"What’s that supposed to an?" Evelyn asked, a little confused.
Dylan chuckled, straightening his tie.
"Let’s just say, when it cos to you, he forgets he’s supposed to be cautious and maintain a safe distance given your close-quarter combat and fighting skills."
Evelyn laughed softly.
"I’ll take that as a complint."
"You should, you earn it," Dylan said, smiling before giving a polite nod. "Enjoy shopping, Mrs. Knight."
After he left, Evelyn sat back on the sofa, and curiosity filled her mind again.
She tapped the iPad’s screen and opened the catalogue.
Her jaw nearly dropped.
The interface looked like an exclusive online mall.
Every famous brand she knew, and many she couldn’t afford to look at before, was there.
Jewelry, clothes, handbags, perfus, watches, and even private spa packages.
Everything scread luxury.
"My goodness... this is dangerous," she muttered, scrolling through the options. "He really shouldn’t trust with this."
Still, she couldn’t resist exploring.
The layout was simple, elegant, and surprisingly fun to browse.
She spotted a section dedicated entirely to Apex’s in-house designers and another filled with limited-edition products.
Evelyn found herself smiling when she saw a collection of watches.
"Hmm... perhaps this is for Axel," she mused, but quickly dismissed the idea, considering he already had nurous luxury-brand watches, including limited editions.
She scrolled deeper into the catalogue, checking various models: sleek black designs, handcrafted leather straps, chanical displays.
Evelyn wanted to surprise him with sothing personal, perhaps a custom-made piece that would remind him of her every ti he wore it.
As she was about to tap on a pair of elegant silver cufflinks on the iPad screen, her phone suddenly vibrated inside her bag.
Startled, she quickly reached for it.
The screen lit up with a notification. A text ssage from an unfamiliar number.
"Spam?" she muttered. But then she rembered, Oscar had already set up a security filter for her phone. It would automatically block spam and suspicious ssages.
She paused for a mont, curious and eager, then gently opened the ssage.
The mont she read the first line, her fingers went weak. Her phone almost slipped from her hand.
"Hi, Evelyn... sorry if I contacted you like this. I’m Amanda Knight, Axel’s mother."
Evelyn froze.
Her eyes widened, and for a mont, she thought maybe she had read it wrong. But no, the na didn’t change.
Amanda Knight. Axel’s mother.
"Wait... what?" she whispered under her breath, staring at the screen as if the text might vanish. "Why would she text ? Did Axel give her my number?"
She looked around the office nervously, as though Amanda might suddenly appear out of thin air. Her heart started racing.
Should she reply?
Ignore it?
Or, pretend she never saw it?
Before she could decide, her phone vibrated again. Another ssage appeared.
"I got your number from Eleanor. Please don’t bla her. I actually forced her to give it to ."
And then—
"Can we et now, Evelyn?"
Evelyn’s jaw ford an O shape slightly. Her throat went dry.
"et? Now? Is she serious?" she muttered to herself, clutching her phone tightly.
She stared at the ssages for a long mont before finally placing the phone on the coffee table and resting her back against the sofa.
Her pulse wouldn’t slow down.
Her mind was a chaotic mix of thoughts.
’Axel’s mother? Why would she want to et ? Why did she contact directly? Did she know about as Evelyn Walters? Did she know about Oliver? Oh God... what if she hates ? What if she wants to warn to stay away from Axel?’
Her hands were cold. She rubbed them together nervously, trying to calm herself down.
’No, Evelyn. Calm down. Maybe she just wants to talk. Maybe she’s nice. Or maybe it’s a scam. Yes... maybe it’s not even her!’
That last thought gave her a bit of hope.
Yes, that made more sense.
It could be soone pretending to be Amanda Knight.
Still, the ssages felt... personal.
She bit her lower lip, torn between replying and deleting the ssage altogether.
Finally, she grabbed her phone again and decided to call Oscar. If anyone could confirm the number, it was him.
After a few seconds, his sleepy voice ca through the line. "Eve? Do you know what ti it is here?"
Evelyn frowned. "Oh, right. Are you in Astington?"
"Yes, and it’s three in the morning," he said groggily. "Please tell this is life or death."
"It might be," Evelyn whispered, pacing across the room.
"Okay. I’m listening. What happened?" Oscar’s husky voice sounds serious.
"I just got a text," she said carefully. "From a number I don’t recognize. It says it’s from... Amanda Knight."
There was a pause.
Then Oscar burst out laughing. "Wow. You an your mother-in-law? The one who could buy a country to build a rose garden?"
"Yes! That one!" Evelyn hissed. "Stop laughing! I’m serious."
"Relax, I’m not laughing at you," Oscar said between chuckles. "I’m laughing because... well, that’s unexpected. Alright, give the number. I’ll check it."
Evelyn read it out while pacing anxiously in front of the glass wall.
There was a brief silence on the line. She could hear Oscar typing rapidly.
After about half a minute, he said, "Okay, got it. Yeah, that’s her. That number is registered under Amanda Knight’s private line. It’s real."
Evelyn froze mid-step.
"So it’s really her?"
"Yep. No scamr’s that bold. Though if soone tried pretending to be her, they either had to be so smart and have nerves of steel or be so stupid they no longer valued their lives," he joked lightly.
She sighed, sinking back onto the sofa.
"Great. Just great. Why would she text out of thin air?"
"Did she say what she wanted?"
"She said she got my number from Eleanor, Axel’s Grandma... and that she wants to et . Today. Now."
"Oh." Oscar sounded thoughtful. "Well... that’s... big."
"You think?" Evelyn said dryly. "I haven’t even talked with Axel about his parents yet! And now his mother is texting like we’re long-lost friends."
Oscar chuckled softly.
"To be fair, this day was bound to co. The Walters and Knights aren’t exactly... brunch buddies. Your marriage being a secret doesn’t help either."
"I know," she murmured. "I just... I don’t know what to do. What if she doesn’t like ?"
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