The Billionaire's Unexpected Proposal by Samantha

The room was bathed in the soft glow of the bedside lamp as Derek lay beside Evelyn, his arms wrapped around her. His fingers absentmindedly stroked her hair as he watched her sleep peacefully.

He could tell she was pretty exhausted, seeing how she had slept off in the middle of their conversation about getting more help around the house to reduce Maya's workload. That way, Maya could focus solely on Samantha. Suddenly, a sharp ping broke through the stillness of the room.

Derek's phone lit up on the nightstand. Frowning at the noise and worried it might disturb Evelyn's sleep, he carefully extracted his arm from beneath Evelyn and reached for the device.

More pings followed, causing his curiosity to be piqued as the screen flashed with a string of notifications.

Derek unlocked the phone to see a series of voice recordings and videos from his source, who was monitoring the bugs and camera in Michael's apartment.

His stomach tightened when he saw the subject line of one of the audio read: Urgent.

Before he could delve deeper, Evelyn stirred beside him. Her eyes fluttered open, dizzy and confused by the sudden noise. "What's that?" she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Who's messaging you at this hour?" Derek sighed, giving her a sheepish smile. "Sorry for waking you, babe. It's... it's about Sandra and Michael. I think it's important."

At the mention of those names, Evelyn immediately sat up straighter, concern, etching lines on her face. "What did they do this time?"

Derek's eyes narrowed as he stared at his phone. "I haven't listened yet. It's a bunch of recordings and videos. The fact that they're sending it this late means it must be important."

He played the urgent recording, and both of them listened intently as Sandra's voice crackled through the speakers. Her tone was calculating and full of malice as she suggested they get rid of Evelyn.

Evelyn's breath hitched, her skin paling as the blood drained from her face. She clutched the blanket tightly, her heart pounding in her chest. Derek's hand froze around the phone as he felt a rush of fury surging through him. "She's planning to... kill me," Evelyn whispered, her voice trembling and full of disbelief.

She had known that Sandra didn't like her, but it shocked her to hear Sandra hated her to the point of talking about getting rid of her so casually. What did she ever do to deserve such a level of hatred?

Derek slammed his phone down on the bed after the recording ended, his expression dark and unforgiving. His jaw clenched, barely able to contain the rage simmering beneath the surface.

"What kind of a person is she?" He asked, and then when he turned to Evelyn and saw how pale she was, he shook his head.

"I won't let that happen. I swear to you, Evelyn, Sandra's going to pay for this. I will submit this to the police and get her arrested.

She won't get anywhere near you," he promised fervently.

Evelyn shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "We can't use this evidence, Derek. It was obtained illegally. If we go to the police, how will you explain planting bugs in Michael's house?"

Derek's face hardened, his mind racing as he tried to find a solution. When he planted the bug and cameras, all he had wanted was evidence to show their family that those two were having an affair. He hadn't expected Sandra to go this far or to capture something like this. "I didn't think she would actually plan something this extreme..."

lip, still shaken. "Neither did I. I don't

Sandra is more dangerous than Vichael at this point. I'll make sure she slips

swallowed hard, her voice barely audible. "How am I supposed to look her in the face now? How

up with her for long," Derek said firmly, pulling her

need to try and get

stared at him incredulously. "How do you expect me to sleep after

staying awake won't solve this. You're going to work tomorrow, so you should try to get some rest. I promise I

to kill me, what do you think she would do to Samantha if

with his forefinger so we would

before giving him a nod, "Then believe me when I say

is no length I wouldn't go to keep you both safe. Now go to sleep," Derek said as he turned off the

against his, her silent tears soaking into his shirt. His

closer, his mind already

going to protect her, even if it meant destroying Sandra in

not she was Evelyn's sister. No matter what it took, he was going to catch her red-handed and

company parking lot in her new car the next morning. The silver exterior gleamed under the morning sunlight as

moment, she allowed herself a flicker of pride as she got out of the

her.

clipped words echoed in her mind - telling Michael they should kill her. She had tossed and turned all night, barely sleeping. And when

She wasn't sure what to do or what to say. Could she act like everything was normal and pretend to know nothing? Telling herself that she

I see you've got a

smile plastered across her face, even though her stomach

how Evelyn had been able to afford it or if it was her daughter's father who had

mouth went dry, her thoughts

Sandra getting someone to tamper with the car while

this morning?" she asked, her voice taking on a mocking edge. "Come on, we should get inside. We have a lot of

to head toward

She couldn't let it

couldn't

constantly wondering what sheet

Sandra hate

the point