Chapter 80
Violet's tearful accusation made some onlookers change the way they looked at Evelyn.
After all, a good girl's words always carry more weight.
And Evelyn, who had always been domineering, had a history of bullying others.
So it made sense that Evelyn would do something like this - nothing too serious.
"Going after you?"
Evelyn looked Violet up and down, then gently shook her head. "Ms. Bailey, what exactly do you have that's worth me going after?"
In terms of family background or looks, Violet couldn't match Evelyn in any way.
"Of course it's because Mr. White favors Violet."
Evelyn narrowed her eyes, looking at the girl standing beside Violet.
She looked familiar, but Evelyn couldn't remember her name.
The girl beside Violet, Willow Reed, noticed Evelyn's gaze and tilted her head slightly to avoid it. "Violet passed the White Group's assessment before and became an intern there. She even earned Mr. White's appreciation. But then you made a fuss and forced Mr. White to fire her!"
As people around them started gossiping, Willow continued.
"You don't like Mr. White, but you won't let anyone else like him either."
Bullying might not cause much of a stir - fights and arguments happen all the time.
But a messy love triangle could really grab people's attention.
For a moment, Evelyn even felt that the stain on Violet's dress wasn't the point - the point was that Violet wanted to drag her into this mess.
She pressed her lips together slightly, her gaze falling straight on Violet.
"If Violet earned Benjamin's appreciation, why was she fired?"
"Ms. Bailey, what exactly is Benjamin's attitude toward you? Shouldn't you make that crystal clear?"
That day, Benjamin had barely looked at Violet.
And from Benjamin's reaction, Evelyn could almost tell that he probably had no impression of Violet at all.
How thick-skinned did you have to be to say Benjamin favored Violet?
A good girl like Violet probably couldn't say it herself.
Sure enough, Violet seemed to choke on her words. Willow immediately jumped in.
"If not, why did you insist that Mr. White fire her? You're just targeting Violet!"
Targeting?
Fair enough.
Otherwise, why would she insist that Benjamin fire Violet?
Evelyn didn't dwell on this question. Instead, she went along with it.
"That sounds somewhat reasonable, but Benjamin already did what I wanted and fired her."
"So I don't really have any reason to keep targeting her, do I?"
Besides, ruining a girl's dress - such a low-level thing - she wouldn't bother with that.
Willow snorted coldly. "No reason? Someone like you will do anything to get what you want."
As she spoke, Willow looked at Evelyn with disgust.
"To break off your engagement, you even messed around with other men. What's targeting Violet compared to that?"
Evelyn's eyes immediately narrowed. "What did you say?"
Those people gossiping earlier - fine, they weren't saying it to her face.
But now Willow was running right up to her and spreading rumors. Did she think Evelyn was too easy to bully?
Violet saw the hint of anger in her eyes and felt she'd hit a nerve. "Since you know it's not something good, Ms. Thomas, you shouldn't ask."
Evelyn's red lips curved into a deeper smile, but her eyes were filled with coldness.
"Not ask? How will I know what really happened if I don't ask? Ms. Bailey says I'm involved with other men - so who is this man?"
"Do you even need to ask? Everyone knows about you and Matthew."
Matthew again.
What was she thinking before, always hanging around him?
Now, just hearing Matthew's name gave her a headache.
But since it was him, the problem was easy to solve.
She laughed mockingly. "Does your family not have internet, Ms. Bailey? Matthew is my parents' adopted son. He and I are siblings in name. What could there be between us? Or are you saying that in your eyes, siblings walking together is a problem?"
With the sibling relationship, plus Matthew's cold attitude toward her, meaning they'd never had any intimate behavior, no one could find fault.
Violet was upset that Evelyn could do bad things and still act so righteous.
Violet said indignantly, "Mr. Thomas doesn't like you, so naturally, he wouldn't get involved with you. But there are so many men in wealthy circles - surely some have been seduced by you."
"Really? Who?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow slightly.
"It's..."
"What, can't say? Looks like Ms. Bailey just spreads rumors without evidence or firsthand knowledge. No wonder you had to intern at another company. If you stayed at your family's company, you probably couldn't keep it afloat."
Violet was really pushed to the edge. "Do you dare say nothing happened between you and Mr. Martinez?"
Talking about the Martinez family on the Martinez family's turf?
Evelyn really suspected someone was deliberately setting her up.
But given the current situation, she didn't have time to think about it.
She went along with Violet's words. "What could happen? My fiancé keeps a close eye on me, so naturally I couldn't have anything going on with anyone else."
How could that be?
Violet thought of the image of Benjamin and Evelyn kissing, and her heart ached.
She also thought of all the crazy things Evelyn had done for Matthew, and the news she'd just heard. She felt that Benjamin and Evelyn would definitely break up.
Benjamin was just fooled by Evelyn's face.
Once Benjamin knew the truth, he definitely wouldn't stay with a woman like Evelyn.
Her gaze swept around the area and landed on Jeremy. "Mr. Martinez is right here. Do you dare confront him!"
Evelyn followed her gaze.
Before, Jeremy had indeed had bad intentions toward her because of her beauty, and the Martinez family and Thomas family had a major conflict over it.
But in business, if you can't crush the other party completely, you can only maintain peace. So the Martinez family and the Thomas family maintained a friendly appearance on the surface.
Now, at his grandfather's birthday party, Jeremy was deliberately tearing away that surface calm. What was he trying to do?
As her thoughts raced, she met Jeremy's eyes.
He was a typical playboy. Noticing her looking over, he immediately pulled out a carefree, flirtatious smile.
"Ms. Thomas, that little thing between us - it's fine to talk about it. Since today's such a good day, why not share it and make everyone happy?"
Jeremy was a complete troublemaker.
Evelyn wasn't sure if the Martinez family had a backup plan or if Jeremy was just talking nonsense. When she spoke again, her tone was colder.
"Mr. Martinez just proposed to the Simpson family's daughter, and now you're talking to me like this. No wonder the proposal failed. I'm afraid none of the girls here would agree to marry you."
In Emerald City, the Martinez family was definitely among the elite, but very few women wanted to marry Jeremy.
After all, what family would marry their precious daughter to a gambling, womanizing jerk?
And by bringing this up now, Evelyn was letting everyone know that Jeremy's words weren't that credible.
"Not many people want to marry me," Jeremy said without concern, "but plenty are willing to have a fling with me. Besides..."
He paused, looking at Evelyn with eyes full of desire.
"Ms. Thomas came to me with her own agenda."
"Matching up with a lustful person like me is pretty normal, isn't it?"
"Don't tell me... Ms. Thomas wants to cross the bridge and tear it down? But as far as I know, you haven't successfully broken off your engagement yet."