Lemira smirked, "That's actually a pretty good plan. Once the estate is divided, Evander can take his share and start a new life elsewhere, living quite comfortably."

Asher shot her a glare, "Lemira, why are you stirring things up here?"

"I'm not stirring anything. I mean, Evelina is just a Langston in name, she doesn't really have a claim to the family assets. If she marries Evander, they'll have shared marital assets and it'll fulfill Evander's wishes."

Lemira's grin widened, "It's a win-win situation."

Evander's face lit up, "Exactly, that's exactly how I feel."

"The assets can't be divided now, at least not until the company goes public," Asher said, clearly perturbed by the idea of splitting the estate.

Evelina quickly chimed in, "Evander, Asher's company is in a critical phase for going public. Any distractions could impact that. We don't need to rush into anything; we've got time."

For now, they needed to stall Evander. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ findnovel.net

Asher gave Evelina a grateful look, "Exactly, once the company goes public, and after a year or so, we can discreetly end the adoption without raising eyebrows."

Though he wasn't ready to fully endorse Evelina and Evander's relationship, he was willing to play for time.

Aside from Evander, everyone else seemed content with the plan.

Lemira stood up, "I'm starving, let's eat."

The drama had been entertaining, but now it was time to fill her stomach.

Everyone else seemed too preoccupied to think about food.

Evander sat next to Evelina, serving her food with a display of affection that was hard to miss.

Asher's mood soured at the sight.

Lemira, having eaten her fill, looked up at Evelina, "While I'm not pressing charges against you, you need to

repay every last cent of the rooney

you embezzled."

Evelina cast her eyes down, speaking softly, "But I don't have that much money right now. Can I pay in installments?"

She had spent the thousands on clothes and designer handbags, so she was pretty much broke.

Evander piped up, "I'll cover for Eve. It's just a few thousand dollars, right?"

"Around six thousand," Lemira said, "Let's settle it now."

Evander's expression faltered slightly as he turned to Asher, "Asher, my dividends should be enough to cover eighty thousand, right?"

"Your dividends will be available at the end of the year. Did you already spend last year's?"

Evander looked uncomfortable, "I invested it in Rowan's lab. You know how expensive research can be."

Lemira raised an eyebrow, "But I thought Rowan's lab had plenty of investors lining up. They aren't exactly short on cash."

"Lemira, can you stay out of this?" Evander snapped, a hint of unease his

mice Asher could you advance

me this year's dividends?" .net>

"Fine," Asher agreed, though his expression was far from pleased.

Evelina finally smiled at Evander, her voice soft, "Evander, I feel bad having you

pay so much for me. I promise I'll pay you back."

"Don't be silly. We're getting married soon. What's mine is yours," Evander

replied, holding Evelina's hand tenderly.

Asher, unable to stomach any more, put down his utensils and left the table.

Evander suddenly had a thought, turning to Lemira, "Oh, by the way, could you clear out your bedroom for Eve? I want to turn it into our wedding suite."

With a snap, Lemira broke her fork in half.