تسجيل الدخولJULIANI finished the rest of my workday at Sullivan Group in a fog, barely retaining anything from the two meetings I sat through after leaving Apex Crest. Viktor had cut my time with Evelyn short so abruptly that I hadn’t fully processed it until I was already back at my desk, staring blankly at a contract I couldn’t focus on. My mind kept drifting back to that lobby, not the whole conversation, just fragments of it playing over and over. Viktor’s voice telling me plainly to stay away from her workplace, the cold, absolute authority behind every word, leaving no room for me to argue or explain myself.I still couldn’t shake the humiliation of being spoken to like that, like some misbehaving employee instead of his own nephew, especially with Evelyn standing right there and watching it happen. My jaw tightened just thinking about it.For a brief, satisfying moment, I let myself imagine what it would feel like to buy Apex Crest outright, to strip Viktor of that authority the same way
EVELYNViktor stepped between Julian and me, his voice calm but firm enough to make the air around us feel heavier. Julian quickly straightened his suit and tried to explain himself, his words tumbling out a little too fast.“Uncle Viktor, this isn’t anything serious. I’m just having a discussion with my wife. There’s really no need for you to get involved.”Viktor didn’t even acknowledge the explanation, his eyes staying fixed on Julian as though he hadn’t spoken at all.“It’s working hours,” he said evenly. “Evelyn is still on the clock. Whatever personal matters exist between the two of you have no place interrupting that. You can continue the discussion when she has clocked out of work.”He turned toward me then, his expression softening only slightly. “Go back to your desk.”I hesitated, glancing between the two of them, unsure what they were about to discuss the moment I left and, honestly, unsure whether I even wanted to know. But something in Viktor’s tone told me arguing wasn
EVELYNThe office had finally settled into its usual late-morning rhythm, the quiet clicking of keyboards and the occasional printer humming somewhere down the hall. I had almost managed to lose myself in the drawings spread across my desk, grateful for a few uninterrupted hours to think about something other than the last two days. For the first time since waking up in Viktor’s villa, my mind felt almost quiet, focused entirely on the lines in front of me instead of everything else weighing on me.Then Kayda’s voice cut through the calm.“Someone’s downstairs asking for you,” she said, her tone deliberately casual, though there was an odd look on her face, something between smug and curious that immediately made me suspicious.I looked up from the drawings. “Who is it?”She shrugged, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Am I your messenger? You’ll find out when you get down there. Stop asking me rubbish questions.” She rolled her eyes.Before I could ask anything else,
JULIANI walked into Sullivan Group later than I usually did that morning, mostly because sleep had completely abandoned me the night before. My mind had been stuck in the same loop since yesterday afternoon, replaying that disastrous lunch with Grandpa, Chloe showing up out of nowhere, and, underneath it all, the gnawing worry about where Evelyn had actually disappeared to.I had made up my mind that if I didn’t hear anything about her before the end of the day, I’d have her looked for by the same person who found her when she first left my villa.Staff greeted me as I passed through the lobby, and I nodded back out of habit more than actual attention, barely registering any of their faces.Daniel fell into step beside me the moment I reached my office, already rattling off my schedule for the afternoon—meetings, calls, and some contract review I honestly couldn’t focus on right now. None of it held my attention until he said something that made me stop walking completely.“Also, sir
KAYDAI arrived at the company earlier than usual, mostly because I hadn’t slept well the night before, my mind was still stuck on everything that had happened over the last week. The withheld pay still stung, more than I wanted to admit to anyone, but what really kept me up at night was the humiliation of being forced to compete against Evelyn on the Riverside project, someone who had just spent a week at this company and now the new boss decided she deserved a shot at going head-to-head with me. Years of hard work, and suddenly I was being treated as if my seniority meant nothing at all because of one mistake Evelyn had happened to notice and correct.I pulled into my usual parking spot, gathering my bag from the passenger seat, when I noticed a familiar black car pulling into the parking lot and parking in the space reserved for Mr. Sullivan. My chest tightened slightly, a small, hopeful thought crossing my mind. Maybe I could catch him before the day got too busy and remind him pe
EVELYNI had just stepped out of the bathroom, still towel-drying my hair, when a soft knock sounded at the door. I opened it to find Martha standing there with a black garment bag draped over one arm and a pair of heels in her other hand.“Mr. Sullivan asked me to drop these off for you,” she said, holding them out to me with a warm smile.“Thank you, Martha,” I said, taking the garment bag and the heels from her.She nodded and excused herself quietly, leaving me alone with the items. I laid the garment bag across the bed before unzipping it. Inside was a neatly pressed suit.The moment I pulled it out, I could tell just from the fabric that it cost more than I probably wanted to know. I slipped it on carefully, half expecting it to be slightly off in some way, the sleeves too long or the waist too loose, the way borrowed or guessed clothing usually turned out.Instead, it fit perfectly, like it had been tailored specifically for me. The heels fit just as well, not a size too big or







