Chapter 19
"I've already reached an agreement with Marigold. Our business won't interfere with what she and I have."
"As for you..." Matthew's eyes darkened, his tone turning cold and hard. "Evelyn is mine. Her business isn't your concern."
Kevin raised an eyebrow on his end of the call but wisely didn't push further.
He gave Matthew a brief rundown of what had happened at the site.
The line went quiet for a moment.
Matthew listened, almost able to picture that woman calmly maneuvering through it all.
He made a soft sound—hard to say if it was mockery or something else—and said flatly, "Got it."
The call ended.
Kevin set down his phone and rubbed his temples. He'd passed along what needed passing, given the warnings he felt he should give.
Whether Matthew would actually listen, whether he'd regret it later—that wasn't Kevin's problem anymore.
He pocketed his phone and headed toward the parking lot.
---
"Straight back to the hotel?" Kevin asked from behind the wheel, his tone casual.
"No." There was no fatigue in Evelyn's voice. "The Perkins Group branch office here in S City."
Kevin glanced at her in the rearview mirror, eyebrow quirking, a smile playing at his lips.
"Mind if I tag along and watch?"
"Suit yourself." Evelyn didn't refuse.
Kevin was here at Matthew's request. Having him present would naturally make Matthew more "comfortable" with her actions.
---
The Perkins Group's S City office building wasn't tall, but it had a prime location.
The branch manager was a middle-aged man named Jack. Hearing Evelyn was coming, he'd been waiting downstairs early.
Seeing Kevin following behind Evelyn, his smile became even more deferential.
"Miss Arden, Mr. Graves, welcome, welcome. The conference room is ready. Shall we..."
"Everyone on this list—call them in." Evelyn handed over the paper without breaking stride. "Meeting in ten minutes."
Jack took the note, glanced at the names, and his eyelid twitched. He quickly agreed.
"Yes, yes, right away!"
Less than ten minutes later, the small conference room was packed with seven or eight people, including a couple of department heads.
The atmosphere was tense. No one spoke, but eyes darted around nervously.
Seeing the surprisingly young Evelyn sitting at the head of the table with her calm, commanding presence, everyone felt uneasy.
Not far behind Evelyn, Kevin leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, clearly just observing.
Evelyn didn't waste time on pleasantries.
"I called you all here today for one thing." Her gaze swept the room. "Sparkle's test flight site."
"Someone took bribes to deliberately obstruct the project."
The air in the conference room froze.
Several faces changed color. One guy stood up with his neck stiff.
"Miss Arden, you can't just throw around accusations like that! Do you have proof?"
"Proof? Of course I have proof. As for how I use it..." Evelyn drew out her words.
"Today's meeting is me giving you a chance."
"Voluntarily return what you shouldn't have taken, make up for the project losses, and I can pretend this never happened. I won't report it."
She paused, her voice cooling. "But if anyone thinks they can get away with it and wants to test me... I don't mind making an example of one or two people."
"You!" Another person slammed the table and jumped up, face red. "You're from headquarters... what gives you the right to come here and boss us around about S City business?"
"What gives me the right?" Evelyn smiled faintly. She picked up her phone, tapped a few times, and turned the screen toward everyone.
It showed a freshly signed settlement agreement scan, with Johnson's signature and official stamp clearly visible.
Below the agreement was a brief note: "Site cleared. All obstacles removed."
"This gives me the right." Evelyn put away her phone, her gaze sharp as a blade as it cut across each uncertain face.
"I already brought Johnson down. You think I can't handle a few parasites?"
The conference room fell dead silent.
That agreement was like a silent slap across every bluffing face.
"I'm giving you dignity because we all work for the same company." Evelyn placed both hands on the table edge and leaned forward slightly. "Don't throw my courtesy back in my face. The choice is in your hands now."
Carrot and stick, perfectly calibrated.
She said nothing more, sat back down, and waited quietly.
The pressure multiplied in the silence.
Time crawled by. The ticking of the wall clock became impossibly loud.
Finally, one person broke, sweat beading on his forehead. "I... I'll return the money to the company account tomorrow."
With the first confession, the rest crumbled. One by one, people admitted their wrongdoing.
Evelyn nodded, gesturing for the secretary beside her to take notes.
She didn't press further, instead having each person write a guarantee statement and sign with their fingerprint.
Afterward, she called Jack to a separate conference room.
Evelyn looked at the sweating manager. "Jack, with so many problems in the company, you can't escape responsibility. However..."
She spoke unhurriedly. "Considering your years of diligent service, I won't pursue it."
"Follow-up on repayments, position monitoring—you'll personally oversee it. If anything goes wrong..."
She didn't finish, but her eyes said everything.
Jack felt a chill down his spine and quickly bowed. "Please rest assured! I'll watch them like a hawk. There absolutely won't be any more problems!"
---
Leaving the branch office and getting in the car, Kevin hesitated before asking, "Why didn't you just fire those people and be done with it?"
He was genuinely curious. This wasn't like her scorched-earth approach with Johnson.
Evelyn watched the city scenery flowing past the window, her voice calm. "Too many people involved, all different levels."
"Fire them all at once—who'll do the work?"
"The project's urgent right now. Stability comes first."
She paused. "Besides, I've already coordinated with Mr. Perkins' assistant."
"I'll give him the list and all the dirt. How to replace them, how to keep them in line—he'll handle it."
Kevin listened, then fell silent for a moment. Playing the long game was definitely smarter than flipping the table.
He'd thought she only knew how to strike hard and fast. Turned out she thought just as thoroughly about long-term strategy.
Solving the immediate problem while maintaining balance and planning ahead...
This woman's depth of thinking impressed even him.
"Does Matthew know you're this..." He chose his words carefully. "...thorough?"
Evelyn didn't answer. She just smiled faintly, the expression not reaching her eyes.
Kevin wisely dropped it. He already knew the answer.
---
Back at the hotel, Kevin said his goodbyes.
Evelyn went upstairs alone.
She first sent Thomas an encrypted email with all of today's key materials and a processing summary.
Then she opened a small group chat, looking at the scattered status updates inside, a genuine smile crossing her face.
Her fingers danced lightly across the screen as she typed an invitation:
[Thanks to you both for the help. Everything's resolved. I'm flying back tomorrow morning. Before I leave, I'd like to show my appreciation.]
[If everyone's free tonight, maybe we could grab a simple dinner? (smiley face)]