Chapter 259

Evelyn's fingers froze mid-scroll. The photo on her phone screen burned her retinas.

"That's not me in the picture." Her voice could frost glass.

Iris stammered through the phone, "But the fan groups are exploding. They're saying you and Mr. Kingsley—"

"I was interviewing candidates at the hotel today." Evelyn cut her off. "The conference room was under renovation."

A sharp inhale. "Then... the man in the photo—"

"One of the interviewees." Evelyn's eyes narrowed. "This was a setup."

Silence crackled over the line.

"Iris?" Evelyn tapped the desk. "Don't tell me you've already posted in the—"

"No! Absolutely not!" Iris's voice shook. "It's just... your tone sounds exactly like that account in the group chat..."

Evelyn chuckled. "No matter how thick the disguise, I'd recognize you."

Iris nearly dropped her phone.

After hanging up, Evelyn opened the trending page.

A flood of paparazzi shots—her back entering a hotel room, a stranger's profile following close behind, grainy footage of an "intimate embrace" in the hallway.

The elevator photo was the most laughable.

A man adjusting his tie, deliberately cropped to mimic a waist-encircling gesture.

Evelyn's lips curled.

The man's build did vaguely resemble Alexander's.

But she'd memorized Alexander's presence down to his molecular structure. A thousand doppelgängers couldn't fool her.

Her phone vibrated.

[SHOCKING! Evelyn Sinclair Sleeping Her Way to the Top Using Kingsley Lawsuit!]

The comment section resembled a shark feeding frenzy.

Isabella's fans swarmed like blood-crazed piranhas:

[Gold-digging whore! Stealing our Bella's man!]

[As if Mr. Kingsley would touch trash like her!]

[Photos don't lie, stop pretending!]

Evelyn scrolled past the vitriol without blinking.

She opened the fan group chat. Iris was frantically damage-controlling:

[Wait for official statements! Stop spreading rumors!]

The group had descended into chaos:

[If she's really pregnant why's she still working?]

[Photoshopped for sure!]

[Hotel registry leaked and you're still denying?]

A glaring message popped up:

[Isabella stans GTFO!]

System notification: SnowDreamer has left the group.

Evelyn massaged her temples.

Returning to the trending page, she focused on the original gossip account.

The setup felt too deliberate—not quite a reputation smear, not quite a relationship expose.

Unless...

Her breath hitched.

What if they didn't know about her connection to Alexander at all?

What if this entire farce was designed solely for her?