Chapter 12
The elevator doors were about to close when Evelyn's phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
[Ms. Kendall, if you're free this afternoon, please come to Parker Group Tower. Regarding the Mr. Larry situation, there are some things you need to see for yourself. —Cedric]
Evelyn stared at the message for a few seconds.
She typed back: [Okay.]
The elevator stopped on the first floor. The doors opened.
Lisa was standing in the lobby, wringing her hands. When she saw Evelyn, she rushed over.
"Evelyn... you really quit?"
"I did."
Lisa's eyes went red. "What am I supposed to do? Without you here, Mr. Lewis's team treats me like garbage. Last week they completely butchered my proposal in the project meeting..."
Evelyn patted Lisa's shoulder.
"You're capable. You just need the right opportunity and the right platform. Hang in there. Once I'm settled, if something comes up, I'll think of you."
Lisa nodded hard, tears streaming down her face.
When Evelyn walked out of the Ashford Group building, the midday sun felt scorching on her skin.
She stood on the sidewalk for a moment, then pulled out her phone and opened her conversation with Sophie.
[I quit.]
Sophie's reply popped up two seconds later.
[Holy shit, you work faster than I do chasing down clients. Let me take you to lunch to celebrate.]
Evelyn typed back: [I've got something this afternoon. Let's do dinner.]
She flagged down a cab and gave the driver the address for Parker Group Tower.
Two blocks later, her phone rang.
It was Sebastian.
The caller ID flashed on the screen three times. Evelyn hit decline.
Ten seconds later, it rang again.
She declined again.
A WhatsApp message popped up.
Sebastian: [I'll handle the Larry situation. Just come back. Don't do anything rash.]
Evelyn read the message and locked her screen.
Now he wanted to handle it?
When she was almost assaulted in that room, what was Sebastian doing?
Waiting for her to send a desperate message for help so he could ignore it.
The cab turned a corner. Parker Group Tower's glass facade gleamed in the sunlight.
Evelyn got out and stood at the base of the building, looking up.
Forty-eight floors.
She straightened her clothes and pushed through the revolving doors.
After the receptionist confirmed her appointment, a professionally dressed assistant led Evelyn to a private elevator that went straight to the top floor.
The elevator doors opened. Cedric's office was at the end of the hallway.
The assistant knocked twice. The door opened from inside.
Cedric sat behind his desk, a laptop open in front of him. The screen showed a paused surveillance video.
Evelyn recognized the scene immediately.
It was from this morning. Mr. Larry's private room.
Evelyn walked to the desk. Cedric turned the laptop to face her.
The footage was shot from above, showing the entire room. Mr. Larry sat next to her, pushing the wine glass, talking, then standing and moving toward her. She dodged. He lunged. She smashed the bottle. The whole thing was crystal clear.
Evelyn's brow furrowed.
"The club manager said the cameras on that floor were being serviced..."
Cedric leaned back in his chair, tapping the desk lightly with two fingers.
"The club's cameras were down. But that room has an independent security system running on a separate property management circuit. When Mr. Larry booked the room, he only told the front desk to shut off the hallway cameras. He didn't know there was a backup feed inside the room."
Evelyn stared at the frozen frame on the screen—Mr. Larry lunging at her, his posture grotesque.
"You pulled this footage?"
"The property management company is under Parker Group." Cedric kept it brief.
Evelyn was silent for a moment, then looked away from the screen.
"Cedric, you've helped me too much."
Cedric didn't respond to that. Instead, he opened a folder next to him, pulled out two sheets of paper, and slid them toward Evelyn.
"The substance Mr. Larry put in your drink—the lab report came back. Triazolam."
Evelyn's fingers twitched.
Triazolam. A date rape drug.
"This is the report from the bar last night. It's not directly related to today's incident. But Mr. Larry and that guy Leonardo have connections. Leonardo's social media has photos of them together. So you could say the bar incident and what happened today might be part of the same operation."
Evelyn didn't speak for a moment.
She remembered Leonardo's smiling face at the bar, his casual "How about I let you be my sugar mama" line. The whole thing had been a setup from the start.
But who set it up?
Mr. Larry was just the head of Farcry Group. She had no beef with him. Why go through all this trouble to target her?
Evelyn's mind worked quickly.
"Mr. Harrison introduced me to Mr. Larry because we had a good conversation at last night's dinner. But Mr. Larry clearly knew about my situation beforehand—he said Sebastian and I split up. He even knew I quit Ashford Group."
Cedric watched her but didn't jump to conclusions.
Evelyn pieced it together, then remembered what Lisa had said—Mr. Ashford specifically arranged it.
"Sebastian told Mr. Lewis to set up the meeting with Mr. Larry. Mr. Larry did his homework ahead of time. Which means..."
She didn't finish.
Cedric finished for her.
"Sebastian might not have known how far Mr. Larry would go. But he knew exactly what kind of man Mr. Larry is, and he still sent you to him. As for why Mr. Larry felt bold enough to do it—someone gave him the green light."
"Who?"
Cedric pulled out another image from the bottom of the folder.
It was a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation. The sender's profile picture was blurred out, but the recipient's name was clearly visible: "Neil Larry"—Mr. Larry's full name.
The message said only one thing: [She's got no one backing her now. Do what you want.]
Evelyn stared at those words for a long time.
"Who sent this?"
"Still investigating. The WhatsApp account was registered with a burner number. We can't trace it to a real identity yet. But we can confirm one thing—whoever sent it has ties to Ashford Group."
Cedric closed the folder.
"Ms. Kendall, quitting Ashford Group was the right call. But right now you don't have a job, you don't have a platform, and your divorce is still in the cooling-off period. If whoever's behind this keeps coming at you, can you handle it?"
Evelyn looked up at Cedric.
This man never beat around the bush or played games. He laid out the facts, presented the problem, and didn't make decisions for you.
Evelyn had to admit—she was at her most vulnerable right now.
Leaving Ashford Group meant losing income and industry connections. The unfinalized divorce left her status ambiguous. And that anonymous message made it clear someone was watching her from the shadows.
"Cedric, why are you telling me all this? Are you trying to help me?"
"I'm hiring."
Evelyn blinked.
Cedric slid another document across the desk. The cover read "Parker Group · Strategic Marketing Department · Senior Project Manager."