When Oscar’s face finally appeared on her laptop screen, Evelyn was met with his signature wide-eyed look of horror.
As if he had just realized someone had discovered his true identity as one of the most powerful hackers in the world.
"Eve?"
His voice slightly rose.
"It’s midnight. Why are you calling me? Don’t tell me you’re drunk...wait, no, you don’t drink. Then what is it? Did you want to add fire to that old bastard news?"
Evelyn let out a soft laugh despite her heavy chest.
Of course, Oscar had to dramatize everything.
"No fires. Not tonight."
He leaned in closer to the camera, squinting at her.
"Midnight. Dark circles. Hair messy. The face looks... hmm, not exactly radiant. Yes, this is definitely an emergency. Oh, no way! Did you finally have a cat fight with Axel Knight?"
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
"Stop analyzing me..." Evelyn pressed her lips together, choosing her words carefully. "I need you to do something. This can’t wait."
Oscar’s frown deepened.
"Oh, don’t tell me you want me to hype up that bald old minister again? Eve, my patience with wrinkly scandals is running thin. I feel like I wanted to vomit while digging into the information about him. He is trash!"
"It’s not about him," she said softly, concerned someone might overhear. "It’s about my stepmother."
That got Oscar’s attention.
He straightened in his chair, "Ah... Alicia Walters. Well, well, this is new. Do go on."
Evelyn inhaled slowly, as if she could breathe away the ache pressing against her ribcage.
"I think she was the one behind William Walters’ decision to throw me out of the family."
Oscar stilled. Then, slowly, a wicked grin tugged at his lips.
"Wait. Hold on. You’re telling me the saintly Alicia... the woman who practically built her brand on homemade cookies and charity galas, stabbed you in the back?"
"Yes. You describe it perfectly!"
Evelyn’s tone was firmer now, though her hands trembled in her lap.
"Think about it. After I left, she forced my little sister, Stella, into the company. That was never her interest. I know that for sure. And she also knows that. Stella has always been interested in health and medicine and wanted to be a doctor." She paused to take a breath.
"Back then, Alicia even acknowledged Stella’s interest and encouraged Stella to pursue medicine, not business. But, suddenly, she’s clawing her way into the Walters Group like a cat after a king Salmon? Something doesn’t add up."
Oscar let out a low whistle. His fingers danced over the keys, the clack-clack of them sounds like a war drum.
"Scandalous. I love it. Betrayal, greed, twisted ambition... this is straight out of a soap opera. Damn it, Eve! Why does your life seem similar to those in Korean dramas? No. I mean, Chinese Drama?"
"Don’t make jokes, Oscar." Evelyn sighs silently. "This isn’t a script. She raised me. She was kind. She was... different."
She had praised Alicia countless times, defended her even when society rolled its eyes at the cliché of "sweet stepmothers." Alicia had once been her safe place.
And, if that was gone... she didn’t know how heartbroken she would be.
Oscar paused long enough to glance at her through the camera, his voice softening.
"Don’t worry, Eve. We’ll know soon. Truth has a way of slipping out, even when people bury it."
Evelyn sighed, brushing her hair back from her face.
She hated that her chest still ached with the possibility of betrayal. She forced herself to straighten, meeting his gaze through the pixelated screen.
"Fine. But there’s something else. Another woman. Lana Scott. She is now the CFO at Walters Group. I don’t trust her."
Oscar didn’t even look surprised.
"Of course you don’t. CFOs are either saints or demons. There’s no middle ground. Which is she?"
"She despises Stella." Evelyn’s hands clench. "And she’s the one who arranged that meeting with Lewis Harrison. You know what that means."
The sound of typing filled the air again, quick and sharp.
Oscar’s face was half-lit by the glow of his screen, the kind of look that would terrify any poor soul on the receiving end of his research.
Evelyn waited, her heartbeat rising.
And then it happened.
"What the fucking hell!" Oscar’s shriek pierced the air. He slapped the desk so hard his camera wobbled.
Evelyn jumped, her hands flying to her chest.
"What? What is it? Did you find something?" Her heart pounded so violently she thought Axel might hear it all the way from his shower.
She prayed, silently, that Alicia wasn’t guilty, that she hadn’t been wrong to love her stepmother all these years.
Oscar’s expression was somewhere between horror and glee, like a child discovering Santa had a criminal record.
He leaned so close to the camera that Evelyn could see the reflection of his monitor in his glasses.
"Eve... this is insane. You’re not going to believe what I just pieced together."
Her pulse races.
"Well? Spit it out, Oscar. The suspense is killing me."
He ran a hand through his hair, almost laughing, but not from humor.
"Okay. Okay... Brace yourself, my friend... Ugh, well, Alicia, William Walters, and Lana Scott... they’re all tangled up. But not in the way we thought."
Evelyn blinked, trying to read his tone.
"What do you mean?"
Oscar exhaled sharply, leaning back like he needed space from his own discovery.
"Alicia’s been fighting tooth and nail to keep Stella on the board, right? You assumed it was ambition. Wrong. It wasn’t about ambition; it was about fear. Because Alicia knows her dear husband, William Walters, has been in a long-term, very illicit relationship with none other than Lana Scott."
The words struck Evelyn like a blow. Her mouth went dry.
"W-WHAT...? WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"Hold on... Don’t be too panicked, my friend."
Oscar laughed.
Evelyn glared.
"Hurry! Spill it out!"
"And that’s not even the juiciest part." Oscar’s eyes narrowed. "Lana has a son. He’s eleven now. Do the math... William is the father. Alicia has been known for years. That’s why she forced Stella to replace you at the company. She fears that Lana might use her son as a tool to take complete control of the Walters Group."
Evelyn pressed her fingers to her temples, shaking her head.
She can’t believe what she just heard. Her father. Her stepmother. Lana. All this time?
"No. That’s... that’s insane. My father...William Walters... he would never betray Alicia."
"Oh, he would," Oscar said grimly.