Always make you mine

Episode Two

Evelyn returned home from the gala well past midnight. The echo of shattering glass and Damien Blackwood’s icy voice still lingered in her mind like an unwelcome winter draft that refused to leave.

She eased the front door of their modest Brooklyn brownstone shut with painstaking care, not wanting to wake her parents. The house was quiet except for the soft glow of the living room light spilling into the hallway. Her father, Richard Hayes, sat hunched over the dining table, surrounded by a chaotic sea of documents, bank statements, unpaid invoices, and spreadsheets. A cold cup of coffee sat forgotten beside his elbow, the surface dull and stagnant.

“Dad?” Evelyn called softly, stepping into the room while slipping off her heels. “Why are you still awake at this hour?”

Richard looked up, his eyes red-rimmed and heavy with exhaustion. For a moment he attempted a smile, but it faltered before it could reach his eyes. “Couldn’t sleep. How was the gala with Zara? Did you have any fun at all?”

“Overwhelming,” she admitted, setting her small purse on a chair. “I accidentally bumped into a waiter and sent a champagne glass crashing to the floor right in front of everyone. It was completely mortifying.”

Her father gave a weak chuckle, the sound tired but genuine. “At least you got out of the house for one night. You’ve been cooped up here too long, worrying about job applications and sending resumes into the void.”

Evelyn pulled out a chair and sat across from him. Her gaze inevitably drifted to the mountain of papers. There were far more than usual—red “overdue” stamps, late notices, and several ominous letters from the bank marked with urgent language. Her stomach twisted.

“Dad… is everything really okay with the company?”

Richard leaned back, running a hand through his thinning graying hair. “Hayes Construction is still standing, sweetheart. We have a few solid projects moving forward—the new residential complex in Queens looks promising, and we’ve kept some loyal repeat clients. But…”

He paused, shoulders slumping as the weight of reality pressed down on him.

“Cash flow has been brutally tight lately. A couple of major clients have delayed payments by several months. One key supplier suddenly hiked prices due to nationwide material shortages. On top of that, the interest rates on the loans we took for last year’s expansion keep climbing higher every quarter.”

Evelyn’s chest tightened painfully. “How bad is it, really?”

Her father hesitated, then slid one particular letter across the table toward her. “The bank called today. They’re reviewing our line of credit. If we miss the next quarterly payment, they may start restricting funds or demand collateral. We still have thirty to forty-five days before things turn truly critical. I’m meeting with a few potential investors next week. We’ll figure something out—I always do.”

The words were meant to comfort, but Evelyn heard the strain cracking beneath them. Hayes Construction had been her father’s pride and joy for over twenty-five years. He had built it from nothing with nothing but calloused hands, relentless honesty, and late nights just like this one. The company had paid for her college tuition, kept food on the table, maintained a roof over their heads, and allowed her mother to work part-time at the local community center doing what she loved.

Her mother, Maria, appeared in the doorway, tying the belt of her worn robe. She looked just as drained as her husband. “Richard, you need to rest. Staring at those numbers all night won’t magically fix them.”

“I know,” he sighed heavily. “I just keep thinking… if one more thing goes wrong—one delayed payment, one lost contract—we could lose everything we’ve spent our lives building.”

Evelyn reached across the table and squeezed her father’s rough hand. “We’ll get through this, Dad. You’ve handled tough seasons before. Remember when the recession hit? You pulled us through.”

Richard nodded, but doubt lingered in his tired eyes. “I don’t want you worrying about this, Evelyn. Focus on your job hunt and your art. Your mother and I will handle the company. That’s our responsibility.”

But Evelyn couldn’t simply turn off her concern like a light switch.

Later that night, she lay in her childhood bedroom, staring at the familiar cracks spiderwebbing across the ceiling. The glamorous ballroom now felt like a distant dream compared to the quiet, suffocating tension filling their home. Her thoughts drifted, unbidden, to the tall, cold man from the gala—Damien Blackwood. The way his sharp gray eyes had flicked over her so indifferently after the glass shattered. A man like him probably destroyed small family businesses like Hayes Construction without losing a single night of sleep. Ruthless. Distant. Completely untouchable.

She turned onto her side, pulling the blanket higher against the chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.

Men like Damien Blackwood didn’t notice girls like her for long. And she had no intention of ever crossing his path again.

Still, as sleep finally began to claim her, an uneasy feeling settled deep in her chest. The cracks in her family’s foundation were deepening faster than her father wanted to admit. Thirty to forty-five days wasn’t much time at all.

And somewhere out in the glittering, merciless city, the most powerful and ruthless man in New York had already noticed her once—even if only for a heartbeat.

Evelyn had no idea how soon their worlds would collide again.