Chapter 121
Matthew looked deeply at Evelyn.
Evelyn acted as if she hadn't noticed his burning gaze, her expression calm as she looked at him. "Mr. Perkins, did you need something?"
Mr. Perkins.
The title made Matthew pause.
She'd never called him by such a distant, polite form of address.
"Eve..." His voice was hoarse.
"Who's Eve?" Evelyn's tone held confusion. "Mr. Perkins, you must have mistaken me for someone else."
Matthew's brow furrowed, his voice cold and stubborn. "Eve, are you pretending not to know me?"
Evelyn looked at him, her gaze frank. "The Perkins Group is internationally renowned—how could I not know of you? But this 'Eve' you mention, I truly have no idea about."
"Evelyn!" Matthew's voice suddenly rose, something lodged in his throat.
He wanted to say—do you know what these three years have been like for me?
He'd never believed she was dead, had searched frantically, but could never find a trace of her.
Every day, he'd been tormented in hell.
But her?
She'd become the Gray Group's heiress and pretended not to know him.
"Mr. Perkins, you really have the wrong person." Evelyn's tone was flat. "My name is Adam Gray. You can also call me Adam."
Matthew froze again.
Her gaze was too calm.
No evasion, no panic, not even hatred.
Like she was looking at someone completely irrelevant.
"Thank you very much for catching me. But I truly am not the Eve you're talking about."
Evelyn finished speaking and prepared to leave, but her wrist was grabbed.
She was yanked back, her back hitting the wall.
Matthew braced one hand beside her, looking down at her from above.
The corners of his eyes were red, his breathing rapid.
"You think I'd believe your bullshit?" He bit down hard on that last word. "Eve."
Evelyn lifted her head, looking at him expressionlessly, a cold smile curving her lips. "Mr. Perkins, finding out who I am shouldn't be difficult, should it?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. "I hope you think carefully before making any moves. I'm from the Gray family. If you continue to manhandle me, I don't mind using legal means to protect my rights."
She forcefully pushed away his hand, her movement decisive.
"Eve, I..." Matthew instinctively wanted to follow, but seeing the impatience and rejection in her eyes, he froze in his tracks.
Her gaze was too cold.
"Mr. Perkins, please conduct yourself properly."
"If I remember correctly, you and Miss Elikin are about to be engaged?"
"Just now on the deck, I heard people discussing your romance."
"Is this how you treat your lover?"
"She's not my lover!" Matthew hastily explained. "We're not even together—"
"You don't need to explain to me." Evelyn cut him off, the disgust in her eyes deepening. "This has nothing to do with me. I just hope you'll conduct yourself properly."
She left without looking back.
Only Matthew remained in the hallway.
He stood in place, his feet moved, then stopped.
Calm down.
Don't rush.
He'd finally found her. This time, he had to make sure she came back to him for good.
He took a deep breath and slowly walked back to the banquet hall.
The gown Flora had prepared for Evelyn was a deep red V-neck evening dress.
When she appeared, she once again attracted everyone's attention.
"Miss Gray looks even more stunning in this dress!"
"Simply an exquisite goddess!"
Everyone praised her enthusiastically.
Standing to the side, Briar listened as jealousy grew wild inside her like vines.
While Evelyn was changing, she'd found Elowen, who'd been chatting with Evelyn on the deck.
Learning that Elowen wanted to set up Adam with Zeal, she deliberately acted shocked.
"Ms. Morgan, you should think carefully. I've heard this Adam isn't simple."
"Foreign gossip says she already has children and keeps a lover abroad!"
"Mr. Jennings is such a kind, pure person. If she gets her hooks into him..."
She didn't finish, but her meaning was crystal clear.
Elowen listened in shock. "Really? That can't be—she's the Gray family's heiress..."
"It's true! Someone even got concrete photos. If you don't believe me, search online!" Briar held Elowen's hand coquettishly. "Mr. Jennings is such a good person. You must help screen people for him. You can't let just any schemer near him."
"Thank you, Briar." Elowen patted her chest with lingering fear.
Good thing she hadn't immediately sent Adam's photo to Zeal.
If what Briar said was true, then Adam really wasn't suitable...
After returning to the banquet hall, Evelyn naturally noticed Elowen's somewhat strange look.
Seeing Briar beside her, she roughly understood what had happened.
This was actually fine—saved her from having to reject Elowen separately.
With Matthew on the yacht, she didn't want to stay long anyway.
She was preparing to say goodbye to Flora when Briar blocked her path.
"Adam, you're not angry, are you? Taking so long to come down."
Briar's tone was sarcastic, her voice loud enough that people around turned to look.
"That maid earlier wasn't intentional. Please don't blame her..."
Evelyn looked coldly at Briar, curious what she was plotting.
"I heard the Gray family has excellent traditions and treats staff well. Your dress only got dirty at the chest. If you make things difficult for a maid over this... it wouldn't look good if word got out, would it?" Briar spoke earnestly, her eyes even reddening, as if she herself were the wronged party.
"The dress really is nothing." Evelyn smiled faintly. "But unfortunately, my watch was just damaged in the collision."
Briar froze.
"This watch is a Gray family heirloom. Mrs. Gray just gave it to me recently. But today at this party it got broken..."
Evelyn bit her lip, her expression even more innocent and aggrieved than Briar's.
Playing victim? Who couldn't do that?
She truly wasn't lying—the Gray family had plenty of such treasures. She could have let it go.
But she knew perfectly well that maid had acted deliberately today.
She, Evelyn, wasn't someone just anyone could bully.
"Let's check the security footage. If that maid was truly unintentional, I don't mind forgiving her. But if..." Evelyn spoke coldly.
"She didn't do it on purpose!" Briar shouted anxiously.
She'd assumed Evelyn wouldn't pursue it and hadn't had time to destroy the footage.
"Whether it was intentional isn't for you to say." A cold voice came from behind—Matthew's. "It definitely needs thorough investigation."
Soon, the security footage was pulled up.
Everyone clearly saw the maid had deliberately pushed Evelyn.
The maid was dragged up by security.
Learning she'd broken Evelyn's watch, her face filled with terror, instinctively looking toward Briar.
"Miss Gray, it wasn't me!" She hastily tried to explain.
"Shut up! The Seymour family has no staff like you!" Briar loudly tried to drown out her words, but it was too late.
"Miss Seymour made me do it! It's not my fault!"