Chapter 123

Chapter 123

The name written there was: Simon.

So from the very beginning—from the start of that conspiracy thirty years ago—Simon hadn't just been the Ashford family's accomplice.

He'd been their partner.

The Ashford family had swallowed the Hawk family's assets, and Simon had walked away with half the excess profit. In exchange, he'd helped the Ashfords keep everyone quiet.

Evelyn set the photograph on the coffee table. Face up. The two signatures glared under the warm yellow lamplight.

"Simon and the Ashford family were business allies." Evelyn's voice returned to that cold, steady calm. "He helped the Ashfords forge evidence to tear Lily and Benjamin apart—not to help his older brother seize power—"

"For money," Cedric finished for her.

Evelyn nodded.

"The most valuable part of the Hawk family's assets—the port—after the Ashfords devoured it, half the excess profit went straight into Simon's pocket. That was his seed capital. That's how he rose so fast overseas."

She carefully returned everything from envelope 010 to its place, lining it up after the first nine.

Ten envelopes. Exposing a profit-sharing agreement buried for thirty years.

Evelyn's hand rested on the eleventh envelope.

Her phone lit up.

Not a message from Cedric.

That unknown number again.

[Finished reading? The eleventh envelope is the real show.]

Evelyn stared at the screen. Her whole body went rigid.

They knew she was opening the letters.

Knew she'd reached the tenth one.

Knew exactly what she was doing, right here, right now.

Cedric leaned over from behind her, his gaze falling on the phone screen. His expression turned ice-cold in an instant, the muscles in his jaw clenched so tight they looked ready to shatter.

He withdrew his hand from her shoulder and pulled out his own phone.

"Tech team. Track this number's real-time signal source immediately. Also scan my apartment for any listening devices or tracking software on all electronic equipment." His voice was low and urgent, edged with a cold ruthlessness Cedric rarely showed.

Evelyn didn't put down envelope 011.

Instead, she gripped it tighter.

They were pushing her.

They wanted her to open the eleventh envelope.

Evelyn's hand didn't loosen around envelope 011.

Cedric was already on his feet. His movements were lightning-fast—one hand pressed on Evelyn's shoulder to keep her still while the other pulled a palm-sized black device from beneath the sofa cushions.

A signal detector.

He flipped the switch. The indicator light jumped from green to yellow, then to red. When he moved it near the floor lamp by the coffee table, it began beeping rapidly.

Cedric's expression went stone-cold.

He unscrewed the base of the floor lamp. Inside was a button-sized black chip with a faint blue LED blinking on its surface.

A bug.

Planted in his own apartment.

Evelyn stared at the chip. Cold sweat was soaking through her back faster than she'd realized. Cedric's apartment had an independent security system. The door access was biometric. There was no way an outsider could get in. Unless—it was someone on the inside.

Cedric didn't remove the bug. He screwed the base cover back on and pressed a finger to his lips.

Then he pulled out his phone, typed a line, and held it in front of Evelyn.

[Don't remove it. Let him keep listening. From now on, every word we say here is bait.]

Evelyn read the screen and nodded once.

Cedric typed another line: [Open the envelope at the safe house. Right now, we act.]

Evelyn's fingers tightened once more around envelope 011, then slowly relaxed. She placed the envelope back in the metal box and closed the lid, deliberately making her movements look tired.

"It's too late." Her voice carried just the right note of exhaustion. "I'll look tomorrow."

Cedric played along with a murmur of agreement. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder. From the bug's perspective, it was just a couple sharing an ordinary intimate moment at night.

But his lips were pressed against her ear, his breath so low only she could hear.

"Stay here tonight. Don't do anything. At three a.m., my people will simulate a power outage. We'll move the box to the safe house during the blackout window."

Evelyn tilted her head slightly, her nose brushing his cheekbone. That tiny point of contact made them both pause.

Her lips were almost touching his earlobe, her voice so soft it was barely a breath from the back of her throat.

"Got it."

Cedric's arms tightened around her waist for a moment. The pressure went beyond what was needed for 'acting'—it carried an instinctive, barely controlled possessiveness.

He released her quickly. His palm slid from her waist to the back of her hand, lacing his fingers through hers, and led her toward the bedroom.

The bedroom was dark. Only the night glow of Emerald City filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a layer of gray-blue light across the floor.

Cedric closed the door.

He'd swept this room with the detector earlier. It was clean. The bug was only in the living room.

Evelyn stood in the darkness, leaning against the door. She closed her eyes, her hands hanging loosely at her sides. The exhaustion that followed the adrenaline crash washed over her like a rising tide, starting from her feet and spreading upward.

Cedric didn't turn on the light. He walked over to her, bracing both hands on the door on either side of her head, surrounding her in a small space.

His forehead rested gently against hers.

Their breaths mingled in the darkness. His exhalation carried a faint bitterness of coffee, brushing against her lips—not too close, not too far—like a kiss suspended in midair.

"Eve."

"Mm."

"I shouldn't have brought you back here today." His voice was rough, laced with self-reproach.

"You didn't know about the bug."

"I should have thought of it." His thumb touched her temple, his fingertip tracing a tiny circle there. "From the day Lillie handed over that evidence, I should have swept this place clean."

Evelyn's hand lifted, finding the second button on his shirt. Her fingers didn't press—just rested there, feeling the rise and fall of his chest beneath the fabric.

"Cedric, when was the bug installed?"

Cedric was silent for two seconds.

"The floor lamp was replaced three months ago when the apartment underwent interior updates. The person who handled it was a purchasing specialist from Parker Group's administrative department."

Evelyn's fingers curled against his button.

Three months ago. She'd just started at Parker Group back then.

Someone had been monitoring Cedric's private space for three months.

"Cedric."

"Mm."

"This person is closer than we thought."

Cedric's forehead lifted away from hers. He stepped back half a pace. In the darkness, she couldn't see his expression, but she could feel the weight of his gaze.

"I know."

A car drove past outside. Its headlights sliced through the gap in the curtains, sweeping a brief flash of light across Cedric's profile. In that instant, Evelyn saw the tight line of his jaw and the darkness pressed deep in his eyes.

The headlights passed. Everything returned to darkness.