Second Chance His Unending Love (Calista Hartwell) novel Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Calista’s fingers tightened around her phone, her mouth suddenly going dry.

It was just an emoji. Everyone used them. It didn’t mean anything special.

But before she could settle the flutter in her chest, another message from Evander popped up-this time, a photo.

She tapped the screen.

The image showed Evander at the head of a long conference table, captured in a three-quarter profile. His features were strikingly handsome.

Dressed in a crisp formal uniform, he held a pen lightly, reviewing a document under the bright lights of the meeting room.

In that moment, he looked every bit the brilliant, commanding officer-composed and quietly luminous.

Algost without thinking, Calista zoomed in. Her fingertip

< Chapter 129

hovered over the curve of his jawline, the intensity in his

eyes.

How had she never noticed how arresting he looked before?

Seriously. What was the point of sending a photo out of the blue? Just to respond to her emoji?

Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the photo vanished from the chat.

Two new messages replaced it.

Evander said: [My hand slipped.]

[Sent to the wrong chat. That was for the work group—a meeting photo.]

Oh. So he’d made the same clumsy mistake she had.

A wave of relief washed over her, mixed with a faint, lingering disappointment.

At least he hadn’t noticed her own awkward emoji slip. Still, Calista couldn’t help feeling a little cheated as she:00

< Chapter 129

stared at the “This message has been deleted” notice.

Hugging her phone to her chest, she let out a soft sigh.

*****

ร

In a secure conference room at a base outside New York, Evander sat calmly at the head of the table, reviewing a stack of documents.

The room was full of personnel, yet so quiet that one could hear the rustle of turning pages.

Connor approached quietly and leaned in. “Commander Hayes, should we continue with the photos?”

He was genuinely confused.

Usually, Evander avoided the spotlight-declining press interviews and dodging group photos whenever possible. But today, he’d specifically requested pictures from this meeting.

Connor had mentioned the recordings would be shared in the work group anyway, but Evander insisted, even. directing the angles and making him retake shop after 6:00

16:00

A

< Chapter 129

shot.

Evander gave a slight wave of his hand. “That’s enough.”

As he put his phone away, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.

Connor couldn’t resist. “Sir, weren’t you planning to send those to the work group? They still haven’t been posted.”

The smile vanished. Evander shot him a cool look. “None of your business.”

Speechless, Connor held his tongue.

Then why make him take three hundred sixty degrees of Evander’s best angles?

Truth was, Evander was just showing off-sending a handsome photo to Calista.

Evander’s expression smoothed back into its usual

detached composure. He scanned the room, his voice calm yet carrying undeniable authority.

“All right, listen up. Here’s the plan.”

1 16:00

< Chapter 129

The moment he spoke, every head lifted.

The room grew even quieter, if that were possible, filled only by Evander’s steady, commanding tone as he began to speak.

*****

At the hospital, propped against his pillows, Austin shifted, the weight of the cast on his right leg a constant, dull reminder.

Boredom had long since set in, sharpened now by a gnawing hunger that told him lunchtime was near. A chess strategy book lay open in his lap, but the diagrams blurred together, failing to hold his attention.

His gaze drifted to Nicole, curled in the visitor’s chair, utterly absorbed in her mobile game. Tinny sound effects and her occasional muttered curses punctuated the

silence.

“Nicole, could you run across the street to that Italian deli? I’m starving for some of their cheese ravioli,” Austin began, a note of hopeful expectation in his voice.

5/9

| 16:01

< Chapter 129

Silence. Her thumbs continued their swift dance across the screen. “Nicole?” he called again, louder.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Just let me finish this round,” she answered without looking up, her focus unbroken.

With a sigh, Austin picked up his book again, resigning himself to the wait.

Twenty minutes later, a triumphant chime finally signaled the end of her game. Stretching, Nicole stood and gave Austin’s hair a quick, absent-minded ruffle. “Alright, I’m off.”

She left without hurry, her care for him a practiced performance. It stood in stark contrast to the genuine diligence she reserved for Killian.

In the intricate hierarchy of the Frost family, she understood precisely where true influence resided.

Her patience with Austin was a calculated courtesy, extended solely for his father’s sake-a transaction of pleasantries.

6/9

L 16:01

< Chapter 129

As Nicole stepped outside, her phone buzzed.

A text from her contact confirmed the meeting at the nearby park to hand over the requested documents.

Without hesitation, Nicole hailed a cab.

The exchange in the quiet, leafy park was brief. The folder she received was satisfyingly thick.

Inside lay the results of a deep background check on Lucas, tracing his lineage back to his biological parents.

It was thorough—-names, addresses, recent photographs. Everything required to dismantle his carefully constructed life now rested in her hands.

A slow, satisfied smile touched her lips.

With this leverage, Lucas’s cooperation was all but guaranteed.

The lucrative South Suburb development project would soon fall to the Frost Group, and she would be the one to

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify