Chapter 116
Evelyn spent two days building the updated profitability model for the Northside Phase Three project.
This wasn't just filling in numbers. After returning the four-billion-dollar asset, Parker Group's balance sheet had a massive hole. The conventional approach would be to cut expenses and postpone expansion, but Evelyn chose a more aggressive path.
She reorganized the cash flow from Pine Hill tourism Phase One and Two, turning it into the seed capital pool for Northside Phase Three. At the same time, she incorporated the advance merchant payments from Eastside Tourism Phase Three into short-term circulation, using the time lag between projects to bridge the gap.
The core logic of this model was: 'Parker Group doesn't contract—it expands.'
Use the Pine Hill Phase Two final payment due in a month to cover the construction startup costs for Northside Phase Three in three months. Bridge the time gap with short-term financing.
High risk. But high reward.
If successful, Parker Group wouldn't just avoid being crippled by returning the asset—it would prove through Northside Phase Three's successful launch that the company's ability to generate revenue was worth far more than any static asset.
If it failed—
Evelyn didn't mark "if it failed" in the model.
Wednesday afternoon, she sent the model to Linda. She copied Luna and Cedric on the same file.
Linda's reply arrived two hours later.
Just one line: [Ms. Kendall, I've scheduled the Northside Phase Three signing for next Monday.]
Evelyn stared at that line in her inbox, her finger pausing on the mouse. The signing was set, which meant the countdown to securing funding had begun.
She couldn't afford a single mistake this coming week.
"Eve." Lisa poked her head around the cubicle wall. "Nason's downstairs, says he needs to see you."
Evelyn froze. Nason?
She hadn't scheduled anything with him. Why would he suddenly show up at Parker Group?
"Send him up."
Five minutes later, Nason appeared in Evelyn's office doorway. Today he wore an ordinary blue jacket, far more casual than their previous meetings. Dark circles ringed his eyes, like he hadn't slept well in days.
"Ms. Kendall." He walked in and sat in the chair across from her.
Evelyn poured him a glass of water and pushed it across. "Mr. Hawk, what's wrong?"
Nason picked up the glass but didn't drink. His fingers rested on the side for two seconds before he looked up.
"My father passed this morning."
Evelyn's hand froze on the desk.
Frederick. That eighty-something-year-old man. The man who collapsed at the gala when he saw her. The man who drove his daughter from home and regretted it for the rest of his life.
Gone.
"When?" Evelyn's voice came out rough.
"Four a.m. today." Nason's voice was flat, like all emotion had drained out over the past few hours. "Very peacefully. The last time he was lucid, he said one thing."
Evelyn looked at him.
Nason's throat moved.
"He said, 'Tell Lily's children I failed them.'"
Children.
Plural.
Evelyn's heart clenched as if gripped by an invisible hand. Until his death, Frederick finally acknowledged 'them'—not one person, but two.
Lily, and Lillie.
One daughter dead seven years. One daughter lost for thirty-five years.
"When's the funeral?" Evelyn asked.
"Day after tomorrow. At the Hawk estate." Nason set down the glass. "I came to ask if you'd be willing to attend as a member of the Hawk family bloodline."
Evelyn was silent for several seconds.
"What about Lillie?" she asked. "Does she know?"
Nason shook his head. "I can't reach her. After she left Emerald City, her phone's been off. She didn't leave any contact information."
Evelyn's gaze fell on the untouched glass of water on the desk. The surface was perfectly still, like a mirror reflecting the cold white lines of the fluorescent lights overhead.
"I'll go," Evelyn said.
Nason nodded and stood. At the door, he paused.
"Ms. Kendall, before my father passed, he had someone retrieve something from his safe. He said to give it to you."
Nason pulled a small velvet pouch from his jacket pocket. The drawstring was tied in a tight knot.
He placed the pouch on the low cabinet by the door.
"It's a seal. The Hawk family seal." His voice dropped. "Your mother's name is carved on it."
Evelyn stared at the velvet pouch. On the dark red velvet surface, near the drawstring, was a faint wear mark, as if someone's fingers had rubbed it repeatedly over many years.
After Nason left, the office fell quiet.
Evelyn picked up the pouch and held it in her palm. Light—just the weight of a seal. She didn't open it right away.
She sat there clutching the pouch for a long time, until the sky outside the window went completely dark.
Her phone lit up. Cedric.
[Working late tonight?]
Evelyn typed a few words back.
[Frederick passed. Funeral's the day after tomorrow.]
Ten seconds of silence.
[I'll go with you.]
Evelyn looked at those words. Her finger hovered at the edge of the screen for a moment. She replied with one word.
[Okay.]
She set down her phone and untied the knot on the velvet pouch.
A white jade seal tumbled into her palm. The jade surface was smooth and warm, cool to the touch.
She turned it over. Lily's name was carved on the bottom.
Her finger traced the grooves of that name, inch by inch. Each stroke was carved deep, as if the engraver had been determined to ensure the name would never wear away.
Evelyn closed her palm around the seal and squeezed tight.
The coolness of the jade seeped from her palm straight into her bones.
The day after tomorrow came quickly.
Evelyn wore a black suit and skirt, her hair pulled up, wearing only the small silver earrings her mother had left her. She stood in front of Sophie's full-length mirror, looking at her reflection.
The black made her face look very pale. Porcelain-pale.
Sophie leaned against the bedroom doorframe, holding a cup of coffee, watching her.
"You sure about this?" Sophie asked.
"Yes."
"You don't know a single one of those Hawk family relatives."
"Doesn't matter. I'm not going to socialize." Evelyn adjusted her collar and turned around. "I'm going to see off my grandfather."
Sophie looked at her face, opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing. She walked over and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Evelyn's ear.
"Call me, anytime."
Evelyn nodded once.
Cedric's car arrived downstairs at eight sharp. Today he wore an all-black suit with a black tie, his entire presence somber and solemn. He didn't say much—just reached over when Evelyn got in the passenger seat to pull the seatbelt across and buckle it for her.
The moment his fingers brushed her collarbone, his movement paused.
Then continued. Buckled. Withdrew.
The car headed toward the Hawk estate. The ride was quiet. Evelyn leaned back in her seat, clutching the white jade seal. The jade surface had warmed from her body heat, no longer carrying last night's bone-deep chill.