Chapter 4 The fallout was swift and unforgiving

The fallout was swift and unforgiving.

By the time Nathan arrived at the office on Monday, he could feel the difference. The air seemed thicker, like a storm was looming. His assistant barely made eye contact as she handed him a stack of papers with an apologetic look. "HR wants to see you right away, Mr. Whitmore."

He didn't bother to ask why. He already knew.

Evelyn had done more than expose his affair-she had meticulously destroyed him.

The HR office was sterile, cold. No warmth, no comfort. Just sharp, clean lines that felt like a courtroom. The two faces sitting across from him were familiar-Samantha, the head of HR, and Jonathan, the CFO. They both stared at him with pity in their eyes.

"Mr. Whitmore," Samantha began, her voice like ice. "We've received some troubling reports regarding your conduct. Specifically, the misuse of company funds for personal expenses."

He swallowed, feeling the walls close in around him. "I... I didn't misuse-"

Jonathan cut him off, pushing a stack of paperwork across the table. "We have receipts, Nathan. Hotels. Flights. Dinners. All charged to the company card."

Nathan's throat tightened. "That's-those were business expenses-"

"No," Samantha interrupted. "You've been using company resources for personal trips with a woman who isn't your wife. And the evidence is irrefutable."

His mind raced, but he could feel the ground slipping out from under him. Evelyn had thought of everything. She'd been meticulous-calculating. He had underestimated her, and now, he was paying the price.

"We have no choice but to conduct a full investigation," Jonathan said, his voice flat. "At this point, it's out of our hands."

Nathan felt the room spin. "You can't-this is a misunderstanding. You don't understand. My wife-"

"You should've thought of that before you betrayed her," Samantha said, cutting him off sharply.

Nathan's heart pounded in his chest as he tried to hold it together. "What happens now?"

"We'll suspend you indefinitely, pending the investigation," Jonathan said. "And depending on the findings, your position may be in jeopardy."

Nathan's shoulders slumped. His breath felt shallow. Everything was unraveling.

As they left the room, Samantha's voice floated back to him. "If you have any questions, Nathan... you know where to find us."

---

Clarisse, on the other hand, had spent the morning trying to salvage what was left of their plans. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. She had been so sure that Nathan would handle everything, that they'd be able to step into the life they'd always dreamed of. But now, with Nathan suspended from his job and his reputation in tatters, the cracks in their facade were widening.

She tried calling him, but he didn't answer.

When she walked into their temporary apartment, she was met with the emptiness of their failed future. The walls felt too close. The air too thick. She was suffocating under the weight of her own choices.

She threw her phone on the couch and paced.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Nathan had promised her-promised that once Evelyn was out of the picture, once they were together, everything would be perfect. But now... Now, she could feel it slipping away.

She had no power without him. No purpose without his connection, his money, his charm. And Evelyn? Evelyn was still out there-still controlling everything from the shadows.

Clarisse clenched her fists, trying to suppress the rising panic.

---

Back at the charity gala, Evelyn's reputation was solidifying as the city's new powerhouse. The whispers that had surrounded her in the past-whispers of her grief, her shattered marriage-were fading into the background. Now, people were taking notice for entirely different reasons.

Evelyn was a woman to be reckoned with.

At the gala, she moved through the crowd like a queen-commanding, calculating, charismatic. She had made a point of being there, in the public eye, surrounded by influential people who had once whispered behind her back. She knew the game; she knew how to play it.

And she was playing it well.

Her friends, or what remained of them, gathered around her. Her former best friend, Alice, was standing nearby, offering polite congratulations for the charity's success.

"You're remarkable, Evelyn," Alice said, her voice a mixture of admiration and disbelief. "I don't know how you're doing it."

Evelyn smiled, a slow, deliberate curve of her lips. "Sometimes, you don't have a choice but to rise from the ashes."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "I never thought I'd see the day you'd be the one leaving him."

Evelyn's smile tightened. "He made his choices. And now he has to live with the consequences."

"What about her?" Alice asked. "Clarisse?"

Evelyn's eyes darkened for a moment, her gaze shifting to the far corner of the room where Clarisse stood talking to a small group of donors. Her former friend. Nathan's lover.

"She's a part of it too," Evelyn said quietly. "But I'll take care of her, in time. She'll get exactly what she deserves."

Alice followed her gaze and then nodded. "I see."

Evelyn straightened. "Everything is in motion now. It's only a matter of time."

---

Later that night, Evelyn returned to her empty home-a house now filled with memories of betrayal, but also the promise of something new. The future was hers to shape.

As she walked through the door, her phone buzzed again. Another message from Nathan.

> "Evie, please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Her finger hovered over the screen for a moment before she typed her reply.

> "You made your bed. Now lie in it."

She hit send before he could respond.

Evelyn set her phone down and exhaled slowly, her mind already turning to the next phase of her plan. It wasn't enough to just take Nathan down-no, she wanted to see him crumble. She wanted to watch as everything he had ever built-the facade of his success, his relationships, his reputation-collapsed into dust.

And Clarisse? She wasn't forgotten. Not by a long shot. But Evelyn's revenge was a slow burn, and she had all the time in the world.

She would break them both. Piece by piece.