Natalia's heartbeat crashed violently against her ribs, each thud echoing in her ears.
She exited the web account without hesitation, the screen dimming as she logged out.
Now that she had stepped inside Evans Manor, the identity of Lia didn't serve a purpose, at least for the moment.
Right now, only one objective mattered, finding the missing top-secret document.
The following morning arrived quietly.
James rushed into the dining room, barely containing the excitement written all over his face. "Christopher, Lia was online last night!"
At the announcement, Christopher paused mid-motion, fingers still wrapped around a cup of warm water.
After a brief pause, James continued, his enthusiasm dimming, "But she never replied to any of my messages. She vanished again after only a few minutes."
Christopher placed the cup down carefully and answered in an even tone, "Keep trying."
Despite his calm reply, his eyes drifted past James, landing quietly on a figure not far away, Natalia, moving with efficiency in the open kitchen.
She wore simple loungewear, her long hair loosely tied as she focused on preparing breakfast without distraction.
Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, settling gently across her form.
A flicker of contemplation surfaced briefly in Christopher's gaze.
The very day Natalia arrived, Lia, who had remained silent for three long years, suddenly resurfaced.
Was it merely a coincidence?
Once breakfast ended, Natalia dried her hands and finally spoke. "Mr. Evans, once I've completed my work, am I allowed to leave and return to the manor freely?"
Christopher lifted his gaze toward her, his unreadable expression offering no clues.
"Of course," he replied simply, without elaboration.
Natalia offered a brief word of thanks before turning and stepping out of the manor.
On the ground floor of a bustling cafe in Egonio's busiest commercial district, Natalia sat opposite a man in his early forties, his appearance so ordinary it would fade instantly once he merged into a crowd.
He was the contact dispatched by the organization, unremarkable by design.
The man slid a black travel bag beneath the table. "Everything you requested is inside," he said in a low voice.
Natalia nudged the bag lightly with her toe, recognizing the familiar weight and contours through the fabric.
Inside were several compact tools she knew as well as her own hands, along with one unmistakable object, cold, heavy, and unforgiving. A handgun.
Neither Christopher nor the rest of the Evans family was someone she could afford to underestimate. Only with these items within reach did she feel even the slightest sense of security.
Her thoughts drifted briefly to the card Christopher had given her, and she decided she might as well buy a few outfits later. At least then, he would have no excuse to criticize her again.
While she was lost in thought, a familiar voice cut in from behind.
"Natalia? You just finalized a divorce, and you're already meeting someone else?" Aimee approached arm in arm with Alexander, her movements polished and deliberate.
Her eyes flicked between Natalia and the middle-aged man, as though she had stumbled upon something scandalous. "You're certainly not wasting any time. But your standards have dropped, have they not? This is the kind of man you choose now?"
Every word carried unmistakable contempt.
Natalia did not dignify her with an answer. She merely glanced toward the man across from her.
He caught the signal instantly, rose from his seat, and left without hesitation.
Unwilling to let the moment pass, Aimee deliberately raised her voice. "Hey, do not rush off. If we are going to be family someday, should we not at least get acquainted?"
Alexander still remembered the slap from the day before, the phantom sting lingering on his cheek. Now that he saw Natalia cornered like this, his long-suppressed resentment finally surged to the surface.
A sneer twisted his lips. "Natalia, is this really the best you can manage now? When Aimee and I marry, she will bring the Gordon Group shares with her and step into my family with full status."
His gaze raked over Natalia, heavy with disdain and superiority. "I must have been blind to marry a useless country woman like you, someone who brings nothing to the table."
Shares?
A sharp thought flickered through Natalia's mind.
She remembered.
On the day she married three years ago, her grandmother had placed a document in her hands, explaining it had been left behind by her mother.
Back then, business meant nothing to her. She signed it without care and locked it away in the safe, never once revisiting it.
Her mother had died early, her father's identity forever unknown.
After her grandmother brought her back to the countryside, her mother's influence within the Gordon Group was steadily erased, while Melody Wallace and Cary Wallace, Aimee's parents, quietly took control.
That meant the shares her mother owned, along with the portion her grandmother intended for her, had long been claimed by the Wallace family.
A chill settled into Natalia's gaze.
What was hers would be taken back, slowly, deliberately, piece by piece.
