Chapter 383
The phone screen lit up with a sharp chime.
Bianca Savigny was carrying a steaming plate of sweet and sour ribs when she noticed Evelyn Roland frowning at her phone.
"Master, spam message?"
"It's from Alice."
Evelyn's fingers swiped across the screen, but the fragmented signal only displayed half the text.
"I'll fetch Theodore."
Bianca set down the tray and turned to leave.
"Wait." Evelyn stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Stay with Sebastian. I'll handle this."
Her apprentice pouted like a petulant child.
"Leaving me behind again..."
Evelyn was already striding out of Château Blanc, kicking up dust as her black SUV roared to life.
The Flores family's cottage stood silent.
The moment Evelyn pushed open the door, a small blur crashed into her.
"Sister!"
Little Nina gazed up with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes.
"Here." Evelyn produced a lollipop like a magician. "Where's your mother?"
"Miss Roland!"
Alice emerged from the inner room, wringing her apron.
As the story unfolded, a glacial glint flashed in Evelyn's eyes.
"Isabella Langley..."
The name clung like chewed gum to the sole of her shoe.
"Will Nina need to testify?" Alice asked nervously.
Evelyn's sudden smile sent chills down the woman's spine.
"No children involved." Evelyn rolled up her sleeves with deliberate calm. "But we do require a small favor."
Nina bounced on her toes. "I want to help too!"
"Next time, I'll take you to Disneyland."
Thirty minutes later, at the gates of Westminster Abbey.
Whispers floated among the pilgrims:
"That adopted daughter of the Rolands..."
"Seduced the abbot..."
Evelyn adjusted her baseball cap and gave Alice a meaningful look.
"My legs won't stop shaking," Alice stammered.
"Deep breaths."
A gray-robed monk emerged from behind a pillar, prayer beads glinting softly in the sunlight.
"Master Xingyun!"
Alice rushed toward him like a drowning woman grasping at driftwood.
The old abbot's gaze slid past her, locking onto the shadowed figure.
"And this is...?"
"My cousin!" Alice blurted. "She's... allergic to pollen!"
Master Xingyun's fingers stilled on his beads.
A mountain wind swirled dead leaves across the stone steps.