing good deeds without taking credit for it?
That was more absurd than the sun rising in the west.
"Boss, should we return this money?" The CFO asked.
Evelyn was silent for a long time.
Given the current situation, returning it meant certain doom. This money was a lifeline. It would save the studio and her employees' jobs.
"Keep it for now." Evelyn closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Record it as a loan at the highest interest rate. When this crisis is over, we pay it all back with interest."
Even if she accepted his help, she didn't want to owe him a single thing.
At that moment, in an office building on the other side of Manhattan.
Damian sat at his desk, reading the news about Evelyn's studio on his phone as public opinion turned back in her favor. A faint smile finally crossed his lips.
"Sir, that twenty million was supposed to be the working capital for the East Side property bid." Sienna was long gone. His new secretary reminded him with some concern. "You wired it anonymously. Miss Bell won't even know it was you."
"She'll know."
Damian turned the wedding ring he'd never taken off his finger, a look of obsessive satisfaction in his eyes.
"When she's most helpless, Ryan isn't there, but I am. Only then will she understand who can really give her stability."
Since Ryan couldn't give her security, he would.
As long as he could win her back, even if it meant crawling in the dirt, he was willing to do it.