The Billionaire’s Unexpected Proposal (Evelyn and Derek)

The next morning, instead of going to Stone Corp

pas usual, Evelyn headed for her office at Empowered.

She had received a call from Susan the previous night, informing her that the board was having a meeting that morning to discuss disciplinary measures for her, and she was to fish out the person behind the article and their source or face the consequence.

She had come to Ludus for a promotion not to face the consequence of an action that had nothing to do with her, Evelyn thought as she looked out

of the window of her cab.

She was not going to let anyone, not even Sandra or Michael, get away with messing with her integrity in this manner and making people question

ber character.

As she walked into the building, she stopped at the reception stand and asked the receptionist to ask the heads of all the teams to gather in the conference hall for a meeting Instead of going to her office, she went straight to the conference hall to wait for them, since there was nothing for her to do in her office.

Ten minutes later, the heads of each unit came in one after the other and they all sat around the conference table.

Evelyn couldn't believe that the first time she would be addressing her subordinates here would be over an issue like this, and it angered her evenBelonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

more.

Evelyn looked around at everyone seated at the table, "Im sure I do not need to tell you the reason I called for this meeting." Evelyn said as she TOK and paced around her seat.

"I'm going to go straight to the point. Who released the article on Mr Derek Stone? And on whose order was it released?" She asked as her gaze moved from one person to the other.

The

deputy editor cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him, "The information came in through our tip line from an anonymous source some days ago. We looked into it. Checked old pictures of Derek Stone and the last picture of him online before he stopped making public appearances and we confirmed the news before releasing it."

*So, it was released on your order?" Evelyn asked and he nodded hesitantly without meeting her gaze.

"Why wasn't I informed before the story was published?" Evelyn said, feeling frustrated at the whole thing.

Although, she had figured that if someone was doing it to set her up, then the information must have come as an anonymous tip but now that she knew for sure, she just couldn't help feeling frustrated, since it didn't help her plight.

"You know very well that our weekend column is all about gossip. How were we supposed to know this would cause such a commotion? It's not like we can inform you about everything we publish here. Besides, you haven't resumed here officially yet, he pointed out

"The point here is that you all knew I was working on an exclusive with Derek Stone, yet you went on to publish something like this about him. Do you have any idea how much trouble this has caused me?" Evelyn asked through gritted teeth, trying hard not to yell

"I admit that didn't think of that. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would blow up like this. I just wanted to get the story out there," he said and Evelyn sighed, feeling a wave of frustration "Who is the head of IT here? Is there a way we can track the anonymous caller?" She asked, but he shook his head.

"We can't. You know the company's laws protect the privacy rights of our anonymous callers. Besides, it wasn't like the tip was false," he said and Evelyn massaged her temple. "I guess that's the end of this meeting. You can all leave," she said and walked out of the hall before any of them could rise.

Tears of frustration burned her eyes as she made her way back to her office, her heart beating

ng hard and fast.

What was she going to do now? How was she ever going to find the person behind the anonymous tip? She couldn't believe that there was no way for her to prove her innocence. Inside her office, Evelyn bowed her head as she let herself break down in tears. She didn't know what to do. She was feeling confused, frustrated. angry, and wronged While Evelyn was busy trying to figure out the way forward, Derek was in his office, a frown etched on his face as he wondered why Evelyn wasn't in the office yet. He knew that they had a misunderstanding, but they had yet to officially end their arrangement, so why wasn't she at the office?

3:06 PM d

Was it because she was mad at him? He mused, thinking about all that had transpired between them from the moment he received the call from his mother at the resort.

He had been thinking about it all since the previous night, and he admitted that he didn't exactly handle things right or leave room for doubt despite her insistence that she was innocent.

He had been so sure that she was responsible for the article, but after last night and how she had reminded him of the NDA, he couldn't help but be in doubt

Was it possible that someone overheard their conversation? What was he missing? He mused as kept replaying everything that happened from the moment he woke up at the resort to last night at the Quinn's residence.

He narrowed his eyes when he remembered how confident Michael had been that it was Evelyn who had released the news when he didn't even know if he had confided in Evelyn about it or not.

He remembered how Michael had also talked about Evelyn releasing confidential information which she was supposed to keep to herself.

Was it possible that Michael was the one responsible for all of this? Derek mused not

ot wanting to believe it.

Why

would Michael do such a thing? What did he stand to gain by releasing such sensitive information!

As Derek pondered on it, he remembered when Michael had first come to him claiming to be curious about who Evelyn was and what she was doing in his office. He also remembered how upset Michael had been when he told him he was granting Evelyn the interview.

Parents"

He thought about how Michael had hidden Evelyn's identity from him this whole time only to invite him to her family house for her p anniversary party

Michael must have known that Ex

Evelyn would be there. Had it all been his plan? It was all beginning to seem suspicious

Could Michael have released the news just so that he would get conversation with Evelyn, since he knew that the only thing Michael knew was the fact that he was adopted?

rid of Evelyn? But then, how could Michael have found out all that detail of his

He

e couldn't possibly have overheard the e conversation, so how? Derek mused and shook his head when a thought crossed his mind.

No way. There was no way Michael could have gone as far as bugging his office, Derek told h suspicious device.

himself as he began to look around his office for any

Even as he searched around, he prayed and hoped that he wouldn't see anything of the sort then, but all his hope came crumbling down when he looked under his desk and saw the bug Michael had planted.