Chapter 274

The treatment at Phoenix Labs might not be top-tier, but it was a coveted position in the industry.

After all, staying at Phoenix Labs meant climbing the corporate ladder within the Celestia Group. With luck, one could even reach mid-management. So how had Evelyn Carter gotten in so quickly?

Judging by earlier events, not only had Evelyn secured her place, but her new colleagues were fiercely protective of her too.

Vanessa Blake received no response from Dominic Reeves. She studied him and asked, "By the way, you’ve known her for a while. Did you know Evelyn practices kickboxing?"

"Evelyn knows kickboxing?" Dominic’s brows shot up. "Who told you that?"

Vanessa’s surprise deepened at his reaction—his question wasn’t How could that be? but Who told you? That subtle difference confirmed her suspicions. Evelyn did know kickboxing.

But how had she not known? If Dominic was aware, Vanessa should have been too!

"How long have you known?" she pressed.

Dominic shook his head. "I’m not entirely sure. Why do you ask?"

"I—" She hesitated. She couldn’t exactly admit that Evelyn had beaten up Lucien Dubois. If Dominic found out Lucien had been injured, he’d probably laugh—but then the conversation might circle back to why Evelyn had attacked him.

Vanessa bit her lip. "Someone mentioned it, but I didn’t believe them. I’ve known her for years, and she never once mentioned martial arts. She never trained in Taekwondo or karate, right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "And what do you mean, you’re not sure? Have you seen her fight?"

"I’ve seen her in action," he admitted vaguely. "But I don’t know if it was kickboxing specifically."

"When did you see it?" Vanessa pressed, though she could already guess.

If it wasn’t true, why would Lucien and Dominic both believe it? Lucien’s injuries were real—he’d been thoroughly thrashed, and he’d identified Evelyn without hesitation.

This wasn’t as simple as she’d thought.

"Do you remember that press conference?" Dominic finally said after a pause. "The one where we demanded she publicly apologize to debunk the rumors, but she backed out last minute."

Vanessa nodded. "I left early that day."

"Yeah, I followed you out," Dominic admitted. "But I guessed her escape route and took some men to corner her in an alley. In the end—"

"In the end, she beat you up?!" Vanessa gasped.

"Of course not!" he snapped, too quickly.

There was no way he’d admit the humiliating moment Evelyn had pressed a knife to his throat—especially not to Vanessa.

"She took down my bodyguards," he muttered. "I had no choice but to let her go. At the time, I thought they were just incompetent. But looking back… even if they were, she still overpowered multiple men without breaking a sweat."