The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot

The sun barely peeked through the large windows when Zevian descended the stairs, still fastening his tie. As he entered the hall, the silence from the drama from last night greeted him. He was surprised to find his mother, Rosalind, sitting alone on one of the plush sofas, a cup of tea in her hands. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Good morning, Zev." she greeted him softly, her eyes flickering to meet his. She didn’t need to say much—there was already a sense of understanding how her voice dropped, noticing his weary expression.

"Good morning," Zevian replied, though distracted. His gaze quickly scanned the room before landing back on her. "Where’s Kiana and Evelyn? I went to their room earlier but..." he trailed off, expecting to find them still around.

Rosalind smiled gently, shaking her head. "They left early this morning, dear. Avery was with them too." She sipped her tea. "Didn’t Evelyn inform you?"

Zevian clenched his jaw but didn’t reply immediately. He wasn’t exactly surprised by Evelyn’s coldness, but a sense of frustration bubbled within him. "I’ve got meetings lined up today," he said, brushing off the tension as he turned to leave.

Rosalind called out before he could go. "Zevian, handle the situation with Damien, will you?" Her tone carried the weight of a mother’s worry, one that could read into more than he wanted her to.

He nodded curtly. "I will," he assured, though in truth, there was no clear plan yet.

As Zevian stepped out, the cold breeze hit his face, a brief moment of relief before his phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the screen—Damien’s name flashing. With a sigh, he answered.

"I need to meet you," Damien’s voice came through, steady as usual. "There’s something urgent about Gracia’s case. I need some leads."

Zevian nodded, although Damien couldn’t see him. "Alright. Let’s meet at the dungeon." He didn’t bother asking why there, of all places. It was Damien’s fortress, a place where secrets were kept tightly under lock and key.

After hanging up, Zevian sent a quick message to Evelyn. Despite her cold response, she agreed to meet him there.

---

They arrived almost at the same time. The chill in the air did nothing to soften the tension between them. Evelyn, with her lips pressed into a firm line, walked beside Zevian toward the entrance of Damien’s dungeon, her heels clicking sharply against the pavement.

Inside, Damien was waiting, his dark eyes assessing them as they entered. The room had the same heavy air as the last time they had gathered there, with shadows pooling in the corners, only the dim lights casting a glow over the table.

With Damien stood another man, someone unfamiliar. His presence exuded authority and confidence, though he wore a disarmingly charming smile. Damien wasted no time with pleasantries.

"This is my brother-in-law, Lucius," Damien introduced, motioning to the man beside him. "He’s taking over while I shift things to Aracemia."

Evelyn’s expression shifted her anger from the previous night barely concealed. "Is this another one of your jokes?" she shot back, clearly not over what had happened.

But Damien raised a hand, cutting her off before she could continue. "Last night wasn’t a joke, Evelyn. And you’ll find out soon enough," he said calmly, much to her frustration. "But right now, I need to know—did you notice anything strange about Sophia last night?"

Evelyn frowned, the memories of last night flickering in her mind. "Now that you mention it..." she hesitated before continuing. "She was acting strange. She started panicking, arguing with Kiana over nothing, which isn’t like her at all. I... I have a feeling she might have had a hand in Gracia’s death."

Damien’s eyes narrowed, and Lucius stepped forward, his voice carrying a sharp edge of curiosity. "Can you tell us what exactly happened the night your mother died? Any detail, no matter how small."

Evelyn visibly tensed, her body recoiling slightly at the mention of that night. Her chest tightened, the familiar suffocating weight of trauma settling over her, making it hard to breathe. Zevian, standing beside her, immediately placed a hand on her back, gently soothing her.

"It’s okay," he whispered, leaning closer to her ear. "You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to."

But Evelyn shook her head. "No, it’s important," she muttered, her voice thick with emotion. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her coat as she gathered her thoughts. "It... it wasn’t just about ransom, was it?" She glanced at Zevian, her eyes glassy but determined. "It wasn’t just a mobster trying to get money from my father. I think... my mother’s death was planned."

Her voice trembled as she spoke, but she pushed through the fog of pain, recalling the details she had tried so hard to bury.

"I was waiting for my driver after school," she began slowly, "when suddenly... someone grabbed me. They pressed something over my mouth. I—I blacked out." Her voice broke for a moment, but she continued, feeling the weight of all eyes on her.

"When I woke up, I was tied to a chair. I could hear a man talking on the phone... he was telling my father that if he wanted me back, he’d better bring money."

She paused, trying to calm her racing heart. Zevian’s hand was still warm on her back, grounding her.

"A few hours later, my mother showed up. She had a bag of money with her, but she started arguing with the man. She was so close to freeing me, but then... then he shot her."

Evelyn’s voice cracked at the memory, the sound of the gunshot still haunting her after all these years. Zevian passed her a glass of water, and she took it gratefully, trying to calm her shaking hands.

Lucius listened intently, his face unreadable. When she finished, he asked gently, "Do you remember anything about the man? Any details that might help us?"

Evelyn nodded weakly. "He had a scar... right here." She traced a line from her right cheek down to the edge of her jaw. "That’s all I remember."

Lucius exchanged a glance with Damien before nodding to her. "That’s enough. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise."

Evelyn offered a small, grateful nod, but the weight of the past still hung heavily over her.

As Damien walked them out of the dungeon, Evelyn noticed John already waiting with Zevian’s car. But before they could part ways, John cleared his throat.

"Car’s punctured, sir. It’ll take a while to fix," John announced, not bothering to hide the sly smirk that followed.

Zevian sighed in irritation, but before he could respond, Evelyn spoke up. "I’ll drop you off," she offered, glancing at Zevian. "I’m heading in the same direction to meet a client with Avery."

Zevian hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

They climbed into her car, and the silence between them was almost unbearable as they pulled onto the highway. Neither of them spoke, though the tension in the air was palpable. Zevian’s gaze flickered over to her now and then, his thoughts elsewhere.

"Did you get to talk with Damien?" Evelyn asked after a moment of silence, her eyes fixed on the road.

Zevian sighed out loud, slightly shaking his head in response. "I will convince him to change his mind."

Evelyn frowned at his words, having believed all this time that he was the one who had plotted this mess, a plan he thought would protect his sister but ended up hurting her even more. "So, you weren’t the one who asked him to do it?"

Zevian looked at her in surprise, before disappointment flickered in his eyes. "Do you think I would play with my own sister’s life?"

Evelyn awkwardly blinked in response, her hands clutching the wheel tightly. So she had misunderstood him totally.

Silence once again filled between them, this time heavier. Evelyn kept glancing at Zevian, trying to come up with a way to apologize that she didn’t notice a car patiently waiting for them at one of the junctions.

On the other side of the road, Sabrina clutched the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles white. Her face was twisted in rage, her eyes locked on the car in front of her. "You’re the reason for everything!" she screamed through clenched teeth. "I’ll kill you tonight!"

Sabrina slammed her foot on the gas, the engine roaring as she sped forward, closing the distance between them in an instant.

The quiet hum of the engine was the only sound in Evelyn’s car until suddenly, out of nowhere, Zevian’s eyes widened as they fixed on Sabrina’s car. "Eva, watch out!"

Evelyn’s heart leaped into her throat as she spotted a car speeding toward them from the opposite direction. The crash came with a sickening crunch of metal against metal. She barely had time to react before the impact hit, sending their vehicle spiraling toward the edge of the highway. Their car lurched violently to the side, stopping toward the guardrail.

Time seemed to slow down as the world spun around them, the sky and earth blending in a dizzying blur. The last thing Evelyn heard was Zevian’s scream before everything went dark and silent.