"What do you mean?"
"My cancer has metastasized. I'm scheduled for surgery in ten days, but I don't know if I'll make it out alive. I came back not just for Charlotte, but for Neely."
Judd’s expression grew grim. "You know Neely was the mastermind behind the kidnapping?"
"I do." Evander lifted his coffee cup and took a slow sip. "Not only do I know, but I also have the most incriminating evidence against him."
"So faking your death was also meant to throw Neely off your trail?" Judd let out a short laugh. "Are you sure he'll believe you're dead?"
"As long as the right people believe I'm dead, he will."
Judd sat for a while longer before rising to leave. As he turned, Evander spoke. "Please don't tell Charlotte you saw me. It's better for her not to know anything."
Judd tilted his head slightly. "You don't have to tell me that." He walked away without looking back.
After he was gone, Lilith scoffed and moved to Evander’s side. "Keep up the act. Charlotte’s already moved in with him. Aren't you worried at all?"
Evander’s hand froze, his fingers curling into a fist, but his expression remained unchanged. "We're divorced now. What good would worrying do?"
"You really divorced?"
He grunted in affirmation.
Lilith sat down across from him. "Is there really no chance of getting back together?"
Evander looked up. "If we weren't divorced, my parents would blame her for my 'death.' The Howard family has enough trouble as it is."
"By trouble, you mean your Aunt Ilse, right?" Lilith crossed her arms. "She and her daughter are up to no good. The moment the news of your accident broke, she started rallying the Howard Enterprises shareholders and even brought Genevieve back from abroad."
"Those two are insufferable right now, just kicking you while you're down. If it weren't for my family, the Sutherlands, still having influence in the capital, the Howard family would be theirs by now!"
Evander chuckled. "Let them have their moment of triumph for a little while."
…
That afternoon, Neely's words churned in Charlotte's mind, making it impossible to concentrate.
Judd paused outside her office door, seeing her leaning on her desk with a heavy expression. He knocked.
She looked up, pulling herself from her thoughts. "Professor Carstairs?"
"Are you not feeling well?"
"No, I'm fine."
He walked over to her and suddenly pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.

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