Chapter 286

Regal Capital.

The night air was crisp as Evelyn Sinclair sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, freshly showered.

She rested her chin on her knees, gazing at the dim streetlights below. Only vague silhouettes moved in the darkness.

The heater remained off despite the chill.

Her thin cotton pajamas provided little warmth, but the cold helped numb her thoughts...

The apartment hadn't changed, yet it felt hollow without her twins' laughter. The very air tasted bitter with loneliness.

Olivia's unknown fate, her missing children, Dominic's sudden coldness - it all crashed down on her. She buried her face deeper into her knees.

Outside the complex, Dominic Blackwood cursed as his calls went unanswered again.

He'd checked all possible locations - Robert's old house where Gwendolyn stayed alone, Evelyn's grandfather's new rental, even her few work friends' places.

His gut told him she'd be here, in this neglected apartment she'd abandoned after that neighbor dispute. The lease hadn't expired yet.

The security gate mocked him with its card reader. Rarely visiting meant no access card.

Twenty freezing minutes passed. Cigarette butts piled in the trash bin. No residents entered Building 12.

His patience snapped.

The architectural designer in him assessed the aging structure. Rusted pipes. Narrow balconies. Child's play.

One final drag. He flicked the cigarette away.

Calloused hands gripped the weathered water pipe. Testing his weight, the metal groaned but held.

With feline grace, he scaled the wall using crumbling indentations as footholds. His black coat billowed like a villain's cape against the moonlight.

Second floor. Third. Fourth.

Unit 509 should be the fourth window east.

Perched outside what he believed was her window, he frowned. No anti-theft bars. The half-open window concerned him - any intruder could enter.

He pushed it fully open and slipped inside.

Chaos assaulted his senses.

This couldn't be Evelyn's place. The usually meticulous woman would never tolerate this filth - moldy takeout containers, unwashed dishes piled on dirty laundry, a stench that made his stomach churn.

Wrong apartment.

As he turned to leave, the bathroom door creaked open.

A mountainous woman emerged, flesh jiggling beneath damp pajamas. Her shriek could shatter glass. "INTRUDER! RAPIST!"

Dominic calculated the unit numbers. This had to be 506.

"Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you," he growled, the threat dripping from his voice like venom.

The woman froze, then blinked at his sculpted features. Her anger melted into simpering admiration. "Oh my...you're like those underwear models!"

"Unit 509. Where is it?" he demanded.

"Three windows to the right, handsome. Maybe you'd like my number first—"

He was already climbing out.

"Wait! I'm untouched! Come back!" she wailed, leaning dangerously out the window.

Dominic nearly lost his grip. Spotting a potted cactus on 507's balcony, he snapped off a spine-covered segment and hurled it.

A satisfying thunk. Silence.

Finally reaching 509, he exhaled. First time breaking into a building, first time encountering such lunacy.

The locked window surprised him. Evelyn always left it open.

His knuckles rapped against the glass. "Evelyn. Open up."