Chapter 387

The voice on the phone dripped with arrogant certainty. "He'll buy it. Desperation makes men predictable. Nathaniel's scrambling to uncover who's targeting him, who dares strike at the Martins. If this were an open war, he wouldn't flinch. But shadows terrify him more than bullets."

Isabella's knuckles whitened around her phone. Her gaze could freeze hell itself. "Handle the details. Just ensure he cuts all ties with Evelyn. The thought of them together makes me physically ill. That woman doesn't deserve his love."

"Control yourself, Isabella."

"Control?" A bitter laugh escaped her lips. "I've waited years while that architect slithered into my place. If words won't separate them, maybe losing their unborn child will."

The man's voice turned lethal. "Enough. First we manipulate Nathaniel into our trap. After that... do as you please."

Silence.

Isabella's mind raced with forbidden fantasies. The man forbade harming Evelyn, but rules never constrained her. Nathaniel belonged to her. Always had. Sometimes she imagined forgiving everything if he'd just kneel and beg. Fate owed her this happiness.

Nathaniel's car peeled away from the hospital. His thumb hovered over Evelyn's contact. Three rings. Five. No answer.

Just like when she'd called earlier.

His jaw clenched. The phone connected to the car speakers as he dialed her driver.

"Her location."

"At the office, sir."

The tires screeched.

Parking beneath her office building, Nathaniel scrolled through news feeds. The trending scandal about him and Isabella had vanished—scrubbed clean. But Evelyn had already seen it. She always saw everything.

The elevator doors slid open to her floor.

Evelyn hadn't ignored Nathaniel's call. Her phone lay buried under design sketches while she debriefed Charlotte.

Then Gregory appeared, holding a contract that made her blood run cold. "The Mitchell Group reached out again. Sophia personally requested you for their waterfront project."

Evelyn's pen snapped.

Gregory tread carefully. "We can decline if—"

"Is it profitable?" She interrupted.

"Very."

"Assign someone else." Evelyn stacked papers with military precision. "Between the competition and the Queens project, I'm stretched thin."

Gregory hesitated. "This isn't about... personal matters?"

A humorless smile. "Business stays business. My family drama won't bankrupt the firm."

The Mitchell Group's offer was a life raft—their only major project untouched by recent scandals. Because Evelyn had stalled approval, it remained pristine. Unbroken.

Unlike everything else.