Chapter 45
"So his name was Benjamin White."
Evelyn murmured the words aloud. Her thumb pressed down on that "White," her nail turning white from the pressure.
She paused before flipping the photo face-down on the desk, then picked up her phone and dialed Cedric's number. He picked up in two seconds. She spoke slowly. "Did you get the photo?"
Cedric's voice carried a tension she didn't often hear from him. "That photo didn't come from me."
Evelyn's fingers pressed against the edge of the desk. "I know."
The envelope hadn't been on her desk before the meeting. During the meeting, the conference room door had been closed. The thirty-sixth floor office area had a security access system. For someone to place an envelope with no tracking number on her desk during that one-hour meeting, they either had internal Parker Group access privileges or had been cleared by reception.
"I already had someone pull the front desk logs." Cedric's pace was faster than usual. "At ten-fourteen this morning, someone used a courier service to deliver a document to reception. Recipient was you. Front desk signed for it per protocol and placed it on your desk. The sender information on the order was a mailbox at a business center address. I had legal check—the mailbox has been closed."
Evelyn closed her eyes briefly.
A closed mailbox. Anonymous sender. High-resolution restored old photograph.
Someone was deliberately revealing her father's identity to her.
And that person wasn't Cedric, wasn't Nason, wasn't anyone from the Ashford family she'd had contact with.
"The name written on the back of the photo." Evelyn's voice dropped half a degree. "Benjamin White. Is that the name you mentioned before?"
Cedric went silent for a beat.
"Yes."
"Nason confirmed it?"
"Called and asked."
Cedric paused two seconds.
"He went quiet for a long time. Then he said one thing."
Evelyn's fingers curled against the desk edge.
"He said, 'Brother-in-law... his last name really was White.'"
Brother-in-law.
Nason had used that term.
Evelyn's throat moved. That meant within the Hawk family, at least Nason himself recognized Lily and Benjamin's relationship.
"What about Benjamin's detailed information?"
"Sophie's team is checking too. Let me tell you what I've got first."
Cedric's voice returned to its usual steadiness.
"Benjamin White. Descendant of a White family branch line. In the late eighties to early nineties, the White family was the emerging family closest to breaking into the top four elite families. Their main business was shipping and bulk commodity trading. Benjamin was the only family member who went the academic route. Twenty-eight years ago he was sent to Cambridge for a master's in economics. The timeline overlaps with when your mother got pregnant."
Evelyn etched each piece of information into her mind.
"And then?"
"He spent two years at Cambridge, got his master's, came back. After returning, he didn't join the family business—started a private equity fund instead. The fund wasn't huge, but performance was solid. Had a decent reputation in the industry. Then—"
Cedric stopped.
"Fifteen years ago, all companies under his name completed equity transfers within three months. Social media accounts deleted. All three of his commonly used phone numbers disconnected. The last time there was a public record of his whereabouts was in the departures hall at Capital Airport. After that, he completely disappeared from the domestic business landscape."
Evelyn's back pressed against her chair.
"Reason for disappearing?"
"Unknown. I had someone check immigration records. Fifteen years ago he left through the airport, destination London. No entry records after that. But whether he renewed his passport after it expired, whether he obtained documents from another country—that information requires higher clearance to access."
Evelyn switched the phone to her left hand, opened her computer with her right, and typed "Benjamin White" into the search engine.
The results page was almost entirely blank. No news coverage, no business information, no social media traces. Just one piece of old data from sixteen years ago—a financial media outlet's annual private equity selection shortlist. At position thirty-seven was an entry: "Benjamin White/Ben Fund."
Shortlisted sixteen years ago. Disappeared fifteen years ago.
A private equity fund manager on the rise, with no public negative incidents, had suddenly liquidated and vanished without a trace.
Evelyn closed the search page.
"You said someone is deliberately revealing his identity to me."
"Yes."
"So the person who sent the anonymous text saying 'stop looking for your father' and the person who sent the photo—are they the same person?"
Cedric's answer came quickly.
"Probably not."
Evelyn's fingers paused at the keyboard edge.
"The anonymous text's technical signature was a disposable number, anonymous virtual wallet, cell tower location within a three-kilometer radius of Ashford Group. The operator's core intent was to prevent you from finding the truth." Cedric's voice was deliberate. "The person who sent the photo used a courier service, business center mailbox, high-resolution restored photograph. The operator's core intent was to help you find the truth. The two people's objectives are completely opposite."
Two lines were extending simultaneously in Evelyn's mind.
One was black—someone was trying to stop her.
One was white—someone was helping her.
The person trying to stop her was most likely connected to Arianna, connected to the Ashford family's secrets from twenty-seven years ago.
Who was the person helping her?
Evelyn thought of a possibility.
"The Hawk family."
"What?"
"The person who sent the photo—could it be someone from the Hawk family? Nason, or someone inside the Hawk family who knows the truth?"
Cedric went silent for four seconds.
"Possible. But Nason's reaction during our call didn't seem like he knew beforehand. When he heard the name 'Benjamin,' he paused for nearly ten seconds before speaking. If he'd arranged to send the photo, he wouldn't have reacted that way."
"Then it's someone else in the Hawk family."
"Or not someone from the Hawk family at all." Cedric's voice dropped half a degree. "But arranged by Benjamin himself."
Evelyn's breathing stopped for a beat.
Benjamin.
The man who disappeared fifteen years ago.
If he'd learned the truth from back then, if he knew he had a daughter—
Evelyn pushed that thought down.
"There's no evidence supporting that theory right now." Her voice returned to steadiness. "Let's not make assumptions. I'll lock the original photo in the safe. Keep following up on the courier order information and the closed mailbox lead."
"Got it. Tuesday meeting still on. Seven PM, Parker Group top floor conference lounge. Nason will be there too."
"I'll be there."
Call ended.
Evelyn set the phone on her desk and picked up the photo, turning it to the front.
The young man in the photo looked at the camera, expression open and relaxed, right hand resting on her mother's shoulder.
She stared at that face for a long time.
Strong brows. Her brow shape was nearly identical to his.
Nose bridge. Her nose was higher than her mother's—that height came from him.
Jawline. She touched her own chin.