The Seven And A Half Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle Novels & Stories

I repeated. “Yes.” I sat there in the dark, the weight of it settling over me slowly, piece by piece, until the full shape of what that meant finally arrived. Evelyn Ward hadn’t simply disappeared while investigating men powerful enough to erase her. She had died three days after giving birth to the daughter someone had spent twenty-five years hiding in plain sight. And whoever had orchestrated that disappearance, whoever had signed off on that hospital record, was still out there, still moving pieces on a board Milly didn’t even know she was standing on.

"She said, if anyone asks where I am next week, tell them I finally found what I was looking for." Zariel felt the floor tilt slightly beneath her. "She never made it to Monday," the receptionist said, and turned back to her keyboard, the conversation visibly, deliberately over. ***** Zariel spent the rest of the afternoon buried in old financial records, cross-referencing dates until her eyes burned, until the pattern finally clicked into place with a cold, certain click she felt all the way down her spine. Evelyn Hart had died exactly one week before a scheduled audit committee presentation on financial irregularities in three subsidiary accounts.

Or an enemy. Or a prank caller. It had belonged to Evelyn Blackwood. A woman who had supposedly been dead for seven years. And she had only said one sentence before hanging up. "Stop looking for me."

"Save her!" He was convinced—stubbornly, desperately—that this was just another ploy. Another scheme to force him to cut ties with Vivian. But after the doctor took my pulse, his face turned grave. He bowed his head and delivered the verdict. "Mr. Hartwell, Madam Elena has indeed been dead for seven days. Just as Mr. Young said." Seven days? Nathan staggered backward as if he'd been struck by lightning. Wasn't that the very day I'd jumped into the pool for the second time?

The autopsy needed to follow certain procedures, so Evelyn had to lie in an ice coffin. I refused to believe that Evelyn would die without a reason. One day, I got off work and discovered that Evelyn’s body was missing. I felt flustered and lost as I opened the home surveillance footage. To my shock, I saw Barbara Caddel, my mother-in-law. She looked around the house. Seeing that no one was home, she and Rosie took Evelyn’s body away. My heart sank when I saw that. I called Rosie, but she hung up right away.

The way she had refused to meet my eyes when I asked her if she had seen Alyosha that night. The way she had conveniently reappeared just as Olivia was being framed. My blood ran cold. No. It couldn’t be. And yet… the pieces all fit. My hands curled into fists. I wanted to deny it. I wanted to believe this was a mistake, that the Omega was lying, that this was some kind of twisted deception. But deep down, I already knew the truth. Evelyn had everything to do with Elder Alyosha’s death. I turned away from the Omega, my jaw tightening. “Take her to a secure holding cell,” I ordered the guards. “No one speaks to her unless I say so.”

How could I yearn for another woman when I promised myself that I would only think about Elizabeth that way? As the guilt got me, I received a phone call; I picked my phone up immediately and saw that it was Melisa. I sighed deeply “Hello? I answered, pressing the phone against my ear. “Hello, sir?” Evelyn said her breathing ragged. My brow furrowed. “Evelyn? What is it?” “She's dead, sir,” she blurred. My grip tightened around my phone. “Who is dead Evelyn?” “Ms Melissa” Her words froze me.

His grip on the phone loosened at the next words. "One of the victims has been identified as the famous actress Daisy. Reports confirm she was struck by a speeding vehicle before falling into the river. The second victim, a woman named Eve Blackwell, has been declared dead, she was pushed into the water. The third is a man who is unidentified." The phone slipped from Theodore’s fingers. His ears rang. His mind went blank. Eve and Daisy were……dead? **** Blackwell Estate Willow covered her mouth with a trembling hand, her entire body going cold. Eve dead? That girl couldn’t be dead.

“Oh. Oh, Goddess help us. You truly don’t know.” Eleanor crossed the room slowly. “Explain yourself.” Mrs. Helvine stared at her as though she were the strange one. “The bells haven’t reached this wing yet, have they?” Athena felt a chill crawl up her spine. “What bells?” The woman swallowed. “Someone was found dead.” The words dropped heavy into the room. Eleanor’s eyes sharpened. “Dead?” “In the lower pack quarter,” Mrs. Helvine said quickly. “A servant. Drained. Completely emptied. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

"I'll be there right away." Julian received the news of Evelyn's accident earlier than Eliza and the others, so he was prepared to leave earlier. Hearing Julian's words, Eliza breathed a sigh of relief. "What exactly is going on?" Eliza still couldn't believe it. "Is Evelyn really dead?" The sound of the car door closing was heard from Julian's side. No one knew whether he was getting in the car or getting out. He quickly replied, "She's dead. She fell from the 16th floor and almost turned into a meat pie."