Chapter 181: Clues to Evelyn’s Past
The Nightingale Bar in the old district reeked of cheap alcohol and rotting wood.
Evelyn pushed through the heavy oak door. In the dim light, she immediately spotted Damian in the corner.
He wasn't wearing his usual tailored designer suit. Instead, he had on a wrinkled black shirt, stubble shadowing his jaw. He looked exhausted and anxious.
Across from him sat a white-haired, hunched old woman.
When Damian saw Evelyn approaching, he shot to his feet, nervously smoothing his clothes. The arrogance that once filled his eyes had been replaced by something pathetically eager. "Evelyn, you came... Sit, it's clean here. I just had someone wipe it down."
He pulled out a chair for her.
Evelyn didn't look at him. She sat down and fixed her gaze on the old woman. "You say you knew Madeleine?"
The woman raised her cloudy eyes and studied Evelyn for a long moment. Her fingers began to tremble. "The resemblance... It's uncanny. Especially those stubborn eyes."
She shakily pulled a yellowed photograph from the cloth pouch in her lap and slid it across the table.
The edges were worn, but the black-and-white image was clear. A young woman in a convent volunteer's uniform sat on a bench, cradling an infant, her face holding a tender yet desperate smile.
The woman's features were strikingly similar to Evelyn's.
And on her ring finger was a silver band engraved with an iris pattern.
Evelyn felt her heart slam against her ribs. Her fingertips went numb as she touched the photograph.
"Her name was Madeleine. She came to the convent door on a stormy night." The old woman, Harriet, drifted into memory. "She was covered in blood. Said she'd just given birth and people were hunting her."
"Hunting her?"
"Yes. A family purge." Harriet sighed. "She said she'd defied her family's will by falling in love with someone forbidden. To save you, she had to leave you at the convent and lead them away herself."
Harriet wiped at her eyes. "When she left, she entrusted you to Sister Voss. She promised she'd come back for you when she could. But she never returned. Later, I heard she died in a car accident while running."
Evelyn stared at the woman's face in the photograph. Tears fell without warning.
She hadn't been abandoned.
Her mother had traded her own life for hers.
"Evelyn..." Damian watched her cry and instinctively reached out to wipe her tears. His hand stopped halfway, then retreated awkwardly, as if afraid of being burned.
He pulled out a handkerchief instead and offered it carefully. "Don't cry. At least... at least she was forced into it. She loved you."
Evelyn didn't take the handkerchief. She wiped her face roughly with her hand and clutched the photograph tight. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes." Damian answered quickly, like a child desperate for approval. "Harriet gave me your mother's diary. But I didn't read it, Evelyn. I swear I didn't look at a single word."
He took a notebook wrapped in layers of oilpaper from his briefcase and placed it on the table. "I know this is your private business. I did all this just to make you a little happier. Even just a little."
Evelyn looked at the diary, then at Damian's pleading face. Her emotions were impossibly tangled.
This man had once shattered her completely. Now he was groveling before her like a dog, trying to help her find her past.
"Thank you." The words came out cold. She grabbed the diary and photo and walked away.
"Evelyn!" Damian took two steps after her but was blocked by Vincent emerging from the shadows.
"Mr. Green. Please stay." Vincent's face was expressionless.
Damian stopped. Over the bodyguard's shoulder, he watched her retreating figure with hungry eyes and shouted, "I'm not asking you to forgive me! If you ever need anything, I'll do it! Anything!"
Evelyn didn't turn back. She pushed through the bar door and stepped into the cold night.
...
Meanwhile, in a cheap apartment in Queens.
Valerie Astor was screaming into her phone, her carefully applied makeup twisted with rage. "I don't care how much it costs! I want that bitch ruined! This time she'll never recover!"
"But Miss, Sienna is in prison..."
"That's your problem!" Valerie shrieked. "Tell that idiot if she testifies against Evelyn, I'll hire the best lawyers to reduce her sentence. I'll give her money to live abroad when she gets out. She hates Evelyn enough to go crazy. She won't refuse!"
After hanging up, Valerie stared at Evelyn's ranking on the competition website, a vicious smile curling her lips.
As the Astor family's princess, she would never let some orphan of unknown origins stand above her.
If she couldn't compete on talent, she'd destroy the person.
...
The crisis hit faster than expected.
Just one night later, a visitor's video from the women's prison went viral, topping every social media platform.
In the video, Sienna Marlo wore prison clothes, her hair cropped short. Gone was her former arrogance. She'd lost so much weight she was barely recognizable. Facing the camera, she sobbed dramatically.
"Yes, I'm guilty. I seduced my boss. I paid the price."
Tears streamed down her face. "But I have to tell the truth! Evelyn wasn't the victim back then. Damian was! She cheated first!"
"Four years ago, she was already involved with Ryan Lawrence from Nova Group! That child isn't Damian's, and it's not adopted either. It's her bastard with her lover!"
"And those designs..." Sienna played the martyr perfectly. "They're not hers! She stole core company files when she was consulting at Omni! Her so-called talent is all stolen!"
Then several supposed "insiders" released blurry photos and forged hotel records that matched Sienna's timeline perfectly.
The internet exploded.
People loved scandals involving the wealthy, especially ones with labels like "genius designer," "affair," and "illegitimate child."
#SophiaBellGetOut
#ThievesDontDeserveTalent
#RyanLawrencesMistress
Evelyn's social media was flooded with vicious comments. People even attacked Professor Hayes's official page, demanding to know why she was protecting such a morally corrupt student.
That afternoon, an email from the New York Star Award committee arrived in Evelyn's inbox.
Given the recent controversy seriously damaging the competition's reputation, the committee has decided to temporarily revoke your eligibility pending investigation.
Evelyn sat at her computer, staring at those cold words, her whole body turning to ice.
This wasn't just a competition spot. It was her ticket back into the design world. Her battlefield to prove herself to everyone. Now it had been stripped away by a few lies.