Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Evelyn & Victor
Evelyn
The fried egg had gone completely cold, its edges crusted with a nauseating layer of yellow grease. The toast was so stale it was impossible to chew.
Two maids standing in the corner of the dining room were talking loudly, making no effort to lower their voices. Every word reached my ears with perfect clarity.
"I really admire her—knowing damn well nobody here wants her around, and she still sits there eating like nothing's wrong." The brunette maid smirked, holding her tray.
"Of course she can eat. Women like that have no shame whatsoever." The blonde maid chimed in, her tone dripping with contempt.
I gripped the silver knife and fork, fighting the urge to dump this god-awful breakfast on their heads.
Ever since Caroline's attitude toward me shifted, everyone else in this manor had followed suit.
But I didn't need to care. I wasn't actually here to play mistress of the house. Once Victor found my father, I'd be gone.
I cut off a piece of cold egg with no expression on my face, shoved it in my mouth, and forced myself to swallow.
Just then, the double oak doors of the dining room swung open.
Caroline walked in on her heels, all elegance.
My spine went rigid. I gripped my utensils tighter. I ran through the possibilities—which act was she putting on today? More fake concern about my meals, or would she finally drop the sweet mask and go for my throat? Either way, I was ready.
But Caroline didn't look at me. Instead, she turned to the two maids with a stern expression.
"What do you think you're doing? Miss Gray is Mr. Moretti's guest. How dare you serve her something like this? Take it back and redo it. Now."
Caroline's tone sounded fair and authoritative. The two maids immediately bowed their heads, apologizing profusely, then hurried out with the tray.
Before, I would've been grateful for her kindness, thrilled to have such a warm, mature woman looking out for me. Now? I suspected Caroline had orchestrated the whole damn thing.
Caroline turned and approached my table. She smiled as she looked me up and down with that condescending gaze.
"Good morning, Evelyn. I hope you won't take their rudeness to heart. They're just honest little girls. Rather endearing, don't you think?"
I stared at Caroline's fake face and felt sick.
I'd never understand women like her—wanting to tear you apart but still smiling, saying one thing while thinking another.
"I'm full. Excuse me."
I stood up without another glance and walked straight out of the dining room.
I'd been living like this for a full week.
This massive, freezing manor was a suffocating cage. I was trapped here, enduring Caroline's fake malice and the servants' contempt every single day.
I was stuck with this shameful, illegitimate status, drowning in guilt over Julian running away.
I couldn't just sit around anymore. I needed to talk to Victor.
Wherever my father was, I couldn't spend one more second in this disgusting place.
Victor
The underground casino in New York's East District reeked of smoke and blood.
I stood in the center of the wrecked hall. Scattered poker cards, shattered chips, and smashed slot machines littered the floor. A few stupid gang thugs lay groaning in pools of blood.
Julian, that goddamn bastard.
Not only was he hiding all over New York's underworld, now he'd teamed up with third-rate gangs to trash my properties just to get my attention and cause trouble.
"Clean up this shithole." I turned to the bodyguards behind me. "Notify everyone. Lock down every underground passage in the East District. Two days. I want Julian brought back alive. Anyone hiding him gets their legs broken."
The bodyguards nodded and scattered to carry out orders.
Luca strode in from outside and lowered his voice as he approached.
"Boss, we followed your lead. About Mr. Gray's whereabouts—the surveillance at the location witnesses identified was destroyed beforehand. The scene was washed clean by the rain. And Marcus got away again."
I pinched the bridge of my nose hard. Days of running on fumes and zero sleep had left my brain pounding with sharp, stabbing pain.
Internal power struggles, pressure from outside elites, plus Julian stirring up shit everywhere—all these goddamn problems were suffocating me, pulling me in every direction.
"Don't let any lead go cold. Keep looking. As long as they're still in New York, still making deals, they'll slip up eventually."
Another dead end. They'd been blackmailing people left and right, but every trail was clean. By the time our guys showed up, they'd already vanished. Classic Marcus—never sloppy, always discreet and decisive. Catching him wouldn't be easy.
Maybe it was time to change tactics.
I finally had time to come back to the manor. I hadn't been back in a full week. Partly because I was swamped, but also because I couldn't stand seeing the disappointment in Evelyn's eyes.
All she wanted was to see her father. And I still couldn't give her that.
I had no intention of staying. I'd grab the files from my study and head straight to the docks.
But the moment I reached the second-floor hallway, Caroline appeared.
She'd clearly been waiting. She rushed up and blocked my path, grabbing my coat sleeves with both hands.
"Victor. You're finally back." Her voice was urgent, worried. "Where's Julian? Is he hurt? I haven't heard from him in three days. I'm losing my mind."
I caught a whiff of her heavy perfume and felt instinctive revulsion. I lifted my hands and calmly removed hers from my sleeves, stepping back to create distance.
I understood Caroline worrying about Julian. But her getting this close made my skin crawl. Ever since she accused me of being cold and left to "find herself," I'd felt nothing for this woman.
"Julian's fine. When I bring him back, you'll see him." I forced down the irritation boiling in my chest, my tone cold and dismissive. "That's all. I'm busy."
I ignored Caroline's stiffening expression and walked past her toward my study.
I'd just bent down to open the safe when the study door opened again.
"Get out. I said I don't have time." I snapped without looking up.
"Seeing you is harder than anything." A cold female voice rang out.
I jerked my head up. Evelyn stood by the door in a thin cardigan, her face pale.
I didn't stop working the combination lock. "I have a lot on my plate. What do you want?"
"My father's whereabouts." Evelyn walked into the study and closed the door behind her. "You promised you'd help me look. What's the status?"
This was exactly what I didn't want to face tonight.
The truth was, leads on Richard were drying up. Every trail we chased went cold. The last sighting of someone matching Richard's description was a week ago. After that, nothing.
But I couldn't tell her that.
I pulled a yellow manila envelope from the safe. "I've got some leads. They point to an abandoned dock in Brooklyn. I'm having the area swept."
Evelyn didn't look happy. She marched over to my desk and blocked my view, her chest heaving with emotion.
"And what about Julian? It's been a week. When are you bringing that lunatic back?" Evelyn locked eyes with me. "How much longer is Caroline staying in this house? I can't live under the same roof as that woman."
I looked up at her. My head was full of bloody leads, gang warfare crises, and internal betrayals ready to explode any second. My nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Hearing her come to my study to complain about petty household drama made me exhausted.
God. Caroline and I had been divorced for ages. Evelyn getting jealous right now was completely unnecessary.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my aching temples. I tried to slow my tone, forcing myself to be patient.
"Evelyn, listen. Julian's out there causing chaos with no sense. People want him dead. Caroline's his mother—of course she's worried. This is the most reasonable arrangement right now."
Evelyn's expression froze. Her eyes went ice cold. She stared straight at me and delivered an ultimatum without hesitation.
"If Caroline's not leaving, then I am. I'm walking out of this hellhole right now."