Chapter 19

Evelyn Roland met Sebastian Valdemar's piercing gaze head-on, her crimson lips curling into a smirk as a flicker of mockery flashed in her eyes.

"Any more instructions, Mr. Valdemar?"

Her fingertips tapped lightly against the desk. "Or should I book you an appointment with a psychiatrist?"

After witnessing his performance at the Roland family gathering, this man had plummeted to the bottom of her esteem. Using marriage as a bargaining chip? Dream on.

Sebastian didn't take offense. Instead, he chuckled, amusement glinting in his gaze.

"Miss Roland seems to have quite the opinion of me."

"Aside from our initial misunderstanding, have I wronged you in any way?"

Because your skills are pathetic.

She rolled her eyes internally but maintained a neutral expression. "You're overthinking it, Mr. Valdemar. I'm just an ordinary employee."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed abruptly.

Those eyes were too familiar.

Even more so than when they'd first met.

His mind flashed to the woman who'd tossed three coins at him before fleeing like a thief.

That childish, utterly insulting act fit this woman's style perfectly.

"Had your fill of staring?"

Evelyn made a show of preparing to leave.

Sebastian slid a signed form across the table, filled with records of rejected design drafts.

She scrawled her signature carelessly, yet the strokes were unexpectedly neat.

Sebastian's pupils constricted.

That handwriting...

The "evidence" still lay in his desk drawer.

"Le Bar du Ritz."

Evelyn's steps faltered.

Sebastian closed the distance between them, holding the signed form between his fingers. "Care to explain?"

"The woman on the third floor that night was you."

It wasn't a question.

Evelyn's heartbeat skipped, but her expression remained unreadable.

"I went to the bar, but I left soon after."

"Left?" Sebastian sneered.

He seized her wrist abruptly. "How long did you think you could run?"

Evelyn gritted her teeth.

This bastard has a grip like steel.

"Let go."

She couldn't risk revealing her skills and struggled in vain to break free.

Sebastian's gaze dropped. "There's a simple way to confirm."

His eyes locked onto her waist.

A secret lay hidden there.