It had been a few days since Evelynn casually dropped the kind of bombshell that could make daytime soap operas weep. Neither Alana nor Esha had been the same since. The entire apartment had a weird energy—the type that came after you found out your roommate wasn't just an influencer with killer brows, but the illegitimate daughter of one of the country's top billionaires.
"Is it bad that I feel poor just breathing the same air as her now?" Alana asked dramatically, flopping on the couch like she'd just run a marathon. She hadn't. She'd just walked from the kitchen with a bag of chips.
Esha didn't reply. She was busy googling "How to design a couture dress that screams 'you owe me a favor but I'm too classy to ask'." It had been three hours, and all she had to show for it was a Pinterest board and a coffee table that looked like a Starbucks graveyard.
Evelynn's story was still replaying in her mind.
Her mother, Hana Kim, a bright Korean student, had arrived in the country on a student exchange. Young, ambitious, and tragically unaware of corporate bloodlines, she'd met the dashing Sebastian Black while working part-time. He was charming, mysterious, and, unfortunately, engaged. Hana fell hard—thinking she was building a future with a young entrepreneur. But what she was really building was unknowingly a subplot in a billionaire family drama.
Two years into their relationship, it all came crashing down when a woman named Hela Knight—yes, that Hela Knight—showed up, dropped the bomb that she was the fiancée, and left Hana reeling. Pass out, wake up in the hospital, discover you're pregnant, and also find out you have PCOD so you didn't even realize it? Classic Tuesday.
And Hela, instead of going full villainess, actually asked Hana what she wanted to do. Keep Sebastian? Or leave him? Hana, being the queen she was, chose to walk away and raise her child alone.
Thus began Evelynn's life—a quiet one with her mother in D City, far away from the blinding lights of the Black family fortune. Everything was normal, or as normal as it could be for a girl named after a luxury perfume line. Until Hana got cancer. And everything changed.
Desperate and out of options, Hana contacted the last person she ever wanted to—Hela. And to everyone's shock, Hela helped. She paid for the best treatment, and Evelynn learned the truth of her birth. No resentment, no tantrums, just resolve. She signed an IOU and vowed to repay every penny in ten years. That's when she started her influencer journey—not to chase fame, but to pay debts.
And now? She was a respected influencer, the money was halfway paid, her mom had remarried and moved abroad, and Evelynn was living the kind of life that made Alana and Esha feel like background characters in her biopic.
"You win," Esha had told her flatly after hearing the whole story. "You've got the most dramatic backstory in this household. I'm officially retiring."
⸻
The next week, Esha made it her mission to design the ultimate dress for Evelynn—a dress so stunning it would cause her Cloth Fairy system to crash from an overload of like points.
She studied Evelynn like a scholar cramming for the finals. Everything from her Instagram aesthetic to the way she sipped coffee was analyzed. Regal. Chic. Effortless. The woman could wear a curtain and somehow look like she stepped out of a Vogue shoot. Esha was determined to match that energy.
Meanwhile, Evelynn was completely unaware that her free time was being monopolized by Esha's "research." She thought they were bonding.
"Let's hang out again tomorrow," Esha said, scribbling something in a notebook.
"You're really into this friendship thing, huh?" Evelynn laughed.
"Friendship," Esha nodded solemnly. "Yes. That."
⸻
Elsewhere, in a different part of the city, a young boy was practically bouncing off the walls of a mansion.
"Mama, how is Esha now? Where is she staying? Can I see her?" Leo Salazar fired off questions like a machine gun.
Celeste smiled indulgently. "She's doing just fine, sweetheart. She's living in D City now, near your Uncle Xavier."
Leo gasped like he had just discovered Santa was real.
Without wasting a second, he dashed into the living room where his grandfather Alistair, father Ethan and Uncle Xavier were having their usual rich-people conversation about mergers and private jets and probably blackmail.
"Esha saved me!" he announced for the billionth time.
"Yes, yes," Xavier sighed. "She rescued you like a very fashionable ninja. We remember."
"She's basically a superhero," Leo continued proudly.
"Can we invite her to the spring tea party? Please?!"
Alistair and Ethan exchanged looks. Xavier took a sip of his whiskey like he was preparing for war.
"I don't think she'd enjoy the tea party, darling," Celeste said diplomatically.
"She's more of a 'sips bubble tea in pajamas' kind of girl," Ethan muttered.
"Why don't we just send her some gifts instead?" Xavier suggested, his voice smooth as velvet. "A thank-you package. I'm sure she'd appreciate that more."
Leo, though disappointed, agreed. He pulled Celeste by the hand and ran off to find his grandmother to pick the perfect gifts for Esha. He selected everything himself—from limited edition sneakers to rare manga and even a plushie that looked suspiciously like him.
⸻
Back in the living room, Alistair narrowed his eyes at Xavier. "You seem awfully invested in this girl, for someone who supposedly doesn't care."
"I wanted to make sure she wasn't an opportunist," Xavier said bluntly. "Turns out she's just a broke orphan with surprisingly expensive taste and an allergy to social hierarchies."
"And now you know her shoe size, star sign, and how she takes her coffee?" Ethan teased.
"It's called due diligence."
"Stalking," Alistair corrected.
Xavier shrugged. "Tomato, tomahto."
Their father gave him a stern look. "Remember, Xavier. We don't hurt the innocent. Especially women. Whatever your suspicions, let them go."
"Yeah, yeah. No intimidation, no threats. I remember the code." He rolled his eyes but nodded.
Deep down, though, Xavier was intrigued. Esha didn't behave like the women they were used to. She didn't beg, fawn, or try to get into their good graces. In fact, she barely acknowledged them beyond what was necessary.
That made her dangerous. Or interesting. Possibly both.
⸻
Back in D City, Esha finally completed the dress. It was a stunning off-shoulder mermaid gown made of hand-stitched silk and crystal embroidery that shimmered like moonlight. The design was inspired by classical Korean hanbok aesthetics with modern Western silhouettes—an homage to Evelynn's roots and her present.
When she showed it to Evelynn, the influencer was speechless.
"This... is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen."
"I call it 'Phoenix Bloom,'" Esha said, trying to act cool while the Cloth Fairy system beeped joyfully in her brain.
Ding! Host I think the task can be completed very soon.
Esha smiled to herself. Finally. Sleep, sweet sleep, was on the horizon.