Chapter 4

The tension inside the cramped elevator dropped to freezing.

"Evelyn Carter! How dare you step into Mr. Hawthorne's private elevator?"

Adrian was furious.

"Where's security? Get this crazy woman out of here!"

He reached for the emergency call button.

Serena hid behind him, but her thoughts practically trembled with excitement.

[Perfect. Once security beats her half to death and throws her out, I'll grab that emerald bangle off her wrist in the chaos!]

Ding.

The elevator shot straight to the top floor.

The doors opened onto the Skyline Ballroom.

Hundreds of the city's most powerful figures turned toward us at once.

Adrian's expression changed instantly.

He pulled out the black Hawthorne access card that marked him as an important business partner and pointed at me.

"She doesn't have an invitation. She broke into Mr. Hawthorne's private elevator."

He barked at security,

"Throw her out the back and break her legs!"

I remained where I was and calmly tapped Send on my watch.

Several security guards in black suits strode toward us.

Then they walked straight past me.

Two of them seized Adrian's arms and wrenched them behind his back.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Adrian struggled violently.

"You've got the wrong person!"

"No, they don't."

A cold voice cut through the ballroom.

Ethan Blake, Damian's chief of staff, stepped through the crowd.

He slapped a document against Adrian's chest.

"Mr. Lawson, your Hawthorne access privileges have been revoked."

Adrian's face went white.

"Mr. Blake, what are you talking about? What about the financing for the South District project?"

"Canceled."

Ethan cut him off without expression.

"And that's only the beginning."

"As of one minute ago, every major line of credit available to Lawson Corporation has been frozen. Ten banks have simultaneously called in their loans."

He looked Adrian directly in the eye.

"You're bankrupt."

The entire ballroom fell silent.

Adrian looked as though he had been struck by lightning.

With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone.

The screen was flooded with alerts.

Frozen assets.

Canceled credit lines.

Loan recalls.

Payment demands.

Ethan turned to the room.

His voice carried clearly across the ballroom.

"Mr. Hawthorne has issued an order."

"Effective immediately, no company under the Hawthorne network will conduct business with Adrian Lawson or Lawson Corporation."

"Anyone who chooses to bail him out will be treated as an enemy of the Hawthorne family."

"That's impossible!"

Adrian's knees nearly gave out.

Then his bloodshot eyes locked onto me.

"Evelyn Carter!"

"This was you, wasn't it?"

"You did this!"

He lunged at me like a madman.

Marcus kicked him squarely in the chest and sent him sprawling across the floor.

Ethan immediately walked over to me and bowed deeply.

"Mrs. Hawthorne."

"Mr. Hawthorne will be here momentarily. I apologize for allowing you to be subjected to this."

"Mrs. Hawthorne?"

The title hit the room like a thunderclap.

Adrian went completely still on the floor.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Serena's face turned white as paper.

[Impossible!]

[This is impossible!]

[How could Evelyn be Mrs. Hawthorne? What makes her worthy of him?]

The next second, Serena shoved Noah aside without hesitation and scrambled to my feet.

"Evelyn! I was wrong!"

"It was all Adrian!"

"He forced me into everything! He was the one who plotted against the Carter family six years ago!"

"I was just someone he threatened and used!"

Adrian stared at her in disbelief.

"Serena, have you lost your mind? What the hell are you talking about?"

I looked down at the two of them.

I wasn't angry.

I felt nothing but the cold indifference one might feel toward insects underfoot.

"Adrian."

I spoke slowly.

"Do you want to survive this?"

His whole body trembled.

Then, as if I had just thrown him a lifeline, he nodded frantically.

I ran my fingers lightly over the emerald bangle around my wrist.

My voice was soft.

Almost gentle.

"Break Serena's legs."

"Disfigure her face."

"Do to her exactly what she did to my sister six years ago."

I looked down at him.

"If you leave her ruined, I might consider letting you walk out of here alive."

A collective gasp swept through the ballroom.

Serena screamed.

"Adrian! You can't!"

"I'm the woman you love!"

Before she could finish, the hesitation in Adrian's eyes vanished.

His expression twisted with vicious rage.

He lunged at Serena, wrapped both hands around her throat, then snatched a wine bottle from the nearest table.

He brought it down toward her face.

"You bitch!"

"This is all your fault!"

"You ruined me!"

Her scream tore through the ballroom.

Glass shattered.

Blood splattered across the floor.

I watched their vicious struggle without expression.

Then—

Ding.

Damian's private elevator opened once again.

Damian Hawthorne stepped out in a perfectly tailored black suit.

The entire atmosphere shifted the moment he entered.

He didn't spare a glance for the shattered glass or the blood on the floor.

His eyes went straight to me.

He crossed the ballroom, pulled me into his arms, and held me close.

"Sweetheart."

His voice softened.

"I'm sorry I'm late."