Unmasking the Heiress

Ruby tried to spit out curses, but Evangeline's bodyguard was quick to silence her.

"Think this is the end?" said Evangeline. "The real show's just starting!"

She rose to her feet and walked away with a commanding stride. Before she left, however, she turned to her bodyguards. "Make sure she's well taken care of!" "Absolutely, Ms. Evangeline."

Ruby, mouth sealed, was on the verge of a breakdown.

'How dare you seek help, Evangeline! Who gave you the guts? Mr. Walter Gordon will never let this slide!' screamed Ruby internally.

After leaving the station, Evangeline was whisked away to the hospital for some minor bandaging. In the past, even a tiny scrape would have sent her into a dramatic frenzy at the hospital.

For the past three years, the Foster family's elite bodyguard team had been on call but never needed. However, the moment they returned to duty, they found Evangeline suffering such indignities. Wade was livid. He could not just stand by and do nothing.

The Fosters were a force to be reckoned with in the South, wielding influence as easily as one might control the weather. To cross them was to invite fear.

A formidable line of bodyguards, clad in sharp suits and dark sunglasses, stood outside the corridor. They were the epitome of uniformity and discipline, each a testament to the Foster family's rigorous training. They were an intimidating sight, a sea of black-clad protectors.

When someone inquired about the Garside family's debacle, Wade could not hide his contempt. "The Garsides dared to harm Ms. Evangeline, darling of the Foster family, her maternal side, so grievously. They've worn out their welcome in the capital. Off to Northern Montavia with them, to toil in the fields," he decreed.

"Understood!"

Meanwhile, after Evangeline's release from custody, Ruby received another harsh lesson from Jay. Only when she was hauled back and the Garside family convened for an urgent family meeting did she grasp the severity of her actions. Evangeline was far from the simple country girl the rumors painted her to be. She had a powerful ally, a mysterious benefactor behind her. She had made an enemy that not even the Garsides could afford to

cross.

Even so, was there anyone more powerful than Walter?

Unbelievable. Evangeline had sought the company of another man behind Walter's back.

No matter. She had the formidable Walter Gordon in her corner.

"Uncle, why are you afraid of what Evangeline might do? Mr. Walter Gordon instructed me to handle her!

She just hurt someone who means a lot to Mr. Walter Gordon!"

"You numbskull! You think you should just jump because Mr. Walter Gordon says so? She's still the Gordon family's lady, not yet divorced... You're not currying favor with him when you mess with his girl; you're crossing him! Get it?" Ruby could not accept it.

Impossible.

Walter siding with Evangeline? Not in a million years.

She was in a full-blown panic, too frazzled to even think about the hospital, so she called Julia instead.

Just yesterday, she stuck her neck out for Julia, and with Julia's gentle heart, she was sure to lend a hand. If Walter stepped in, the Garside family would be out of the woods.

Ruby took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, and with her world spinning, she reached out to Julia.

"Julia, you've got to help me." She spilled the beans about everything that went down last night, pleading

with her to talk to Walter.

Meanwhile, Julia had made it back home.

She was frustrated that Walter had not escorted her home, and her jaw dropped when she heard Evangeline had waltzed out of the police station. When on earth did Evangeline manage to snag another guy?

She had enough influence to not even blink at the Gordon family, while the Garside family was shaking in

their boots.

Nonetheless, that was the perfect chance for Walter to see that woman's true face.

She got Walter on the line and laid it on thick, giving Ruby's tale her own dramatic spin.

There they were, in the dead of night.

Walter had tracked down Evangeline's whereabouts. After hanging up the phone outside her hospital, a fierce anger ignited within him.

A rugged stranger, huh?

Alright, then. She had lived up to his expectations, after all.

His assistant, Oscar, delivered his findings with a grave expression, struggling to find the words. "Mr. Walter Gordon, regarding James' identity you asked me to dig into, there's a gap in his past three years. It's as if someone wiped it clean, including everything about Evang "One thing is certain: they met in the Serenova, and this is the only photo I could find. It's rare for anyone to slip through our net in Halcyonia, so could James be..."

Walter snatched the photo, his gaze fixed on Evangeline's carefree laughter as she nestled in James'

arms.

A chilling darkness flashed in his eyes.

"It doesn't matter who he is." The crimson tip of his cigarette glowed against the night, scattering the

shadows in his gaze. "He's too naive, thinking he can play this game. It's time to end his little career adventure."

With a flick of his cigarette, he set the photo ablaze. The red flame died in his grasp.

Oscar tensed up. "Understood. I'll handle it."

"And give the Garsides a nudge," added Walter.

""Will do."

Deep into the night, Evangeline lay awake in the solitude of her plush VIP hospital room. Restless, she scrolled through her friends' updates only to find an unexpected post.

Julia had shared a selfie on social media, clad in a bathrobe with love bites marking her neck. Despite the bruises still visible on her face, she artfully draped her hair to one side, capturing a stunning no-makeup shot.

The caption teased, [An unusual night with a special someone.]

Alone tie lay discarded behind her bed-a silent witness to the night's earlier events. Everyone knew Walter had swept her off her feet, and the evidence was obvious.

Evangeline was livid. She itched to yank Julia right out of the screen and give her a piece of her mind.

A perfect match, those two scoundrels.

Walter strode toward Evangeline's hospital room, his long legs eating up the distance. Wade, the guard stationed outside, hesitated to block him. However, that was Walter, and Wade did not dare to cross him, Thus, Walter walked in without so much as a pause.

He found Evangeline with a patch on her face to reduce swelling, his presence casting a chilling shadow." Quite the show you've got here. Are these all James' people outside?" Dressed in a sleek black coat, his tall frame filled the doorway as he looked down at her with a piercing

gaze.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

The door slammed behind him, plunging the room into semi-darkness. The temperature might as well have dropped to zero.

Evangeline had not expected the man who belonged in Julia's bed to show up in her ward. She blinked, thinking she was seeing things. However, a glance at Walter's lower body grounded her in reality. So, he was all talk, wrapping things up so swiftly with Julia. No wonder he did not want kids.

Propped up against her pillows, Evangeline arched an eyebrow and delivered her verdict. "What's it to you? Get out of my room, now!" Walter did not back down. His intense eyes seemed to wrap around her as he declared, "Alright, we'll

leave together."

In the next instant, he scooped her up in his arms.

"Hey! What are you doing? Put me down!" Evangeline

"What am I doing, you ask? Well, I'm indulging you!"