Chapter 239

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 sat curled up on her plush velvet sofa, a steaming cup of Earl Grey in hand, her gaze fixed on the tabloid spread across the coffee table. The headline screamed in bold letters: "Nathan Blackwood Spotted with Mystery Woman—Who Is She?"

Evelyn’s fingers tightened around the porcelain cup. She hadn’t expected to stumble upon this particular piece of gossip while skimming through the morning news. The accompanying photo showed Nathan, impeccably dressed in a tailored navy suit, his arm draped casually around a stunning brunette in a sequined red dress. The woman’s face was partially obscured, but Evelyn didn’t need to see it clearly to recognize the possessive glint in Nathan’s eyes.

"Interesting," she mused, her lips quirking into a smirk.

Just then, her phone buzzed. A message from Lillian Graves, her ever-efficient assistant, popped up:

"You’ve got a meeting with Preston Whitmore in an hour. Also, Donovan Sharpe called—wants to discuss the script revisions. And… you might want to check your social media. Things are getting spicy."

Evelyn arched a brow. Spicy? She swiped open her Instagram, and within seconds, her screen flooded with tagged posts and comments. The same photo from the tabloid had gone viral, with fans and gossip accounts dissecting every pixel.

@GossipQueen: "Is Nathan Blackwood finally moving on from Evelyn Sinclair? 👀 #DramaAlert"

@SinclairSquad: "Excuse me? That’s clearly a business dinner. Stop reaching."

@BlackwoodBabe: "Sorry, Evelyn, but he looks way happier with her. Just saying."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Pathetic," she muttered under her breath.

But then—her phone buzzed again. This time, it was a direct message from an unknown number.

"You should ask him about Vienna. He’s not as loyal as you think."

Evelyn’s breath hitched. Vienna?

A slow, dangerous smile curled her lips. Whoever this mystery woman was, she’d just made things infinitely more entertaining.

And Evelyn loved a good game.

Serena Collins' bombshell divorce announcement sent shockwaves through the Reed and Collins families.

The Collins clan, renowned for their unwavering principles, immediately rallied behind their daughter when she made her stance clear—especially since Daniel Wright didn't object.

The Reeds, however, panicked. In the cutthroat world of business, their acumen was mediocre at best. Their connections—largely thanks to the Collins family’s military ties—had been their lifeline. Without that leverage, the Reeds would never have climbed to their current status.

They didn’t have a prodigy like Nathan Blackwood, who could single-handedly salvage a sinking empire.

Severing ties with the Collins family? Unthinkable.

Desperate, they resorted to tired excuses and hollow apologies.

After all, in their circles, mistresses and illegitimate children were hardly scandalous. Some even considered Victor Reed respectable—he’d only kept one mistress and fathered one illegitimate child. By elite standards, that was practically monastic.

Let’s be honest—among the guests present, three out of five men had strayed from their vows.

In high society, marital fidelity was the exception, not the rule.

That said, few bastards caused this level of uproar. Serena’s fury was justified, and her decision to divorce? Understandable.

So the Reeds pushed Victor forward, demanding he grovel—even if it meant humiliating himself in front of everyone—to win Serena back.

But Serena’s mind was made up. She ignored their pleas, summoning her family’s soldiers and her son’s police colleagues to escort them out.

Humiliated, the Reeds had no choice but to leave.

Victor and his butler were unceremoniously ejected, his phone buzzing relentlessly.

Through Evelyn Sinclair’s sharp intuition, the Blackwoods knew exactly who was calling—the mistress overseas.

Ethan Carter had tattled, and the mistress still held emotional leverage over Victor. Now, every vibration of his phone made him want to hurl it against the wall.

The guests bit back laughter at his pathetic state.

With the nuisance gone, the hosts smoothly guided the remaining guests toward the exit.

Serena and Daniel personally apologized to each attendee.

As they departed, whispers of the scandal already rippled through the crowd.

High society was in for another seismic shift—though Evelyn likely didn’t anticipate being dragged into the drama again.

The whispers spread like wildfire through the gilded halls of the venue.

"Apparently, Daniel found the surveillance footage first, and then Serena got suspicious after seeing it. She caught them red-handed."

"Daniel didn’t suspect anything before, did he? Why would he investigate Amelia?"

"Someone must have tipped him off. He seemed completely normal before the wedding."

"Come to think of it, I’ve seen Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood with Daniel quite often lately…"

"You mean Nathan and that—"

"Yes, her."

"Why is she involved again? She was present during the Locke family scandal too, and she was close to the key players."

"Must be a coincidence. They’re Nathan’s friends, after all. Naturally, they’d be here."

"No, no, the Scandal Whisperer knows things."

"So, if you attend events with her, you’re guaranteed front-row seats to high-society drama?"

"You think Mrs. Blackwood is some kind of walking bad luck charm? Wherever she goes, chaos follows?"

"Honestly, I just want to know which event she’s attending next. Watching scandals unfold in real time is thrilling."

"As long as she doesn’t show up at my family’s events, I’m fine. I’d be terrified."

"If you’ve got nothing to hide, why fear the Scandal Magnet? Unless your—"

"Shut up."

Just as Evelyn was about to leave, she felt the weight of dozens of eyes boring into her, prickling her skin with unease.

At that moment, Nathan’s friends couldn’t hold back their amusement.

Grayson frowned. "Evelyn, be honest—is there some kind of supernatural force around you?"

He was starting to wonder if his disastrous luck with Gwendolyn was somehow tied to Evelyn, given that Gwendolyn was her fan.

Not that he cared about Gwendolyn, but her refusal to play along was irritating. She was just a stand-in, after all. She should’ve been obedient. Even if she was unhappy, he couldn’t give her what she wanted. The fact that he allowed her to stay by his side should’ve been enough.

Evelyn didn’t have time to decipher Grayson’s twisted logic—if she had, she would’ve laughed in his face.

"This time, it was Nathan who uncovered the truth, not me," she said quickly, deflecting the blame.

Nathan nodded in agreement, his expression unreadable.

The whispers only grew louder.

"Didn't you just want to see a dog and ended up uncovering an illegitimate child scandal?" Vivian Grant burst into laughter, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

The group didn't overanalyze like Grayson Hart had. Instead, they simply marveled at Evelyn Sinclair’s uncanny ability to stumble upon the juiciest gossip and teased her about it.

Normally, they wouldn’t be so lighthearted when their close friend Daniel Wright was going through such turmoil. But in this case, the revelation was actually beneficial for him. Besides, after the whole Mason Hunter and Claire Morgan fiasco, they had become somewhat desensitized to drama—now, they just enjoyed the show.

"Do you two break up a couple at every event you attend?" Marcus Prescott immediately turned to Beatrice Holloway with a smirk. "Beatrice, watch out. Your engagement party is next."

Beatrice shrugged, completely unfazed. "If a couple can be broken up that easily, they had problems to begin with. It’s better to find out early than to suffer later. But honestly, I’m not worried. Ours is a loveless, arranged marriage. He’s a notorious playboy, and we’re just cooperating for appearances."

It was the first time Beatrice had openly spoken about her upcoming marriage.

Evelyn had known about it before—it was purely a business arrangement, with both parties free to do as they pleased. Beatrice didn’t indulge in affairs, but her fiancé certainly did. With no emotions involved, there was no room for hurt feelings.

Every time Beatrice spoke, Evelyn couldn’t help but glance at Lucas Thornton’s reaction.

It was impossible to suppress her inner gossip queen, especially when she knew someone in their circle harbored secret feelings for another—feelings that remained unnoticed by everyone else.

As expected, Lucas’s expression flickered with something unreadable before he quickly masked it with a teasing grin, turning the attention back to Marcus. "Why don’t you mention your father’s upcoming wedding instead?"

Marcus immediately turned to Evelyn with a dramatic plea. "You have to come and ruin my dad’s wedding."

Vivian playfully smacked his arm.

Marcus pouted. "You wouldn’t want your future mother-in-law to be the same age as you, would you?"

One could only say that Marcus’s father changed wives more often than most people changed their phones. It had gotten to the point where Marcus suspected his father was just collecting wedding gifts at this rate.

Each new marriage caused chaos at home, driving Marcus to stay abroad longer. Several times, he and Vivian had planned to return and finally tie the knot, only to be thwarted by his father’s latest romantic escapade. The only silver lining? His father couldn’t father any more illegitimate children—likely due to physical limitations.

They had been laughing and chatting for a while when Daniel finally arrived. Among close friends, he didn’t bother hiding his exhaustion—it was written all over his face.