Chapter 183 The Cracks Begin

Chapter 183 The Cracks Begin
Three months had passed since the first snow blanketed the city, and winter had finally begun loosening its grip. The frozen ground slowly gave way to the first signs of spring, making the season feel lighter and warmer.

For Lena and Evelyn, the timing of their getaway couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Welcome aboard, ladies.”

Captain Laurent greeted them with a warm, professional smile as they stepped into the spacious cabin of the Aurelion private jet.

“It’s a beautiful day to fly. I trust you’ll have a relaxing trip.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Lena replied, settling comfortably into one of the plush leather seats.

With a courteous nod, the captain excused himself and disappeared into the cockpit to complete the final pre-flight checks.

Moments later, Mrs. Chen stepped aboard, carefully pushing Noah’s sleek travel crib ahead of her. The little boy slept soundly inside, completely oblivious to the gentle hum of the aircraft preparing for departure. Without disturbing him, she quietly wheeled the crib down the aisle and into one of the luxurious private suites at the rear of the jet, leaving the two women alone in the main cabin.

As the cabin door sealed shut and the engines gradually came to life, Lena leaned back into her seat with a satisfied sigh before turning toward Evelyn with an amused smile.

“I still can’t believe Roman actually allowed you to go alone. He was all over you at the airport— I honestly thought he was going to abandon work and climb onto the plane with us.”

Evelyn’s cheeks immediately flushed.

“He would’ve,” she admitted while fastening her seat belt, trying to hide her embarrassment. “He’s just overwhelmed with work at the moment.”

She smiled to herself. “He promised he’ll join us as soon as he’s done.”

Sweeping her long hair over one shoulder, she looked at Lena with a teasing glint. “You know… you should invite Theon too.”

Lena, who had just popped open a bottle of champagne and taken a sip, instantly choked on it. She coughed, wiping her mouth. "What?"

Evelyn burst into laughter. “I’m serious.”

Lena coughed twice before setting her glass down. “Eve.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to set me up.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

Evelyn only grinned. “Think about it. Once Roman arrives, you’re going to be the only single person tagging along.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “It’s not like we’re going somewhere new. We’re literally flying to Olyndria. That’s his home country. Calling it a vacation for him would be ridiculous.”

She reached for a strawberry from the fruit platter. “Besides, the poor man has practically been living at the hospital ever since that disease outbreak started.”

Evelyn nodded. “You’re right.”

She absentmindedly swirled the champagne inside her glass.

“I always see him and Roman discussing something whenever they’re together. They disappear into Roman’s study for hours looking so serious.”

She sighed. “I’ve never understood what they’re talking about.”

“Probably something medical.”

“Probably.”

Evelyn smiled again, the worry fading from her face. “But… I’m really glad everything is finally over.”

Her gaze softened. “And that you’re finally free.”

Lena looked down at her champagne before taking another slow sip. “Yeah.”

“So…” Evelyn leaned forward. “You should move on.”

Lena frowned. "I am moving on. What are you talking about?"

“No.” Evelyn shook her head. “I mean really move on.”

Lena looked at her blankly. “Eve…”

“You should give Theon a chance.” Lena sighed in defeat. “There it is.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” She leaned comfortably against her seat. “I literally just divorced his cousin.”

“I know.” Evelyn shrugged. “But Rhys… well, Rhys is a good guy, but he's a cheater. Just like Nathan."

"Hey, hey, hey—don't you dare compare him to Nathan," Lena said, holding up a warning hand. "At least Rhys left me with some funds."

Evelyn laughed, nearly spilling her drink. "I still can't believe you exchanged your law firm for funds, Lena. How did your father deal with that?"

"He's fine," Lena waved her hand dismissively. "I just brought back our old housekeeper and kept him on a very comfortable retirement."

“So…” Evelyn leaned closer. "How much did Rhys even give you?"

This time Evelyn genuinely choked on her champagne.

“How much?”

“One billion.”

Evelyn choked on her champagne for real this time. She stared at her friend. "How much was your firm even worth?"

"Five hundred and sixty-seven million."

Evelyn was completely speechless, her glass hovering in mid-air. "So why on earth did he..."

“But… wasn’t your firm’s valuation somewhere around five hundred and sixty-seven million?”

"He had to compensate me for my emotional damage," Lena said smoothly, a tiny, triumphant smile curving her lips as her eyes twinkled. "And the massive strain it caused."

Evelyn let out a loud laugh. "No wonder you are so bent on taking a luxury vacation."

"Exactly," Lena smiled.

"But seriously," Evelyn pushed, leaning forward. "Allow Theon in. Give him a chance."

"Well, Eve, he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet, and I'm certainly not desperate enough to cling to him."

Evelyn's brows furrowed, her expression turning skeptical. "What? He hasn't asked you out yet?"

"Let's drop the boy talk," Lena interrupted, gesturing toward Evelyn's shoulders. "What is with the long hair anyway? Are you trying to be Rapunzel? How do you even take care of Noah without him pulling it into his mouth all the time?"

Evelyn's expression softened into a warm smile. "Roman doesn't want me to cut it. And honestly? He takes care of Noah. I just sit and watch. In fact, I don't even know how to make Noah's baby food, but Roman does it perfectly."

Lena's mouth fell open. She stared at friend, completely speechless. "Wow. You really have capture every part of him."

They continued to laugh and gossip about random things for a while, the tension of the past few months finally melting away. But as the jet leveled out at cruising altitude, the cabin fell into a quiet, peaceful silence.

Lena rested her head against the seat and gazed through the oval window at the endless sea of clouds drifting beneath them.

A nostalgic smile slowly spread across her face. “Remember when we tried saving money for a vacation to Olyndria?”

She chuckled. “It was so expensive we gave up halfway.”

Evelyn frowned. “What?”

Lena turned toward her. “What do you mean, what?”

“I don’t remember that.”

Lena laughed, turning back to her. "You're kidding, right? You couldn't possibly forget that, too. Did you?"

Evelyn shook her head. “When… did that happen?”

The smile gradually disappeared from Lena’s face. She stared quietly at her best friend.

“At sixteen. Right before your family sent you abroad.”

A nervous laugh escaped Evelyn. “I…” she rubbed her forehead. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lena placed the fruit platter onto the table. The soft thud seemed unusually loud inside the quiet cabin.

“Eve…” her brows drew together. “What really happened to you?”

Evelyn looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t even know which country your family sent you to.”

Lena searched her face. “You disappeared for three years. When you came back, you weren’t the same. You acted like you’d forgotten so many things.”

Everything around Evelyn seemed to go completely silent as a wave of intense doubt crashed over her. "Wait so, I... I met you when I was sixteen...?" she asked, her voice cracking as she forced the words out slowly.

Lena didn't answer right away. She just stared at her best friend, her eyes searching Evelyn's face. "Eve," Lena whispered carefully. "Were you... were you involved in an accident?"

Evelyn blinked rapidly. “Wait.” 

She pressed both hands against her temples. “Just… I’m trying to think.”

Her breathing turned shallow and heavy. The air in the luxury jet suddenly felt entirely too thin.

"I remember my days on campus," Evelyn stammered, her eyes darting around as she tried to piece the fragments together. "I remember being with Maya, and Nathan. And you. I mean, that's where we met, right? No, wait... did we know each other before then? Yeah. Yeah, I remember when we were little. But what happened after that?"

"Eve, Eve, calm down! Just breathe," Lena urged, leaning across the space to grab Evelyn's trembling hands. "Just calm down. There is no need to spiral right now." 

Lena took a deep, steadying breath of her own. 

Evelyn copied her. After several deep breaths, her breathing finally steadied.

"The Hayes family flat-out refused to disclose which country you were sent to. All they ever told anyone was that you went abroad for your studies. But how... how are you just wrapping your head around this now?"

Evelyn's gaze drifted past Lena, staring out the oval window into the endless expanse of clouds. An ominous, chilling sense of foreboding rose deep within her chest. "I don't know..." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the dull roar of the engines. “How did I never notice there was such a huge gap in my memories?”

Seeing her friend look so completely lost, Lena's expression softened with deep worry. 

"Okay. Okay, look. How about we find out what really happened during that summer when you were sixteen? That was the exact period you were shipped out of the country."

Evelyn snapped her gaze back to Lena, desperation bleeding into her eyes. "But if I were to find that out, I would have to go straight to..."

"Richard," Lena completed the name for her.

"Yeah. My dad," Evelyn breathed out, her stomach twisting. "But he's in prison. And Roman completely refuses to let me see him. He keeps telling me it's not suitable or healthy for me to meet with him after everything that happened."

Lena became unusually serious. “Eve…”

She hesitated. “Have you ever wondered whether Roman is really as perfect as he appears?”

Evelyn looked up.

“I tried to stop thinking about all of this because you asked me to… but after what you just told me, I can’t ignore it anymore.”

She lowered her voice. “Especially about his past as a doctor.” She laughed dryly. “You didn’t want me investigating him before, so I stopped.”

Lena paused before continuing. “But think about it. Nathan said before he died that Roman was the only person who could save him. And your family…” she frowned. “As horrible as they were, every single one of them died in what was conveniently ruled a homicide. Including Nathan.”

She leaned closer. “Have you noticed how absolutely none of it blew up in the media? Even if Roman suppressed it, still. He somehow buried everything.”

Evelyn went still.

"Nathan was a Sinclair," Lena continued in a whisper. "A death like that should have caused a massive national stir. I didn't want to bring all this dark logic to you while you were healing, Eve, but there is something fundamentally wrong here."

Evelyn’s fingers tightened around her champagne glass. The crystal trembled.

“I’ve been thinking about something too…” her voice shook. “Mrs. Kensington once told me Roman spent three years building that aquarium.” She looked completely bewildered. “For me.”

Evelyn frowned. “But Lena… I don’t even like aquatic animals that much. So why would he spend three whole years building it?”

She slowly pieced the timeline together. “Three years ago, I was nineteen. I hadn’t even met Roman yet. He once told me he saw me at a charity gala. But… none of it makes sense.”

Lena felt her own unease growing. “How did we get here from talking about vacations?”

She shook her head. “And why are we only questioning all of this now?”

Evelyn looked at her with frightened eyes. “I want to know why Roman started building that aquarium three years ago.”

She took a shaky breath. “That’s why I chose Olyndria. Maybe… that’s where we should begin.”

Silence fell over the cabin. Neither of them spoke.

Hidden beyond the partition, Mrs. Chen stood frozen inside the galley. One hand gripped the edge of the doorway as she listened to every word.

Her face gradually lost its color. Then, a sharp cry shattered the silence.

“Waaah!”

Noah had woken inside the private suite. Mrs. Chen flinched.

Her heart skipped. She quickly pulled away from the doorway and hurried back toward the nursery before either woman noticed she had been listening.