Chapter 6 ( A Chance)
1949 Words
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The next day as she came back from Whiskers and Whispers , Eva stepped into the Hayes mansion and immediately felt the tension hanging in the air. The house, usually too loud with staff moving around and Vivian’s voice echoing through the halls, was unusually quiet.
In the drawing room, she saw her father, Richard Hayes, sitting rigid on the edge of the leather sofa. His face was lined with worry, his fingers drumming against his knee—a habit he only had when something was going very wrong.
On either side of him sat her two older half-brothers, Marcus and Dylan. Both looked equally unsettled.
Vivian, their stepmother, moved between them with practiced calm, her voice low and soothing. She placed a hand on Richard’s shoulder. “It’ll work out,” she kept saying. “We’ll find a way.” But the way her smile didn’t reach her eyes told Eva it wasn’t working.
Eva didn’t want to be here. Family drama was never her business, and she’d learned early on that staying out of it kept her headaches to a minimum. She shifted her weight on the staircase, ready to slip back upstairs and pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
But she wasn’t fast enough.
“Look who it is,” came a voice from the room. Caleb, her third older brother, leaned against the doorway with that half-smirk he always wore when he wanted to provoke her. “Some people are just ungrateful, aren’t they? Don’t even bother to ask if we’re okay.”
All eyes turned to the staircase where Eva stood, caught halfway between leaving and staying. She felt the familiar heat rise to her cheeks, but she forced it down.
She smoothed her expression into something polite and descended the last few steps. “Good evening, everyone,” she said, her voice steady. “Is everything alright?”
Vivian turned to her, her expression one of practiced exasperation. “After seeing your father’s condition, do you really think he’s alright?”
Eva swallowed the retort that sat on the tip of her tongue. Arguing with Vivian was like arguing with a wall—it talked back, but nothing ever changed.
Marcus broke the silence, his voice tight. “An investor keeps rejecting our proposal. Says it isn’t good enough. We’ve revised it three times already.”
Dylan scoffed and leaned back, crossing his arms. “Why are you even telling her about it? As if she could do anything.”
Eva met his gaze. “What if I can?”
The room went quiet for half a second before Dylan let out a short laugh. “Right. And if you can, I’ll stand in the middle of the lobby and shout that I’m stupid and you’re the genius.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “uh.. Like you aren't?”
That was enough to set Dylan off. He shot to his feet, chair scraping against the marble floor, but before he could say anything else, Richard raised a hand.
“Enough,” Richard said, his voice low but commanding. The room settled. He looked at Eva—really looked at her—for longer than he usually did. “ Dear, if you can actually pull this off,” he said slowly, “I’ll give you ten million dollars as a reward.”
Ten million. The number landed hard.
Eva kept her face neutral, but inside, something shifted. It was the first time in years Richard had spoken to her without an edge in his voice. He’d even said “dear.” But she wasn’t naive. That word was for business, not for her.
_Don’t be emotional,_ she told herself. _It’s money that matters. Everything else is secondary._
She took a breath and nodded. “Alright. Give me three days.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and went upstairs. She showered, changed into something comfortable, and sat down with her laptop. Her online lectures came first—she wasn’t about to let her degree slip because of family problems.
Once that was done, she dove into research. She pulled up every record she could find on the project, the investor, and the reasons the proposal had been rejected. She worked late into the night, cross-referencing financials, market trends, and the investor’s past deals. By the time she closed her laptop, her eyes burned, but she had a plan.
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Two days later, Eva walked into the dining room just at breakfast time. She ignored the glances from her stepbrothers and went straight to Richard, holding out a neatly bound folder.
“This is the revised proposal,” she said simply.
Richard took it with a frown, flipping it open. His eyes scanned the first page, then the second. The longer he read, the more his frown eased into something close to surprise. When he finished, he closed the folder and looked up at her.
“This is good work, Eva,” he said. “Really good.”
Vivian’s smile tightened. Marcus set his fork down a little too hard. Dylan muttered something under his breath “that illegitimate brat.”
Richard noticed the tension but ignored it. “Since it’s your work, you’ll give the presentation.”
Eva blinked. A presentation? In front of the investor?
Still, she nodded. “Okay.”
For the first time she could remember, her father had praised her out loud. And she wasn’t going to waste it.
Across the table, Marcus’s fingers tightened around his fork. He always did the presentations. It was his role, his place. The thought of Eva taking it made something ugly twist in his chest.
A week passed in a blur of emails, calls, and final adjustments. Then the meeting was confirmed.
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The news reached Chris first. He’d been keeping an eye on the Hayes family for Adrian, and when he saw the updated proposal and the meeting confirmation, he called immediately.
Adrian listened in silence. When Chris finished, he expected anger. The investor was Adrian’s leverage, and Eva’s success meant that leverage was gone.
But Adrian wasn’t angry. He was smiling.
“If Eva made that proposal,” he said slowly, “doesn’t that mean she’s actually intelligent? Smart?”
He leaned back in his chair, tapping a pen against his desk. “That investor is ruthless. Not many people can get through to him.”
Chris stared at him. This was the same Adrian who ordered hits without blinking, who never let emotions cloud his judgment.
And now..... Now he was smiling like some lovesick fool.
Chris shook his head. “Maybe he’s losing it,” he muttered to himself as he left the office. He needed air.
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On the day of the meeting, Eva took the morning off from Whiskers and Whispers. She double-checked every file, every slide, every number. She’d stayed up half the night making sure there were no holes, no weak points the investor could exploit.
The meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m., but she left the Hayes mansion at 10. Better early than late. She arrived at Hayes Logistics, the sleek glass building that housed most of her father’s operations, and asked the receptionist where the meeting room was.
The woman’s eyes widened slightly when she heard Eva’s name, but she recovered quickly. “Of course, Ms. Hayes. Please wait in the reception area. Someone will come for you.”
Forty-five minutes passed. Eva checked her watch twice. When she asked again, the receptionist wiped her palms on her skirt and smiled nervously. “Umm, yes… I’ll take you there now. But phones aren’t allowed in the meeting room. Could you leave your mobile here at the desk?”
Eva hesitated. That wasn’t standard procedure. But the receptionist gestured to the desk, where several other phones sat in a neat row.
“Most executives leave them here,” she said. “Security policy.”
Eva frowned but handed it over. She didn’t want to seem difficult before the meeting even started.
They took the elevator up. The receptionist introduced herself as Jessica, chatty and overly friendly in a way that made Eva’s instincts prickle.
“Could I take the proposal drive and files too?” Jessica asked as they stepped out of the elevator. “I’ll make sure everything’s set up in the room for you.”
Eva stopped walking. “You want the drive?”
Jessica laughed, but it sounded forced. “It’s not like I’ll run off with it. Besides, haven’t you ever been to a meeting before? Or else you should have known that this is normal. ”
The comment stung more than it should have. It was true—Eva had never been to her father’s company for anything official.
She’d never even been past the lobby. Maybe she was overthinking it. Maybe she was just stressed.
She handed over the USB and the printed files.
Jessica led her down the hallway and stopped in front of a heavy metal door. “This is the meeting room,” she said, pushing it open.
Eva stepped inside.
The room was dark. Empty. It smelled faintly of dust and old cardboard. A storage room, not a conference room.
Something clicked.
Eva spun around, but the door was already closing. Jessica’s voice came from the other side, muffled but clear. “Sorry about this.”
The lock engaged with a heavy thud.
“Open the door, Jessica!” Eva shouted, pounding on the metal. “It’s not funny! I have a presentation!”
Her voice echoed back at her. No answer. She kept shouting, kept banging, but the door didn’t budge.
---
On the rooftop, Jessica handed the USB and files to a figure in a black hoodie. The person checked everything quickly, then passed her an envelope thick with cash.
Jessica took it without a word and left.
The man pulled down his hood. It was Dylan.
He stared at the USB in his hand, his jaw tight. “You should know your place, you illegitimate b***h,” he muttered.
He walked down to his office, where Marcus was pacing. The moment Dylan entered, Marcus stopped and looked at him expectantly.
Dylan sat on the couch and waved the materials in the air. “Elder brother, everything’s under control.”
Marcus let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and leaned back in the chair . A slow, victorious smile spread across his face.
He took the files from Dylan, and together they headed for the real meeting room.
Richard was inside, pacing furiously and shouting at employees to get Eva on the phone.
“She’s not picking up,” one of them said, voice shaking.
Richard’s face darkened. This project was critical. If they lost the investor, the company would take a hit they couldn’t afford.
Marcus and Dylan entered just then, both wearing expressions of mild concern.
“What happened?” Marcus asked, like he didn’t already know.
Richard stopped pacing. “She’s not here. She’s not answering.”
Dylan put on his best innocent face. “Dad, she’s always been like this. Unserious about everything. Why not let elder brother do the presentation? He always handles it.”
Richard hesitated, then looked at Marcus.
Marcus stepped forward. “Dad, I can do it. I’ve been preparing just in case Eva messed anything up. I didn’t think she’d actually miss the meeting.”
Richard’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “You’ve never let me down, Marcus. You always make me proud.”
They entered the conference room together.
Back in the storage room, Eva was still banging on the door, her voice hoarse from shouting.
End of Chapter 6.
- Writer
