The door opened before any of them could react.
"Darling," Evelyn said smoothly, stepping inside with a soft smile that didn't falter. "I'm here with lunch."
The air went still.
Every man in the room — including Alexander — froze mid-sentence. His friends' laughter died awkwardly in their throats as Evelyn glided into the office, her daughters trailing behind her like two small shadows.
Without sparing the men a single glance, she crossed the room and placed the lunch bag neatly on Alexander's desk.
Then, with effortless grace, she shifted Grace from her arm into Alexander's.
He caught the baby instinctively, startled. Grace blinked up at him and smiled, her tiny hands curling around his tie.
The moment should have been tender.
Instead, one of the men snorted.
"Well," said a man in a grey suit — Callum Reed, a smug vice-director who had always liked the sound of his own voice. "Can't you see we're talking, Mrs. Carter? Ever heard of knocking? Or basic manners?"
Evelyn turned her head slowly, her gaze landing on him. Her expression was calm, polite — and colder than glass.
He wasn't done.
"And maybe next time," he added mockingly, "you could handle your own child instead of throwing her into your husband's arms. Or the nanny's. Everyone knows how hands-off you are."
The insult hung in the air like poison.
Alexander's jaw tightened, but before he could speak, Evelyn simply turned her back on Callum — dismissing him with the kind of grace that made him feel invisible.
She took Lily and Emma's hands and led them to the leather sofa near the window. "Sit here, my loves," she said softly, smiling at them. "Daddy and Mommy will eat soon."
They obeyed, chattering softly, their presence turning the sharp, sterile room into something warm and human.
And that's when the men really looked at her.
The Evelyn Carter standing before them wasn't the woman they remembered — not the loud, temperamental socialite from tabloids or the cold wife from charity parties.
She was radiant.
Effortless.
Even after three children, she was breathtaking — her beauty not loud but arresting, the kind that drew silence like gravity.
The men exchanged glances, each trying not to stare too openly.
Even Callum, mid-sneer, faltered.
Perhaps this was why Alexander had never let her go. No one else could rival her presence — no one came close.
Evelyn broke the silence first. "Did you have lunch?" she asked Alexander softly.
He blinked once, clearing his throat. "No. Not yet."
"I thought so." She smiled, beginning to unpack the food with calm, practiced motions.
Callum scoffed again, desperate to reclaim the upper hand. "He's having lunch with us, Mrs. Carter. Maybe next time, call ahead before you—"
He didn't finish.
Alexander's chair scraped back sharply.
"Get out."
Callum blinked. "W–what?"
Alexander looked up, his voice low but deadly clear. "I said get. Out."
For a tense second, no one moved. Callum's smirk wavered. "You mean—?"
Alexander's tone hardened. "You. All of you."
The three men stood awkwardly. One mumbled something about rescheduling; another glared at Evelyn on his way out.
But the third man, the quiet one — Daniel Shaw, a close friend of Alexander's since college — lingered at the door.
He looked at Evelyn thoughtfully, not with mockery, but with a trace of curiosity. "We're having a private party in two days, Mrs. Carter," he said finally. "A small gathering. You should come. With Alexander, of course."
Evelyn met his eyes and smiled politely. "I'd be happy to, if no one minds."
Before anyone could respond, Callum, red-faced with irritation, turned to Daniel. "Why the hell are you inviting her?" he hissed as they left the office.
Daniel shrugged, his expression unreadable. "Because I want to see what she's really up to. Maybe she's changed."
"And if she's pretending?" Callum muttered.
Daniel's gaze darkened as the elevator doors slid shut. "Then we'll find out soon enough."
---
Back in the office, silence reigned.
Alexander stood by the desk, Grace still in his arms, watching his wife and daughters unpack lunch.
The domesticity of the scene unsettled him — and moved him in equal measure.
Evelyn arranged the plates neatly, her fingers graceful and steady. She didn't ask for help. She didn't apologize. She simply existed — calm, confident, untouchable.
When she finally looked up, she smiled. "You should eat before it gets cold, Alexander."
For once, he didn't argue.
He sat down beside her, their daughters giggling softly as they climbed onto the couch nearby, nibbling on small sandwiches she'd brought.
The scent of her perfume mixed with the food — warm, clean, familiar.
Something deep inside him softened.
He had no idea who this woman was.
But for the first time in a long time, he wanted to know.
---
Outside the glass walls of the office, employees whispered. The sight of Mrs. Carter — calm, poised, beautiful — sitting in the boss's office with their children had spread through the building like wildfire.
And somewhere in that hum of gossip and curiosity, the Carter family's story was beginning to change.