Chapter 72: The Sudden Scandal
Early the next morning, Evelyn’s phone screen lit up with a news alert from the Omni Group’s official account. A highly saturated photo dominated the screen.
It showed Damian and Evelyn standing side-by-side in front of the park’s carousel. He had his arm intimately around her shoulder, and both were smiling flawlessly for the camera. The caption was sickeningly sweet:
[Omni Group CEO Damian Green and his wife Evelyn enjoy a romantic weekend; eight years of marriage as sweet as ever.]
Evelyn’s stomach churned. The photos were clearly staged to protect his image. This PR maneuver was quick and precise. The moment the photos went live, a flood of shill accounts and unsuspecting users poured into the comments section, praising them as "sweethearts" and a "model couple."
[OMG, Mr. Green is so handsome! They are a real-life prince and princess!] [Eight years and still so in love. This is what true love looks like!] ...
Evelyn scrolled through the praise like she was watching a joke. The Omni Group’s stock saw a small bump in pre-market trading. Everything seemed to be going exactly as Damian planned. The incident at the park the night before felt like it never happened.
However, this false harmony lasted less than half an hour. Hundreds of newly registered anonymous accounts, with no profile pictures or personal info, flooded the comments. Their posts were startlingly uniform.
One blurry photo showed a man gently holding Evelyn’s hand, walking her to an office building. The man's profile was clearly not Damian Green's.
A second photo followed, seemingly taken in an emergency room, with Evelyn sitting on a bench clutching her stomach while the man knelt in front of her, speaking.
The caption was highly inflammatory: “EXCLUSIVE! Mrs. Green caught cheating with young doctor, midnight rendezvous, hospital flirtation!”
The public outcry exploded instantly.
[Cheating? Evelyn meeting up with a mysterious man late at night?] [I recognize him! Isn't that Dr. Ethan Hall from St. Mary's Hospital? He's pretty hot, too, tsk tsk.] [Ugh! Flaunting her marriage with her husband one minute, cuddling with another man the next. What a player!]
Evelyn’s fingers trembled. The same accounts that had just been praising the "model couple" immediately turned on her, launching personal attacks. "Slut," "Liar," "Whore"—every ugly word was hurled at Evelyn.
The Omni Group’s PR department scrambled, but they couldn't delete posts fast enough to stem the tide of new ones. The carefully staged "happy couple" photo now looked like a massive joke.
Damian saw the news in his office. He had just finished a morning meeting and was pleasantly sipping coffee, enjoying the compliments from online users. But the flood of negative comments made the smile freeze on his face.
He scrolled through the screen, his pupils contracting at the foul language and the blurry photos.
Crash!
He slammed the tablet onto his desk, shattering the screen. His property was being sullied by another man. His wife—no matter how he treated her or ignored her—was absolutely forbidden from being touched by anyone else.
It had to be Ethan. That reckless doctor! How dare he!
Damian's face twisted with rage. He was convinced this was all Ethan’s plot. That pretty-boy doctor must be encouraging Evelyn, poisoning her mind, making her feel brave enough to demand a divorce and challenge his authority repeatedly!
He grabbed his phone and called Ethan. The moment the doctor answered, Damian spat out without preamble, “Dr. Ethan Hall, is that right?”
Ethan sounded briefly confused. “Damian?”
“Tomorrow, noon, at the bowling alley on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg. We need to have a ‘talk.’” He stressed the word “talk” and hung up, giving Ethan no chance to reply. He was going to break that reckless doctor's fingers one by one.
On the other side of town, Evelyn’s phone buzzed with an urgent message from Sophie.
[Evelyn! Damian has gone crazy! My friend at Omni Group found out he set a meeting with Ethan at the bowling alley on Wythe Avenue! He brought bodyguards! That bastard is up to no good! He’s going to attack Ethan!]
The string of exclamation points highlighted Sophie’s extreme anxiety. Evelyn's heart plummeted. She knew better than anyone what that man was capable of when he was furious.
No, she had to stop Ethan. Ethan was only involved because of her. If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself.
The moment Evelyn’s injured foot touched the floor, a searing pain shot through it. She stumbled, nearly falling. The pain cleared her head, but intensified her panic. She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and hopped to the closet, grabbing a trench coat. Then, leaning against the wall, she limped out.
She flagged down a taxi. “Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg! Please, hurry!”
The cab merged into the dense traffic. Evelyn’s heart hammered frantically. Her phone lit up again. A text from Ethan.
[I saw the news. Don’t worry, I’ll handle Damian. Stay safe and please, don’t come here.]
Instead of calming her, the reassurance made her eyes sting with tears. He was always like this, quietly solving her problems, taking risks for her, but never letting her know the difficulty. He had done too much for her.
The taxi was completely gridlocked one block from Wythe Avenue. Evelyn couldn't wait any longer. She threw some cash down, shoved the car door open, and hobbled onto the sidewalk. The agonizing pain in her ankle nearly made her collapse, but she bit her lip, holding the storefronts for support, inching toward the bowling alley.
Across the street, through the bowling alley’s large window, Evelyn spotted Damian sitting by the glass. Behind him stood two burly men who were clearly bodyguards.
Just then, a familiar figure appeared. Ethan pushed open the glass doors and walked in, looking perfectly calm.