Chapter 719

Bennett understood Evelyn's meaning immediately and gave a solemn nod.

"Understood. That situation earlier was too intense. Do you want to rest first? Or should we head back to the office? I can handle things here."

Evelyn shook her head without hesitation. "No, I'm staying. Get Jonathan Reeves to clean this up properly."

Bennett knew Evelyn's temperament well. She hadn't even flinched during the earlier danger—she wasn't about to retreat now.

With that in mind, he nodded and left, discreetly arranging additional security around her.

Jonathan had been given only four hours and didn’t dare waste a second. He gathered his team and the third-party auditors, heading straight to the relevant departments to comb through the accounts.

When the discrepancies surfaced, the numbers were staggering.

Without delay, Jonathan called Evelyn to report.

She was on the balcony, sipping lemonade between yoga poses. As she answered, her gaze flicked downstairs—Nathan was already here. Her brow furrowed.

"Ms. Sinclair," Jonathan said over the phone, "the total losses on this project exceed 8.7 billion. Most of it was funneled to Lawrence Sinclair and his associates. The construction company they hired is owned by Lawrence’s brother-in-law."

He paused. "There were several fatal accidents on-site, but they paid out less than a million in compensation. I think this was never about selling the project—just extortion."

Selling would’ve been a one-time payout. Keeping it meant continuous exploitation.

Evelyn had suspected as much. That was why she hadn’t just thrown money at Leonard Whitmore.

This project was a black hole. If they were willing to sacrifice lives for profit, no amount of money would stop them.

She wanted this resolved cleanly—which meant ripping out the corruption by the roots.

After a brief silence, she spoke. "Send the audit findings to Mr. Whitmore. Let him deal with it. And get me a copy."

That meant no digital transmission.

Jonathan caught on immediately. "Understood. I’ll have a courier deliver the flash drive within the hour."

Evelyn hung up, finishing her yoga routine before packing up her mat.

The doorbell rang.

Nathan had arrived.

She opened the door, unsurprised—but the sight of what he carried made her freeze.

Nathan stood there, arms laden with two massive grocery bags, clearly fresh from the supermarket.

He strode past her into the apartment with effortless ease. Evelyn crossed her arms, eyebrows arched.

"Mr. Blackwood, that’s enough food to feed an army. Do you even know how to cook any of it?"

Nathan’s smile was infuriatingly confident. He rolled up his sleeves as he headed for the kitchen. "I bought a cookbook."

Evelyn nearly groaned. Fine. He did save my life earlier. If it’s terrible, I’ll just pretend to eat.

The usual cold edge in Nathan’s demeanor had softened, making him almost… pleasant.

Almost.

Then she watched him unpack measuring cups, a digital scale, and a thick cookbook.

Her eyes widened as he pulled out a ruler to measure the thickness of carrot slices.

Oh god. He’s turning into Donovan.

She couldn’t take it. Snatching up her phone, she retreated to the bedroom.

Since when did Nathan and my brother share this… precision obsession? Is this a STEM thing? What even is my life right now?

She settled at her laptop, answering emails. Less than ten minutes later—

BANG.

Evelyn bolted upright. Smoke billowed from the kitchen.

Nathan emerged, face smudged with soot, expression thunderous.

She stared.

"Nathan Blackwood. Did you just blow up my kitchen?"