Chapter 36
"Ms. Kendall, he's waiting in the living room."
Evelyn gave a slight nod and stepped over the threshold.
As she crossed the courtyard, her gaze swept up to the second-floor hallway. The curtains were drawn. Last time she'd been here, Arianna had stood behind that window holding a cup of hot milk, surveying the grounds with the air of the lady of the house.
Today the curtains didn't move.
Evelyn pulled her gaze back.
The living room door stood half-open.
When she walked in, the first person she saw was Richard.
Richard sat in the main seat—a rosewood chair—with a thin blanket draped over him. He looked worse than last time. Cheekbones jutting out, eyes sunken, his right hand resting on the armrest where the skin was so thin you could trace the blue veins beneath.
When he saw Evelyn come in, his eyes immediately reddened.
His lips trembled.
He didn't speak.
Evelyn shifted her gaze from Richard and moved it an inch to the left.
Sebastian sat on the sofa to Richard's left.
He'd changed into a dark suit, hair neatly combed, posture straight—back to the version of himself she knew. His spine rigid, jawline tight, fingers laced together on his knees.
But his knuckles were white.
Evelyn's gaze continued to the right.
Then stopped.
On the single armchair to the right side of the living room sat someone she'd never seen at the Ashford Estate before.
A man in his early sixties with salt-and-pepper hair combed meticulously. Black suit, expertly tailored. White dress shirt buttoned all the way up. Gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, the eyes behind them very calm.
On his lap rested a manila envelope.
The envelope's seal had a dark red wax stamp.
An emblem was pressed into the wax.
Evelyn's pupils contracted.
She'd seen that emblem before.
On the silver ring her mother had left behind.
Richard's voice came from the chair, hoarse.
"Eve."
Evelyn pulled her gaze from the envelope and looked at Richard.
"Sit."
She didn't sit next to Sebastian. She pulled over a chair near the door, maintaining equal distance from everyone.
Richard glanced at where she'd chosen to sit. Didn't say anything.
He raised his right hand and gestured toward the gray-haired man.
"Eve, this is Mr. Zack Russell. The Hawk family's legal counsel. Your mother left a will years ago... it's been with him all this time."
Richard's voice caught on those last words.
"Today... it's time to open it."
Evelyn's nails dug into her palms.
Zack stood up.
He lifted the envelope from his lap, holding it with both hands, and walked to the table in the center of the living room.
His movements were slow, carrying a deliberate sense of ceremony.
He placed the envelope flat on the table. The dark red wax seal caught the light and reflected a small gleam.
"Ms. Kendall."
Evelyn looked up. Zack stood behind the table, both hands resting on either side of the envelope without moving.
Through his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was solemn.
"This will was handwritten by Ms. Lily Hawk twenty-six years ago and subsequently entrusted to Hawk family legal counsel for safekeeping. In her will, Ms. Hawk specified that it could only be opened after the beneficiary, Evelyn Kendall, turned twenty-five and independently raised questions about her parentage. Three weeks ago, Mr. Nason Hawk notified me that Ms. Hawk's conditions had been met. So today I've come on behalf of the Hawk family to execute the disclosure of Ms. Hawk's will."
Evelyn's throat moved.
Zack reached his right hand toward the wax seal. "Ms. Kendall, I need your personal confirmation that you consent to opening this in the presence of witnesses."
In the presence of witnesses?
Evelyn's gaze swept the room. Richard sat in his chair, staring at that envelope with something in his eyes she couldn't read.
Sebastian sat on the sofa, body leaning forward a few inches. His lips were pressed tight, a line of tension running along his jaw.
Evelyn turned back to Zack.
"Open it."
Zack nodded.
He pulled a letter opener from his inside jacket pocket and pressed the sharp tip against the edge of the wax seal.
A soft crack. The seal split in two and peeled away from the envelope's opening, falling onto the table.
Zack opened the envelope's mouth and reached inside to pull out two sheets of yellowed paper.
The paper's edges were slightly curled, the creases deep—folded for many years.
Zack laid the pages flat on the table and used paperweights to hold down both ends.
"This is the original will. Ms. Kendall, please review it."
He stepped back, making room for Evelyn.
Evelyn stood up. The chair legs scraped across the floor with a short, sharp sound.
She walked to the table. The two pages lay spread between the paperweights, blue ink showing her mother's delicate handwriting. The strokes were even, consistent. No corrections anywhere on the pages.
Looking at that handwriting made Evelyn's eyes sting. She remembered her mother teaching her to write, holding her hand and guiding each stroke across the paper.
Her mother would always say, "Writing requires care."
Evelyn's hand lifted, then fell back to her side. She didn't touch the pages. Instead she bent down and read word by word.
First line.
[My name is Lily Hawk. Eldest daughter of Frederick Hawk.]
Evelyn's breath caught for half a beat.
She'd read that name before. Nason had told her in the parking lot at Emerald Abbey. But seeing her mother write it in her own hand—it felt completely different.
This was her mother saying it herself.
Evelyn kept reading.
Second paragraph.
[There have been rumors that my child was born from an affair with a married man. This is not true. Eve's father and I were both unmarried when we were together. We were deliberately torn apart by someone who fabricated evidence that I had "interfered in his marriage" and presented it to my father. My father did not verify the facts. In his rage, he cast me out of the Hawk family.]
Evelyn's nails slowly dug into her palms.
Her knuckles went white.
She didn't stop. Kept reading.
The third paragraph was shorter.
[I am leaving Eve a ring engraved with the Hawk family crest, along with a photograph. I have cut the photograph in half. The other half shows Eve's father. I have no right to make this choice for Eve. Whether or not to find him is her decision. When she is ready, she can look for the other half of the photograph.]
Evelyn's gaze moved to the last line.
Bottom of the page.
The ink color was slightly darker than the paragraphs above, as if her mother had stopped after writing the earlier sections, dipped the pen again, then added this final sentence.
[Eve, your mother was not a mistress. Your blood is clean.]
The living room was so quiet you could hear the gears turning in the old grandfather clock on the wall.