The Billionaire’s Unexpected Proposal (Evelyn and Derek)

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The day dragged on, with Sandra doing her best to get under Evelyn's skin. She hovered around, offering unsolicited advice, acting extra friendly with some of the staff, and throwing Evelyn fake smiles every time their paths crossed. But beneath Sandra's thinly veiled hostility, Evelyn could sense something more: Sandra was looking for an opportunity to steal her phone.

Evelyn kept her phone close all morning, knowing that if she left her phone unattended, Sandra might take the chance to snoop.

She made sure it was either in her pocket or locked securely in her drawer. She even caught Sandra casting glances at her desk when she thought Evelyn wasn't looking. Every time she excused herself from her desk, Evelyn could feel Sandra watching, waiting for her to slip up. But Evelyn wasn't about to give her the satisfaction.

By mid-afternoon, Evelyn needed to use the restroom. Tucking her phone into her pocket, she made her way to the restroom, trying to shake off the growing tension. She couldn't let Sandra control her every move.

Once inside the restroom, Evelyn slipped into a stall, grateful for a moment of peace. She was about to relax when she overheard voices- some of the staff

chatting as they fixed their makeup at the sink.

"Did you hear about Evelyn?" one of them whispered.

"Oh yeah," another replied. "I heard she got fired from Empowered for being incompetent. Imagine, she came back here like nothing happened. Must be good to have the family company to fall back on." Evelyn rolled her eyes as she listened in silence. She did not doubt that Sandra had sponsored some of these rumors.

The first woman chuckled softly. "That's not even the best part. I heard she leaked those stories about Derek Stone all over the internet because she was jealous of her sister's relationship with him." "And," the second woman added in a hushed tone, "apparently, she has been away for a long time because she ran away on the morning of her wedding. Can you believe it?"

She was usually not one to enjoy gossip, but there was oddly something satisfying about eavesdropping on a conversation about yourself, especially when the gossipers were clueless gossipmongers. The first woman gasped. "No way. What a mess."

The gossipers continued to snicker, clearly enjoying themselves, oblivious to the fact that Evelyn could hear every word. But Evelyn wasn't going to hide. She flushed the toilet, and as she stepped out of the stall, the women froze, their faces draining of color.

Evelyn walked to the sink, washed her hands, and smiled at them through the mirror. "You know," she said calmly, "I don't care about the rumors you're peddling, and I certainly don't care where you got them from. What I care about is that you are being paid to stand in the restroom gossiping during work hours."

The two women stammered apologies, avoiding her gaze as they hurriedly grabbed their things and fled from the restroom. Evelyn shook her head, drying her hands before walking back to her office.

Just as she was settling back at her desk, her phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Derek: [I gave my mom your number. She'll probably call you soon.

I'll call you when I'm less busy.]

Evelyn's heart skipped a beat. [Why would you give her my number?] She started typing in response, but before she could send it, her phone lit up with an incoming call from an unknown number. Her heart raced. Was it Derek's mother?

She hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and answered.

"Hello?"

"Evelyn?" came a soft, tentative voice from the other end. "It's Derek's mother. I-I'm sure Derek told you everything already, but I just wanted to... well, I was hoping you'd give me a chance to meet with you. I know I've made mistakes, and I don't expect you to forgive me easily, but I would really like to apologize.

That's all I want."

Evelyn's grip on the phone relaxed. She could hear the nervousness in Mrs. Stone's voice, and despite everything that had happened, Evelyn felt a small sense of empathy for the woman.

"Okay," Evelyn said after a pause. "We can meet during my lunch hour."

Relief flooded Mrs. Stone's voice. "Thank you, Evelyn. You can pick the place."

"How about Café Limca? It's quiet and not far from my office," Evelyn suggested.

"Sounds fine," Mrs Stone replied. "I'll see you then."

When lunch hour arrived, Evelyn left the office and headed to Café Limca. Her mind swirled with thoughts of the meeting with Derek's Mom.

Despite the fact that the woman had said she wanted to see her to apologize, Evelyn couldn't help but feel anxious as she remembered the last time they met in Derek's suite and how it had resulted in the loss of her job.

Evelyn reminded herself that she

was Derek's mother, and Derek wouldn't have given her number to his mother if he didn't trust that she wouldn't cause any trouble. So she pushed her worries aside,

ΛΟΥ

determined to clear the air and make

a good impression on her,

When she arrived at the café, Evelyn spotted Mrs. Stone sitting at a table near the window. She looked slightly anxious but composed, with a glass of iced coffee in front of her. Evelyn approached with a polite smile. "Hello, ma'am," she greeted warmly, wanting her to relax.

Mrs. Stone looked up and returned the smile, though it was tinged with nervousness. "Evelyn, thank you for meeting me. Please sit down."

Evelyn took a seat across from her, noticing how carefully Mrs. Stone had dressed for the occasion. Neither of them said a word until they had ordered their snacks, and Evelyn ordered her drink.

"I'm really ashamed of the way I acted the last time we met," Mrs. Stone began after they had been served, her voice low. "I misjudged you. I should have never spoken to you the way I did or did all of that."

Evelyn nodded, her expression neutral. "As much as it hurt me, I understand why you did that. I've tried to put myself in your shoes. You reacted that way because you didn't know what was going on."

Mrs. Stone leaned forward slightly. "I

don't think everyone would have reacted the same way I did. It is true that I didn't know the details of all that transpired between you and Michael, and I reacted based on the lies he told me, but I shouldn't have treated you that way, regardless. I'm so sorry, Evelyn. I don't want to

make excuses. I want to start over if you'll let me."

Evelyn considered her words carefully before responding. "I appreciate your apology, ma'am. And to be honest, I don't hold it against you. If you had known the full story and still taken Michael's side, that would be different. But you didn't." Mrs. Stone's shoulders relaxed, but her gaze remained earnest. "Thank you, Evelyn. But I want to do more than just apologize. I want to make it up to you. If there's anything I can do- if you want your job back at Empowered or even a promotion, I can help." Evelyn shook her head with a small smile. "I've moved on from Empowered. I'm where I need to be now, with my family's company. You really don't need to do anything. I believe everything happened as it was meant to. I don't have any regrets." Mrs. Stone seemed slightly surprised but nodded. "I understand."

After a brief pause, Mrs. Stone reached into her handbag and pulled out a photo. She slid it across the table to Evelyn, who looked down at it.

It was a picture of Derek as a child.

Evelyn smiled softly, her heart warming at the sight. "Samantha looks just like him," she observed, surprised by the striking resemblance between them.

Mrs. Stone's eyes glistened as she nodded. "The moment I saw her, I knew she was Derek's even though he tried to deceive me."

Evelyn laughed softly, "He didn't

mean to deceive you. He wasn't sure

how you'd receive Sam if you knew

who she was. And all they told you is

the truth. They met and became friends before he realized she was his Evelyn said and watched as her eyes widened slightly.

"Are you for real?" She asked, and Evelyn nodded.

Although Evelyn wasn't usually the chatty type, she wanted to put the lady at ease, so she decided to tell her everything.

"I was surprised myself. I never knew about their friendship," Evelyn said and went on to tell her how she had been thinking Rek was a kid until she found out that Rek was actually Derek.

Mrs Stone laughed as Evelyn narrated everything to her and then went on to tell her more about

Samantha. By the time she was done, they were both chatting like nothing had happened between them.

"She's priceless, Evelyn. I can't imagine how tough it must have been, yet you did such a wonderful job raising her," she said, and Evelyn smiled.

"Seeing all the praises I've been getting from everyone, I guess it was worth it. I will send you all of her pictures when next we meet," Evelyn promised.

"I will love that. And I want to be part of her life, too, if you'll let me."

Evelyn met her hopeful gaze with a wide smile. "Of course, she's your granddaughter; you have no choice but to be a part of her life," she said, and Mrs. Stone smiled.

It was always easier to tell if something was fake after seeing the original, and now that she had seen Evelyn, she could tell that Sandra was a complete sham. Evelyn's grace and beauty were effortless, and her warmth and kindness radiated from her like a sweet fragrance. She had no doubt that Derek had made the right choice. Michael's loss was Derek's win.