Chapter 39
Evelyn's gaze shifted to Zack.
Zack adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his voice maintaining that characteristic measured tone of legal professionals. "Ms. Hawk deliberately omitted the man's name from the will."
Evelyn's brow furrowed.
Zack continued. "The exact wording in the will is 'wait for Eve to find him herself.' The half photograph Ms. Hawk left behind is the only physical evidence that can confirm his identity. But she left that choice to you."
Evelyn looked down at her bag. Inside were the will copy, the asset recovery list, and at home, that half photograph with the other side cut away.
The other half of that photo... the person her mother had cut out with scissors...
Evelyn looked up. Richard's eyelids were drooping, his breathing heavy and labored. Allen had one hand supporting his back, the other checking his pulse.
She couldn't ask any more questions.
Evelyn pulled her gaze from Richard and turned toward the door.
Sebastian blocked the doorway.
She hadn't noticed when he'd moved there. His shoulder pressed against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, face looking worse than it had five minutes ago.
"I'll take you home."
Evelyn walked up to him and stopped. Less than an arm's length between them.
She caught the scent of his cologne. The scent she'd smelled every day for three years of marriage.
"Sebastian."
Her voice was low, just loud enough for him to hear.
"From today on, what you owe me isn't just a marriage."
She paused.
"It's two generations of debt."
Sebastian's arms dropped from his chest. His hands fell to his sides, fingers opening and closing, knuckles making a faint cracking sound.
Evelyn turned sideways and walked through the narrow gap between him and the doorframe. Her shoulder brushed his arm. She didn't pause.
When she crossed the courtyard, her pace didn't change. One step after another, heels clicking on the stone pavers, rhythm steady.
Allen hurried out and stood under the portico.
"Ms. Kendall—"
Evelyn didn't turn around.
She pushed open the wrought-iron gate and walked through. The gate closed behind her, the hinges letting out a low metallic groan.
She stood on the steps outside.
It was already dark.
Streetlight glinted off the three cars parked at the entrance, the paint reflecting a cold sheen. Her rideshare would be here in four minutes.
Evelyn walked into the shadows beyond the streetlight's reach and leaned against the brick wall for a moment.
The rough surface pressed into her back. She tilted her head up, staring at the starless black above.
Then her eyes grew wet.
No sound. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes, following the curve of her cheekbones down to her jaw. She didn't wipe them away. She let them run along her skin, one after another, until they reached the tip of her chin and fell to her collarbone, soaking into her collar.
Three minutes.
She counted her breaths. In, out. In, out.
When the third minute ended, she pulled a tissue from her bag and wiped her face clean. The tissue showed faint foundation marks.
She crumpled it into a ball and gripped it in her palm.
Headlights appeared at the end of the street.
Evelyn opened the back door and got in.
"Parker Group Tower, please."
The car pulled away from the street where the Ashford Estate sat. In the rearview mirror, the wrought-iron gate grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared where streetlights met tree shadows.
Evelyn pulled out her phone. The screen's glow lit up her face, the tip of her nose and the skin beneath her eyes still faintly red.
She opened her conversation with Cedric.
The cursor blinked four times in the input box.
She typed a line.
[The other half of the photo. I need your help finding it.]
Send.
Streetlights outside the window swept past one after another. Evelyn's phone screen dimmed, then lit up again.
Cedric's reply. The timestamp showed: sent three seconds later.
[Already looking. Nason gave me a name three days ago. I'm verifying now.]
Evelyn stared at that message.
Three days ago.
Before she'd received Sebastian's text. Before she'd decided to go to the Ashford Estate. Before she knew what was in the will, what the Ashford family had done, that her father was still alive.
And he'd already been searching.
Evelyn placed the phone on her lap, screen facing up. The car passed through an intersection. Red light. The momentum of the brakes made her body pitch forward, the seatbelt catching across her collarbone.
She looked at that message on the screen, reading it again word by word.
He'd been one step ahead of her.
Evelyn arrived at Parker Group Tower at 9:40 PM. On the thirty-sixth floor, only the emergency corridor lights were on. All the workstations were empty.
She sat down in her chair and set her bag on the desk. Didn't open her computer.
Her phone screen still showed Cedric's reply.
She exited the conversation and opened her messages.
Sent one to Sebastian's unknown number.
[Day seven. See you at the courthouse.]
After sending it, she turned the phone face-down on the desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out the Pine Hill Phase Two proposal folder.
When she flipped to the third page, her phone buzzed once on the desk.
She turned it over and glanced at it.
Sebastian. Read.
No reply.
Evelyn pushed the phone to the corner of the desk and kept reading.
At the same time. Second floor of the Ashford Estate.
Arianna stood at the end of the hallway, holding a cup of tea.
Through a gap in the curtains, she'd watched Allen see Zack off. After that black car's taillights disappeared at the end of the lane, Allen had returned inside the gate and locked the iron door from within.
Arianna carried her cup downstairs.
The living room door was closed. She could hear Sebastian and Richard's voices through the crack, fragmented, the words unclear.
She didn't push the door open.
She turned toward the kitchen.
Allen was busy at the stove.
"Allen."
Arianna set her cup on the counter, voice gentle.
"Did we have guests today? I heard voices from upstairs."
Allen's hand paused for a second.
"Ms. Kendall came to see Mr. Ashford."
"Eve came? Why didn't she come upstairs? I had no idea."
Arianna's tone carried just the right note of regret.
Allen didn't respond. He picked up a ladle and stirred the soup.
"There was another guest. I didn't recognize him. He drove a black car."
Arianna's fingertip traced the rim of her cup.
Allen's stirring slowed by half a beat.
"That was a friend of Mr. Ashford's. Just stopped by for a bit."
"A friend? What friend?"
"Not sure. Mr. Ashford didn't say."
Allen's answer was airtight.
Arianna's lips maintained their smile.
She lifted the cup and took a sip of tea.
"Thanks, Allen. When it's ready, I'll bring it up."
"No need. I'll take care of it."
Arianna didn't insist. She turned and left the kitchen.
When she reached the second-floor landing, her smile dropped.
Eve had come. Someone she didn't recognize had come. Richard had closed the living room door. Allen wouldn't say who the visitor was.