Chapter 46
Evelyn slipped the photo into the inner pocket of her bag and zipped it shut.
She opened her phone calendar.
Cooling-off period countdown: Three days.
In three days, she and Sebastian would be at the courthouse.
Finalize the divorce first.
Then go find him.
She closed the calendar and opened the Pine Hill Phase Two proposal document. The last three sets of cross-verification data for the brand evaluation section still weren't done.
As her fingers returned to the keyboard, her phone buzzed. Another unknown number.
Evelyn frowned and opened it. This time, an incoming call. She hesitated for a second, then answered. On the other end was a young man's voice—polite, his tone carrying a kind of trained carefulness. "Hello, Ms. Kendall. I'm Mr. Ashford's assistant, Jack."
Evelyn's fingers froze on the keyboard.
"Mr. Ashford asked me to inform you about the arrangements for when the cooling-off period expires. He's agreed to appear."
Evelyn didn't respond.
Jack paused for two seconds on the other end, his voice dropping a degree. "But Mr. Ashford has one condition."
Evelyn's thumb pressed against the volume button on the side of her phone.
"He says on the day of the divorce, you need to give him ten minutes to explain."
Evelyn hung up. She didn't say another word to Jack. Set the phone back on the desk. The screen dimmed, then lit up again. A message from Sophie popped up—probably some new development about Benjamin.
Evelyn didn't open it.
She opened her messages and found the number Sebastian had texted from last time.
[What's the condition?]
Send.
She placed the phone face-down on the desk and looked back at the computer screen. Progress on entering the fifteenth data set for brand evaluation was stuck at sixty percent.
The phone buzzed on the desk.
Evelyn flipped it over.
Sebastian's reply.
[Talk in person. Let's meet. Not at the Ashford Estate, not at your office. You pick the place.]
Evelyn stared at those words for three seconds.
"You pick the place."
In three years of marriage, Sebastian had never said those four words. Where to eat dinner—he decided. Where to vacation—he decided. Even when she'd moved out, he'd said "impossible" first, then "stop being ridiculous."
Now he was saying you pick.
Evelyn exited messages and opened her conversation with Cedric.
[Sebastian wants ten minutes on the day of the divorce, wants to meet to discuss the condition. I need Parker Group legal to arrange for an attorney to be present. You designate a neutral public location.]
Cedric's reply came within a minute.
[MANNER Coffee in the West District CBD, street-side floor-to-ceiling window seating. Public area, surveillance coverage, no enclosed space risk. Legal department attorney Mr. Eagleson will be on standby tomorrow afternoon.]
Evelyn copied the address into a text message and sent it to Sebastian.
[Tomorrow afternoon, 3 PM. MANNER Coffee, West District CBD. My attorney will be present.]
Sebastian's reply was brief.
[Okay.]
Evelyn locked the screen.
The next day, two forty-five in the afternoon.
When Evelyn arrived at MANNER Coffee, Mr. Eagleson was already seated at a four-person table by the floor-to-ceiling windows. An Americano sat in front of him, briefcase open, two documents spread out on the table.
Evelyn sat across from him.
Mr. Eagleson slid a document over.
"Ms. Kendall, I prepared a post-divorce property rights protection checklist for you to review. Includes agreed terms regarding the Ashford Estate, whether the previously signed income rights transfer has any additional conditions, and preventive clauses for potential joint disputes after divorce."
Evelyn flipped through two pages. The clauses were logically clear and comprehensive.
"Looks good."
She closed the document and looked up toward the entrance.
Two fifty-eight.
A charcoal gray Maybach pulled up to the curb outside the café.
The door opened. Sebastian got out first, followed by his assistant Jack.
Sebastian bent down and said something to Jack. Jack nodded once, then got back in the car.
The car pulled away from the curb and stopped in a parking spot several yards down the street.
Sebastian pushed through the door.
He wore a black lightweight suit, no tie, top two buttons of his shirt undone. Hair combed neatly, but a small patch of stubble at his temples he hadn't shaved clean.
His gaze swept the café and paused on Evelyn's direction.
Then he saw Mr. Eagleson.
His steps didn't falter. He walked over, pulled out the chair across from Evelyn, and sat down.
Mr. Eagleson spoke first.
"Mr. Ashford, I'm an attorney with Parker Group's legal department, present at Ms. Kendall's request as a witness. If today's conversation involves clauses concerning legal rights, I'll be taking concurrent notes."
Sebastian glanced at Mr. Eagleson.
"Take notes."
His gaze moved back to Evelyn's face.
They looked at each other across the table.
Two cups of coffee and a stack of documents sat on the surface. Sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling window streamed in, cutting a line of light and shadow across the table. Evelyn sat in the darker half. Sebastian in the light.
Evelyn didn't speak first.
Sebastian's fingers rested on the table, his thumb rubbing back and forth across his index finger's knuckle twice.
He spoke.
"I'll sign the divorce."
Evelyn's expression didn't change.
"The cooling-off period expires the day after tomorrow. I'll be there. Everything that needs signing on the agreement—won't change a single word."
He paused.
"But the debt the Ashford family owes your mother—I'll repay it."
Mr. Eagleson's pen tip paused on the notepad.
Sebastian pulled a document from his jacket's inner pocket. Three pages, paper clip in the upper left corner. The paper was law firm contract stock with an embossed seal at the bottom.
He pushed the document to the center of the table. "These are three income rights transfer agreements. East District commercial complex, a Pine Hill District office building, and North District Industrial Park D Zone warehouse logistics center number three."
Evelyn's gaze landed on the document, but she didn't reach for it.
"These three properties are among the core Hawk family assets the Ashford family acquired at forty percent of market value twenty-seven years ago. Last year's appraised values were 160 million, 210 million, and 90 million respectively. After the income rights transfer to your name, all annual rent and operating income will belong to you. Ownership remains unchanged—still under Ashford Group's name—but the income rights are independent, unaffected by any Ashford Group debt or operational risk."
Sebastian tapped the edge of the document with his finger.
"I already had the law firm draft the paperwork. Your attorney can review it now."
Evelyn looked at Mr. Eagleson.
Mr. Eagleson took the document and opened to the first page.
Jazz played over the café's background music, the saxophone's low tones mixing with the hum of the grinder.
Mr. Eagleson flipped through page by page, occasionally marking certain clauses with his pencil.
Seven minutes later, he closed the document.
"Ms. Kendall, the agreement framework is complete. The income rights transfer uses an irrevocable trust structure with you as the individual beneficiary. Two details need confirmation: First, does the income rights calculation date start on the signing date or the transfer registration completion date? Second, in the disclaimer clause in Article Seven, does the definition of 'force majeure' exclude corporate restructuring actions actively initiated by Ashford Group?"