Chapter 255

Evelyn's grip on her phone tightened. She didn't want to trouble Ethan, nor did she wish to owe him any favors.

The automated voice informed her his phone was switched off. He must have already boarded his flight home.

As she pocketed her phone, Zoe's call came through.

"Evelyn, don't come back!" Zoe's voice was tense. "There's a mob outside the villa. The door's covered in rotten vegetables and eggs. Someone even left chrysanthemums on the ground—"

Evelyn's chest constricted. "Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I'm in my car, unnoticed. I'm heading to a hotel for a few days. Want to join me?"

"I have another place." Evelyn's mind raced. "Stay safe."

After hanging up, she pulled up the villa's security feed. A dozen angry faces screamed obscenities at the gates. One man brandished a metal pipe.

Her lips curled coldly. She zoomed in, screenshotting the footage, then dialed the police.

Officers dispersed the crowd swiftly. Yet within minutes, an online post taunted: Evelyn Sullivan only knows how to hide behind the cops. We'll be back!

Evelyn forwarded the images to a contact with a black avatar: Find these people.

As she parked at Grand View, her phone buzzed. The investigator, Barley, had sent his findings.

The moment she opened the car door, the hairs on her neck stood up—a survival instinct honed through years of training.

The silence was unnatural. Evelyn quickened her steps toward the villa but froze at the threshold.

The faint scent of gasoline hung in the air.

She whirled around and sprinted. The explosion tore through the night, the blast wave slamming her to the ground. A wooden plank struck her back.

Darkness swallowed her as flames engulfed the sky.

——

White hospital ceilings greeted her when she awoke.

"Finally awake?"

The hoarse voice made her turn. Ethan's usually immaculate suit was wrinkled, his jaw shadowed with stubble. Bloodshot eyes met hers.

She tried to speak, but her throat burned.

Only after the doctor's examination did Ethan's shoulders relax slightly. As Evelyn attempted to sit up, a glass of water appeared in front of her, held by his long fingers.

"How long was I out?" she rasped.

"A full day." His voice was gravelly. "Do you have any idea—"

"Your business trip—"

"Evelyn!" He erupted, his grip on the glass turning his knuckles white. "You nearly died in that explosion, and you're asking about business?"

His eyes were terrifyingly red.