Chapter 176

"Good heavens! Isn't that Victor Langley?"

A female intern nudged Evelyn's elbow while sipping her soup at the adjacent table.

She blinked rapidly, lifting her gaze in disbelief to confirm with her colleagues.

One colleague spun around and gasped. "It really is Victor Langley..."

The entire cafeteria buzzed with whispers about the celebrity lawyer's unexpected appearance.

At a nearby table, a starstruck woman discreetly snapped photos with her phone. "He was voted Sexiest Man in Glasses last year," she gushed. "Even more handsome in person."

The cafeteria hummed with subdued excitement.

Evelyn found Victor's legal explanations remarkably clear and insightful.

That fateful evening when Maxwell forced her into marriage at the subway station, she'd thought nothing could shock her anymore.

After all, she'd survived selling her body for her father's medical bills. What was one more indignity?

Sometimes Evelyn wondered if she'd committed atrocities in a past life to deserve such suffering.

But she'd endure. She always did.

The moment she'd signed that marriage certificate, Evelyn had resolved to file for divorce at dawn.

Yet her grandfather's illness kept delaying her plans.

Unbeknownst to her, Dominic had already secured the finest divorce attorney in the city.

Victor, surprisingly down-to-earth, joined Evelyn for lunch in the staff cafeteria while discussing her case between bites.

"How soon can I be free of him?" Evelyn pushed aside her untouched lemonade.

"The roasted vegetables here are excellent," Victor remarked casually. "No divorce is impossible in my experience, though the court requires due process."

He took a sip of water. "With no children or shared assets, this should be straightforward. An out-of-court settlement would save time."

Evelyn nodded in understanding.

After lunch, Victor called Dominic before leaving.

Out of courtesy, Evelyn escorted him to the elevator, standing diagonally across as it descended.

Victor chuckled into the phone. "What's this sudden philanthropy, Mr. Blackwood? Worried your employee can't afford my fees?"

The elevator stopped at the tenth floor.

Evelyn couldn't hear Dominic's response, but Victor's teasing reply made her cheeks burn. "Honestly, you're more invested in this divorce than the actual wife."

Perhaps she should have let Dominic take her grandfather that day.

The secure accommodation would have prevented Maxwell's kidnapping scheme.

Now Dominic was being accused of wife-stealing, albeit jokingly between friends.

Evelyn bid Victor farewell in the parking garage, her mind racing as the elevator doors closed behind him.

Back in the design department, Yvette's presence immediately soured the atmosphere.

Evelyn ignored her, focusing on work. The faster she finished, the sooner she could visit her father.

Yvette, who'd arrived with her mother after lunch, enjoyed privileges no junior intern deserved.

"I heard you lunched with Victor Langley," Yvette sneered, spinning in her chair. "You certainly know how to climb the social ladder."

Evelyn met her gaze evenly.

Before Yvette could continue, colleagues returned from lunch, including Abigail and Olivia chatting animatedly.

At three o'clock, Yvette's phone rang through the quiet office.

"Darling, what's wrong?" she cooed, affecting a sickeningly sweet tone.

The entire department froze.

"You beast!" Yvette giggled. "Such a gentleman in public, such a rogue in private. Don't worry, your employees won't laugh."

Olivia shot Evelyn an incredulous look.

Though Evelyn kept her head down, the subtle tension in her shoulders betrayed her discomfort.

"I swear you only want me for my youth!" Yvette pouted before dramatically ending the call.

Olivia rolled her eyes. Was their powerful CEO really just another man enslaved by a pretty face?

Yvette was only nineteen - all baby talk and calculated flirtation.

The entire office, Evelyn included, likely shared Olivia's disgusted realization.