Chapter 241

Eavesdropping on Scandalous Thoughts

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 vanilla latte, scrolling through her phone absentmindedly—until a particular headline caught her eye.

"Seraphina Delacroix Spotted Leaving Sebastian Hart’s Penthouse at Dawn—Is Their On-Again, Off-Again Romance Heating Up Again?"

Evelyn nearly choked on her coffee. Seraphina, the notoriously dramatic actress, and Sebastian, her equally volatile ex? This was juicy.

Her fingers flew across the screen, pulling up the accompanying photos. There was Seraphina, wrapped in nothing but a silk robe, her dark hair tousled, slipping into a waiting car. The timestamp? 4:37 AM.

Evelyn smirked. Oh, this is going to be good.

Just then, her phone buzzed with a text from Lillian Graves, her ever-efficient assistant.

Lillian: You seeing this?

Evelyn: Oh, I’m seeing it. And I’m already drafting the mental screenplay.

Because here was the thing about Evelyn Sinclair—she didn’t just read gossip. She lived for it. The drama, the betrayals, the whispered scandals in gilded hallways—it all fueled her creativity. As a bestselling romance novelist, she thrived on the messy, unpredictable chaos of real-life relationships.

And Seraphina Delacroix? She was chaos incarnate.

Evelyn tapped her nails against her phone case, already imagining the fallout. Would Sebastian’s current girlfriend, Adrian Cross, find out? Would Seraphina’s manager, Isabelle Laurent, issue another frantic denial? Or—her lips curled—would this finally be the scandal that toppled Seraphina’s carefully curated "reformed party girl" image?

A knock at her door interrupted her scheming.

Nathan Blackwood stood in the doorway, his tailored suit immaculate, his dark eyes amused. "You look like you’re plotting something."

Evelyn grinned. "Just enjoying the morning news."

Nathan arched a brow, stepping inside. "Let me guess—Seraphina Delacroix?"

"How did you—?"

"Lillian texted me too. Said you’d need someone to ‘rein in your chaotic energy’ before you accidentally start a Twitter war."

Evelyn scoffed. "Please. I have standards."

Nathan leaned against her desk, arms crossed. "You also have a deadline."

She groaned. "Don’t remind me."

But as Nathan launched into a lecture about her overdue manuscript, Evelyn’s mind wandered back to Seraphina’s scandal. Because if there was one thing she knew, it was this:

In Hollywood, the juiciest stories were never just about who slept with whom.

They were about who got caught.

And Evelyn had a front-row seat to the show.

Sophia Reed had never imagined her judgment could fail so spectacularly. What kind of monster had she entangled herself with?

Raised by a mother whose love was conditional at best, Sophia endured a childhood of emotional neglect and a strained relationship with her parents. Outwardly, she appeared cold and detached, but beneath that icy exterior lay a heart that yearned for genuine affection—though her guarded nature made her wary of letting anyone in.

Her preference for routine and predictability made her seem rigid and uninteresting in Mason Wright’s eyes.

When Mason first pursued her, he had been relentless. Gentle, attentive, utterly devoted—every gesture, every word meticulously crafted to make her feel like the center of his world. Any woman would have fallen for such an illusion.

But that was the danger of comfort. When someone mirrored her perfectly, when every interaction felt effortless, she should have known it was all a performance—a game played by someone far more skilled than her.

Sophia had no experience with love’s darker deceptions. She had been completely fooled.

She thought the humiliation would end with their breakup. With no close friends to turn to and her family’s suffocating expectations weighing on her, she found herself drowning her sorrows alone at a dimly lit bar. Normally, she could hold her liquor, but tonight, a single drink left her head spinning.

Then Mason appeared.

His grip on her wrist was firm, his smile deceptively gentle as he murmured, "Let me take you home."

Panic flared. She tried to scream, but the noise of the crowd swallowed her voice. Her limbs felt heavy, sluggish. Before she could react, his hand clamped over her mouth, and he dragged her out.

The hotel room door clicked shut behind them.

Mason tossed her onto the bed, his expression twisting into something unrecognizable—something predatory.

"What are you doing? Get out!" Sophia’s voice trembled with fury, but her body betrayed her, heat spreading beneath her skin despite her terror.

He laughed, stripping off his jacket with deliberate slowness. "You played the untouchable ice queen so well. But tonight, I’ll make you beg."

Her face paled, then flushed violently. Tears burned her eyes.

"Mason, you bastard! I swear, I’ll ruin you!"

"Oh?" He smirked, stepping aside. Her gaze followed—and her blood turned to ice.

A camera.

Its red light blinked mockingly from the nightstand.

Sophia’s entire body shook. A sob tore from her throat as she hurled every curse she knew at him.

"Save your breath," Mason purred, leaning over her. "After tonight, you’ll marry me. That video? Just a private keepsake between husband and wife. Unless… you’d rather the whole world see it?"

His whisper slithered into her ear like poison.

Sophia clenched her jaw so hard she tasted blood.

This wasn’t over.

Not by a long shot.

Sophia watched in despair as Mason slithered onto the bed, his movements serpentine, predatory. Every inch of her screamed to fight, to tear him apart—yet her traitorous body burned with an unbearable heat, craving his touch. The self-loathing was suffocating.

Just as Mason’s fingers grazed her collar, threatening to shatter the last of her dignity, the sharp click of the door echoed through the room.

Mason barely had time to turn before a towering figure stormed in like a hurricane.

BAM!

The force of the punch sent Mason crashing to the floor, blood already blooming across his face. His dazed eyes widened in recognition.

"Daniel? You—"

Another brutal strike silenced him. Within moments, Mason lay unconscious, a broken mess at Daniel’s feet.

Daniel had been watching Mason for weeks. His half-brother was a viper, always scheming in the shadows. With Mason’s foreign status, deportation was the safest solution—but Daniel needed proof. He never expected to uncover Mason’s involvement in illegal drugs. The moment he realized Mason was targeting Sophia, he moved.

"Pathetic bastard," Daniel muttered before turning to Sophia.

The second their eyes met, she lunged.

Her arms locked around his neck, her feverish lips crashing against his. The sheer desperation in her kiss left him frozen.

Sophia’s clothes were disheveled, her breathing ragged. She clawed at his shirt, her fingers trembling as she tried to undo the buttons.

"Sophia—stop." Daniel gripped her wrists, forcing space between them.

But her strength was unnatural, fueled by whatever poison Mason had given her. With a desperate shove, she pinned him onto the bed.

"Help me," she begged, her voice raw.

"Do you even know who I am?"

"Daniel," she gasped. "You’re good. You’ll help me."

Her hands roamed his chest, his abdomen, igniting a fire he couldn’t control. Sophia—soft, intoxicating, her scent wrapping around him—was unraveling every shred of his restraint.

And for the first time in his life, Daniel Wright, the disciplined heir of the Ford family, lost control.

His hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her back, hard.

The line between savior and sinner had never been so dangerously thin.

"Sophia! Are you really going to throw yourself at him like this? Snap out of it!"

Sophia froze, her tear-filled eyes locking onto Daniel’s face.

Daniel thought she had finally come to her senses, his cheeks flushing as he tried to gently push her away. But before he could, Sophia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again—harder this time.

"I just wanted something real," she whispered against his lips, her voice trembling. "But they had to ruin even that. Fine. If they want to play dirty, then so will I. This isn’t you taking advantage of me—it’s me choosing you. And don’t worry, I won’t hold you accountable."

Her words were reckless, desperate, as if she had given up fighting the effects of the drug coursing through her veins.

Daniel’s breath hitched at the raw determination in her gaze. But before Sophia could tug at his shirt, his hand shot out—

Thud.

She crumpled into his arms, unconscious.

Daniel exhaled sharply, carefully adjusting her disheveled clothes before immediately dialing for an ambulance and the police. Within minutes, Sophia was whisked away to the hospital, while the perpetrator was hauled off in handcuffs.

Now that’s what I call a true gentleman.

As Evelyn’s live broadcast played in the background, the Blackwoods collectively held their breath. When they heard Daniel hadn’t taken advantage of the situation, relief washed over them.

In circumstances like these, anything less would have been unforgivable. Thankfully, Nathan’s friend had proven himself honorable.

Nathan wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Even if Daniel had been drugged, he knew his friend would never cross that line.

I can’t wait to see how these two navigate things after this kind of encounter.

Evelyn’s voice dripped with playful intrigue, her gossip-loving side unable to resist.