Chapter 38
Evelyn stood in front of the table, her face shadowed and unreadable. Her hands hung at her sides, middle fingertip still pressing into the mark in her palm. She didn't rush Richard to keep talking. She just waited, the way a nurse waits beside an operating table for the surgeon's scalpel to fall.
Richard's hand returned to the armrest. His finger joints loosened inch by inch, the outline of bones protruding beneath the skin.
"After your grandmother did this, it set off a chain reaction in the Hawk family."
Richard's gaze fell on the two pages of letter paper on the table, his eyes unfocused, as if thinking about something very far away.
"After word spread that Lily had been kicked out, the arranged marriage Frederick had negotiated fell apart. The other family heard about the Hawk family's 'scandal' and pulled out of the engagement immediately. Frederick's health hadn't failed yet, but his reputation did. In that world, reputation matters more than life. When the marriage collapsed, so did the business merger plans. Within three months, the Hawk family's cash flow ran into trouble."
Evelyn's right ring finger bent slightly.
"That's what your grandmother was waiting for."
A thick, gravelly sound rolled through Richard's throat.
"When the Hawk family's finances collapsed, the Ashford family stepped in as a 'helping hand' and acquired thirty percent of the Hawk family's core assets. Coal mines, real estate, import-export trade—the three most valuable pieces—all changed hands that year. The purchase price... was forty percent of market value."
The old grandfather clock ticked three times.
A wire in Evelyn's brain was wound to its breaking point. She heard her own breathing—in, out—each breath passing through her nose with controlled rhythm.
She understood.
The Ashford family had used a fake photo to destroy her mother's reputation, tear apart her relationship, sabotage the Hawk family's marriage alliance, and then—when the Hawks were at their weakest—swallowed thirty percent of their lifeblood for less than half price.
She'd lived at the Ashford Estate for three years. The bed she slept in, the things she used, the salary the company paid her, every piece of clothing Sebastian wore—thirty percent of the foundation beneath all of it had been built on her mother's bones.
Evelyn lifted her head.
"So the Ashford family doesn't just owe my mother a life."
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.
"They owe half the Hawk family empire."
Richard's eyes closed for a moment. He didn't nod, but his chin sank an inch.
The sound of leather being compressed came from the sofa.
Sebastian stood up.
His lips parted, throat working twice before words scraped out through clenched teeth.
"I didn't know."
Evelyn turned her head to look at him.
Sebastian's face was ashen, the muscles along his jaw drawn into a hard line. His hands hung at his sides, right index finger scraping once against his pant leg.
"When this happened I wasn't even born yet. The decisions my grandmother made, I—"
"You didn't know."
Evelyn cut him off.
Her pace didn't change.
"But you enjoyed every penny of the profits."
Sebastian's mouth closed.
His right index finger froze on his pant leg, the tip pressing down until the nail went white.
Evelyn didn't look at him again. She turned toward Zack, who stood behind the table.
"Mr. Russell, what else is in the will?"
Zack pulled another document from his briefcase—three pages clipped together.
"Ms. Hawk attached an asset recovery list to the will."
He placed the document flat on the table and pushed it toward Evelyn.
"This list itemizes the specific assets the Ashford family acquired from the Hawk family—the acquisition dates, purchase prices, and corresponding market valuations. The list was compiled with assistance from the Hawk family's financial advisors at the time. Before Ms. Hawk was expelled, she managed to take copies of the relevant ledgers."
Evelyn looked down and scanned the document. Three full pages of dense numbers. The handwriting matched the will—blue ink, strokes even and clear.
She didn't examine every line item. Just looked at the total in the final row. That number, converted to today's market value, would be astronomical—a figure she could barely imagine.
Evelyn picked up the document. "Is there a copy?"
Zack nodded and handed her the photocopy.
Evelyn took it, folded it in half, and put it in her bag with the will copy. Only then did she pull the zipper closed. The teeth rasped loudly in the quiet living room.
Evelyn didn't look at Richard again. Didn't even look at Sebastian. She turned and walked toward the door, heels clicking on the wood floor. One step. Two steps. Three.
"Eve—"
Richard's voice chased after her from the chair.
Evelyn's footsteps didn't stop. Her hand was almost touching the doorframe.
"Your father... he's still alive."
Evelyn's foot froze on the threshold, sole pressed on the line between wood and stone. Her front foot had already crossed. Her heel was still on the living room floor.
Her fingers gripped the edge of the doorframe, knuckles locked at an angle. Behind her, the grandfather clock's second hand ticked forward, one space after another.
Evelyn didn't turn around. But she pulled her back foot in. She stood on the threshold, motionless.
A long moment passed before Evelyn finally turned. Her gaze swept past the table in the living room, the paperweights, those two open pages of letter paper, and finally landed on Richard's face.
"What did you say?"
Richard leaned against the chair back, chest rising and falling harder than before. His right hand gripped the armrest, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
"Your father... is still alive."
When Richard repeated the sentence, he drew a breath between each word. The air passing through his nose made a faint wheezing sound.
Evelyn pulled her foot back from the threshold. She walked back into the living room but didn't sit. She stood between the table and the rosewood chair, looking down at Richard.
"Where is he."
It was a demand for an answer.
Richard's lips moved three times. The sounds came out broken, fragmented, pushing out a few words with difficulty.
"Elite family... overseas..."
His voice dropped lower. "He doesn't know you exist."
Evelyn's thumb pressed once against her bag strap.
'He doesn't know you exist.' Those words circled through her mind.
Her mother had given birth to her alone. Raised her alone until she was eighteen. Then died alone in a hospital bed.
Through all those years, that man had never known a child named Evelyn existed in this world.
A chill seeped through Evelyn's body. "Name."
Richard's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
His eyelids drooped, breathing turning labored. Allen hurried forward and gripped his shoulder.
"Sir, Ma'am—Mr. Richard has said too much today. His emotions are too unstable, his blood pressure—"
"Name." Evelyn said it again.
Zack took a step forward. "Ms. Kendall."