The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 452

The garden settled back into a peaceful silence. Sebastian finally sat down beside Evelyn and opened the insulated container, revealing a bowl of warm sweet compote. "It's still hot. Try some." His voice was still tight with residual adrenaline.

Evelyn took the bowl and scooped up a spoonful. The sweetness was perfect, the lotus seeds simmered down until they practically melted. She took a bite, then looked up at him. "Do you want some?"

Sebastian shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

Evelyn didn't push it and continued eating. After a couple of bites, she stopped and looked over at him. Her expression shifted into something much more serious. "You mentioned earlier that you looked into that woman. Did you find anything?"

Sebastian's demeanor shifted instantly. The frantic, nervous energy vanished, replaced entirely by a lethal, calculating focus. He sat up straighter, dropping his voice. "I did. Her name is Alissa Valois. There's no official entry record for her; she's traveling on a forged passport. The time she checked into the hotel was exactly twenty minutes after we left the estate." He pulled his phone from his pocket, swiped a few times, and held the screen out to her. "She's in a highly encrypted private group chat called 'The Sea of Stars.' Her handle is 'Mamba.'"

Evelyn took the phone, her eyes scanning the intel as her brow drew together in a faint frown. "This group..."

Sebastian took the phone back. "Everyone in that chat is a professional social climber targeting billionaires. They trade raw intel. Which old-money heir just touched down in Paris, which CEO is secretly filing for divorce, what specific type of woman a tech magnate prefers—it's all leveraged as currency. Some use it to land a ring. For others, the group's admin paves the way for them. Rumor has it the admin has serious backing. Anyone who has ever tried to leak the chat logs has simply vanished." His voice dropped even lower. "We threw enough cash at one of the members to get her to talk. But this is the extent of it. She was too terrified to dig any deeper."

Evelyn's finger paused against her bowl. "Vanished?"

Sebastian met her gaze and stayed quiet, but his eyes gave her the exact confirmation she needed.

Evelyn remained silent for a few seconds. "Who fed the intel to Mamba?"

Sebastian hesitated briefly. "The informant claims it was Lyra. Her handle in the group is 'The Starlight Dancer.'"

Evelyn's brow furrowed, but there was zero shock on her face. She picked up her glass of milk and took a slow sip, either digesting the information or mentally moving on to her next play.