The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 502

Evelyn said nothing. She gazed out the window. The sky had already grown dark, and the garden lights were glowing, casting a silver sheen over the fountain.

Suddenly, the door burst open. No knock.

"Evelyn!"

Madeline stood in the doorway, phone in hand, her cheeks flushed from rushing back inside. She saw Sebastian, the scattered files blanketing the desk, and the glowing laptop screen. She froze, her eyes going wide.

"What... are you guys doing?"

Sebastian moved swiftly. He slammed the laptop shut, swept the loose documents together, and shoved them back into the folder. But Madeline's eyes had already caught a glimpse.

"Julian St. Claire?" She had spotted the name peeking out of the folder. "Are you guys investigating him?"

The study fell into a one-second silence. Evelyn exchanged a glance with Sebastian, who remained stone-faced. Evelyn turned her attention back to Madeline, her voice perfectly even.

"We aren't investigating him. We're collaborating."

Madeline blinked in surprise. "Collaborating? But didn't you turn him down? You said before there was nothing to collaborate on."

Evelyn leaned back in her chair. "At the time, there wasn't. Now, there is."

Madeline opened her mouth to press further, but thought better of it and swallowed her questions. She stepped into the room, sitting across from Evelyn, her eyes scanning the empty desk. Sebastian had already stashed everything out of sight. She saw nothing.

"What exactly are you collaborating on?" she asked.

Evelyn met her gaze. "Legal matters. Nothing related to your work."

Madeline let out a soft "Oh," dropping the subject. Her expression was conflicted, looking as though she was dying to ask more but didn't dare, as if she knew something she was pretending not to know. She looked down, twisting the hem of her shirt nervously, letting it go, then twisting it again.

"Evelyn, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Evelyn looked at her. "Go ahead."

Madeline bit her lip. "The firm back home keeps asking when I'm returning. I've been here for almost a month now, and I've already handed off all my cases. If I drag this out any longer..." She paused, her voice dropping to a whisper. "They're asking if I plan on quitting."

Evelyn leaned back in her chair, watching her silently.

Madeline looked up, meeting her eyes. "Evelyn, I've learned so much here. Seriously, I've learned more in a few weeks than I did in three years at my old firm. Whenever Philippe Beaumont or his team discuss a case, it takes me half the day just to process it. The corporate structuring for multinational mergers, the aggressive tax planning strategies—I've only ever read about those concepts in textbooks. Now I actually get to watch them execute it, sit in on discussions, ask questions..." Her eyes sparkled with excitement before dimming again. "I don't want to go back."

Evelyn tapped her fingers lightly against the edge of the desk. "You want to stay in France?"