Chapter 240

The morning sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Evelyn Sinclair’s penthouse, casting golden streaks across the marble floors. She sipped her latte, scrolling through her phone absently, when an unexpected wave of thoughts crashed into her mind.

"Oh my god, did you hear? Nathan Blackwood was seen leaving a hotel with that new actress, Seraphina Delacroix, at 3 AM last night!"

Evelyn nearly choked on her coffee. That wasn’t her thought—it was someone else’s. And not just anyone. That voice belonged to Victoria Hayes, Nathan’s scheming secretary.

Her fingers tightened around her cup. Since when could she hear Victoria’s thoughts?

More whispers trickled in, sharp and venomous. "Honestly, Evelyn doesn’t deserve him. She’s just a washed-up writer clinging to his fame. If only he’d open his eyes and see who’s really been by his side all these years..."

Evelyn’s lips curled into a cold smile. Oh, Victoria. You have no idea what you’ve just unleashed.

She set her cup down with deliberate calm. If Victoria wanted to play mind games, she’d soon learn Evelyn was the grandmaster.

Meanwhile, across town, Nathan Blackwood strode into his office, his expression unreadable. His assistant, Lillian Graves, handed him a tablet. "The board meeting starts in ten, sir. Also, Ms. Hayes has been asking for you all morning."

Nathan barely glanced at the schedule. "Tell her I’m busy."

Lillian hesitated. "She mentioned it was... urgent."

A flicker of irritation crossed his face. "Unless the building’s on fire, it can wait."

As he turned away, a stray thought—sharp and unexpected—pierced his focus. "God, he’s even hotter when he’s pissed. If only Evelyn would just disappear..."

Nathan froze. That wasn’t Lillian’s voice. It was Victoria’s.

And he’d heard it.

His jaw clenched. What the hell is going on?

Back in her penthouse, Evelyn smirked as she tapped out a text to her agent, Serena Whitmore: "Cancel my afternoon. I have a snake to handle."

Victoria wanted to play dirty?

Game on.

"We'll drink with you," Lucas said without hesitation.

The others quickly agreed, all eager to help Daniel unwind.

"I'm fine. I need to stay with my mom and handle things during this time," Daniel replied, his voice steady but his knuckles white from gripping the edge of the table. He was holding himself together—barely. He had always been the strong one, the rock of the family, and now was no different.

He had come specifically to thank Nathan and Evelyn.

If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t have known how his life would have spiraled.

"It’s because of you two—"

Suddenly, Sophia’s voice cut through the air. The Blackwood family had brought her along to call Nathan and Evelyn home.

As elders who knew Sophia, they couldn’t let her return alone, so they insisted on escorting her.

Sophia’s face was still pale, but hearing Daniel’s words reminded her of her own fate. She dipped her head slightly in gratitude toward Nathan and Evelyn.

When she lifted her gaze, she accidentally locked eyes with Daniel.

Both immediately looked away, an unspoken tension thickening the air between them.

Their connection was strange—a mix of guilt and resentment. They were both victims of the same cruel deception, yet neither knew how to face the other. The weight of their shared betrayal made every glance, every word, unbearably awkward.

But to everyone else watching, there was something almost... poetic about the two of them standing there. Two people who had been wronged in the worst way, now bound by circumstance. For a fleeting moment, some even entertained the absurd thought of matching them together.

But that idea vanished as quickly as it came.

Attractive people with a perfect height difference could make anyone’s imagination run wild.

Once rationality returned, it was clear—there was no future between them. Not unless fate decided to play another cruel joke.

After a brief, stilted exchange, the Blackwood family left with Sophia.

In the car, they avoided mentioning the scumbag who had ruined their lives. Instead, they focused on Sophia’s situation.

Her mother was in jail. Her father was overseas, handling business. So, Sophia split her time between her own home and her grandparents’.

News traveled fast. Sophia had wanted to go home to process everything, but the calls wouldn’t stop. In the end, her family decided it was best for her to stay with her grandparents.

Compared to the Fords’ scandal, Sophia’s story was less sensational. When the news spread, the spotlight remained firmly on Daniel, Mason, and Amelia’s twisted love triangle—not to mention the explosive divorce battle between Victor and Serena.

Meanwhile, Evelyn Sinclair had earned the nickname "Gossip Empress" in fan circles, spreading like wildfire across the internet. Netizens joked that after cleaning up the entertainment industry, she had turned her attention to high society, bringing justice and moral clarity wherever she went.

Some even tagged her in posts, listing off scandal-ridden families and asking if their drama was real or just manufactured for online clout. Evelyn had unwittingly become their inside source for all things elite.

The situation escalated to the point where Isabelle Laurent called, demanding to know what was happening and whether Evelyn was crafting some new public persona.

Evelyn could only sigh in exasperation.

The day after the incident, the Reed family's meltdown remained the hottest topic online, even trending on short-form video platforms. The storyline was more gripping than a soap opera, and the public couldn't get enough.

But by the third day, the buzz began to fade. Thanks to Serena Collins' powerful connections and Daniel Wright's law enforcement background, the narrative was quickly brought under control.

On the fourth day, Victor Reed and Serena finalized their divorce. Victor, as the guilty party, walked away with almost nothing.

The Reed family blamed Victor for mishandling the situation and costing them dearly. They cut all ties with him, leaving him so furious that he ended up hospitalized.

Serena, ruthless as ever, froze all of the mistress's overseas assets, forcing her to crawl back to Victor and Mason.

The Blackwood family sat in their living room, pretending to discuss idle gossip while secretly hanging onto Evelyn's every update.

Impressive. She moves fast and leaves no room for mercy.

Mason ignored his father's hospitalization and Amelia entirely. He holed up alone in a hotel, lashing out daily. To make matters worse, he was stuck getting a dental crown.

The eavesdropping Blackwoods nearly choked on their laughter.

Amelia, meanwhile, was so distraught that she suffered complications with her pregnancy and had to be hospitalized. Unable to reach Mason, she returned to the penthouse she had shared with Daniel—only to find she couldn’t even enter the building. Daniel had sold the place and wiped her residency from the records, leaving only her belongings with the doorman.

Amelia cried herself into unconsciousness and was rushed back to the hospital.

The Blackwoods scoffed. She actually had the nerve to try going back. The audacity!

Amelia then went to Daniel's workplace, only to learn he was on leave. She showed up at his mansion, but it was empty.

The Blackwoods exchanged glances. Seems like Serena and Daniel have seen right through her. If they can’t deal with her, they’ll just avoid her.

Outside, Amelia ran into Mason’s mother, who had come to fight for her son’s share of the assets.

The Blackwoods smirked. Birds of a feather. The two most important women in Mason’s life have come to the same conclusion.

Amelia, naturally, latched onto her, desperate to find Mason.

Seriously. She’s not giving up on either side.

The Blackwood family was stunned into silence.

They ended up in a vicious argument. Mason’s mother lashed out at Amelia, blaming her for bringing misfortune upon them. If it weren’t for Amelia, her son wouldn’t have lost his status, and they wouldn’t be in this mess. She even called Amelia a curse. In her fury, she struck Amelia—

What? The baby is gone?

The Blackwoods were horrified. They had imagined countless scenarios, but never this—Mason’s own mother had beaten Amelia so severely that she lost the child. It was her own grandchild!

Then again, perhaps the greatest tragedy would have been for that child to be born into such a family. With parents so morally bankrupt, maybe it was a mercy. The heavens had spared the innocent soul from a lifetime of suffering.

The next day, Evelyn brought more updates.

Mason finally reappeared after getting his dental work done. Faced with Amelia’s hysterical grief over their lost child, he remained cold and detached. He warned her never to contact him again, declaring her worthless and their relationship over. Amelia finally saw the truth.

The Blackwoods were disgusted. What kind of monster abandons his own child?

Oh my God—Amelia is trying to jump off a building! Evelyn gasped.

The Blackwoods froze in shock.

Wait—was this just another act? Another desperate ploy to force Daniel to show up? She had deliberately left Daniel’s contact information with the nurses, claiming to be his ex-girlfriend. Unbelievable.

The Blackwoods were speechless, morbidly curious about how this would end.

The next second, Evelyn was shaking with suppressed laughter, barely able to stay seated. She collapsed against Nathan’s shoulder, wheezing with amusement.

The hospital had safeguards against people like her. The rooftop door was locked. She couldn’t even get up there to stage her dramatic exit. And because she had left Daniel’s details, the nurses noticed her heading for the roof. Security was called, and her suicide attempt failed spectacularly. The hospital suspected mental instability and sent her for a psychiatric evaluation.

In the end, Daniel never came. Instead, one of Amelia’s distant, unlucky relatives had to deal with the mess. Hahaha—I can’t breathe!

The Blackwoods quickly found other things to do. Aside from Nathan, who could resist laughing at such a ridiculous spectacle? They had to leave the room to let it all out.

Another day passed.

Everyone assumed the drama was finally over.

Then Evelyn suddenly sat up straight, her expression darkening.

What now?

Mason still hadn’t given up. He was determined to win Sophia back. He hadn’t cared about Amelia losing the baby because he wanted to marry into the Reed fortune. An illegitimate child would only complicate things.

The Blackwoods tensed. Margaret immediately wanted to warn Sophia, but it was already too late.

Damn it.

Mason had secretly installed a tracker on Sophia’s phone. Tonight, she had gone to a bar alone to drink—and Mason—

The moment was ripe. He slipped something into her drink and whisked her away to a secluded hotel suite!

Panic erupted in the Blackwood household. Margaret sprang into action, her face pale with dread.

Nathan immediately dialed Daniel, convinced the authorities could intervene swiftly.

"Daniel is already on the scene?"

The room fell silent. All eyes turned to Evelyn, brimming with confusion and thinly veiled suspicion.

What exactly was happening?

The air in the penthouse was thick with tension. Evelyn's fingers trembled around her phone as she replayed the last few hours in her mind. The gala had been a trap—one she'd walked into blindly.

Margaret's voice cut through the silence. "We need to move now." Her tone left no room for argument.

Nathan's jaw clenched. "Daniel's team is en route, but we can't rely solely on them." His gaze flicked to Evelyn, dark with unspoken questions.

Sophia, usually composed, paced the length of the room. "Who would dare target her like this?"

Julian, ever the strategist, leaned forward. "This wasn’t impulsive. Someone planned it meticulously."

Evelyn’s stomach twisted. The pieces were there—the lingering stares, the too-convenient timing—but the full picture eluded her.

Then her phone buzzed. An unknown number.

A single sentence lit up the screen:

"You should’ve stayed gone."

Outside the hotel, Daniel’s team moved like shadows. The opulent lobby, usually alive with chatter, was eerily still.

"Room 3402," Daniel murmured into his comms. "Suspect is armed. Proceed with extreme caution."

His men nodded, fanning out with practiced precision.

Back at the penthouse, Evelyn’s breath hitched. The message wasn’t just a threat—it was a confession.

Someone from her past had resurfaced.

And they weren’t playing games.

Nathan’s phone rang. Daniel’s voice was tight. "We’ve secured the room. But—"

A beat of silence.

"He’s gone. Vanished. Left behind... something for Evelyn."

Nathan’s blood ran cold. "What is it?"

Daniel exhaled sharply.

"A necklace. The same one Cassandra wore the night she disappeared."

The line went dead.

Nathan’s hands shook.

This wasn’t just an attack.

It was a declaration of war.

Evelyn met his gaze, the unspoken truth hanging between them.

Whoever did this knew everything.

And they weren’t .

Not by a long shot.