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12:31
On screen, Idris poured himself a drink, smiling at Vivian. “Vivian, you’re a genius. Bribing that doctor to swear Evelyn’s pregnancy was from an earlier conception, right when Damien was out of the country… The idiot bought it hook, line, and sinker.”
Vivian giggled, covering her mouth. “He deserved it! All he ever cared about was that bitch, Evelyn! I wanted him to be the one to destroy his own child. I wanted him to kick Evelyn out with nothing! And you played your part perfectly, darling, taking her out to that ‘friendly‘ dinner.”
Idris clinked his glass against hers. “To a successful partnership. I get Evelyn, and you get what’s left of Da- mien. Once he’s alienated his father and lost his wife, the Blackwood empire is ripe for the picking. Evelyn will have nowhere else to turn but to me.”
Vivian’s eyes glinted with malice. “Damien has to be mine! How dare he cast me aside? When he’s lost ever- ything, he’ll come crawling back, and then we’ll see who’s in control.”
As the video played, a dead silence fell over the ballroom.
Idris’s smile froze on his face. The color drained from his cheeks, his expression shifting from smug satisfa- ction to pure terror. He stared at me as if he’d seen a ghost.
Vivian’s fake tears and wounded act evaporated. Her mouth hung open, and she began to tremble uncontrol- lably. “No… Damien, that’s not… let me explain…” She made a move to run towards the screen, but a single, cold glance from me stopped her in her tracks.
But the most shocked of all was Evelyn.
She was staring at the screen, her body swaying. The wine glass slipped from her fingers and shattered on the marble floor. Red wine splashed across her white dress like blood.
She didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated with the shock of a massive earthquake. Disbelief. Devastation. And then, a cold, burning rage.
Slowly, she turned her head, first to the ashen–faced, trembling Idris, then to the catatonic, despairing Vivian.
Her lips were moving, but no sound came out.
The comments section was a tsunami.
[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HE DROPPED A NUKE! DAMIEN DROPPED A NUCLEAR BOMB!)
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12:31 00
Chapter 2
[HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP! THE PLOT TWIST OF THE CENTURY!]
[IDRIS AND VIVIAN! THOSE TWO–FACED BASTARDS! IT WAS THEM ALL ALONG!]
[EVELYN! LOOK AT HER FACE! MY HEART IS BREAKING!]
【DAMIEN! YOU ARE A GOD! THIS IS THE ULTIMATE POWER MOVE!]
【So… his signing the divorce, blocking Vivian, leaving home… it was all because he already knew the truth?!]
[He’s not a villain! He was playing the long game! HOLY CRAP THIS SCRIPT IS AMAZING!]
【To everyone who called him a scumbag, GET ON YOUR KNEES AND APOLOGIZE!)
【The groveling arc just turned into a revenge thriller! EPIC!)
【Evelyn is broken! Her entire world just collapsed!)
【Look at their faces! Idris and Vivian look like they’re about to piss themselves! HAHAHAHA!】
【This is too much information! My brain is melting!]
The video ended. The screen went dark.
The ballroom was still silent.
I put down my untouched champagne and looked at Evelyn. Her face was whiter than her dress. Her eyes
were lost and full of pain.
I spoke, my voice quiet, but in the dead silence, it was terrifyingly clear.
“Did you see that?” I asked her. “Those are your trusted ‘friends.‘ The men you confide in, the women you
trust.”
I gave a cold, humorless smile. “The child was mine. You never wronged me. They wronged you.” I gestured
to the two wrecks that were Idris and Vivian.
“And…” My gaze landed back on Evelyn’s pale face. “You wronged yourself. By suffering in silence. By never telling me the truth, letting your pride fester into resentment. That’s a sin too.”
Without another word, I turned and walked away. Through the stunned crowd, through the exploding comm- ents, I left that glittering, gilded, rotten ballroom behind me
The night air was cool on my face. Behind me, I could faintly hear Idris’s hysterical screaming, Vivian’s sharp sobs, and Evelyn’s quiet, broken whimpers.
The taste of freedom, now mixed with the bitter taste of truth.
The comments were still rolling, a victory parade in my head:
[HE KILLED THEM! DAMIEN KILLED THEM ALL!)
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Chapter 21
[FROM VILLAIN TO LEGEND IN ONE VIDEO!]
【The ball is in Evelyn’s court now! What will she do?!)
[URGENT REVISION TO THE SCRIPT: SIR DAMIEN, ARE YOU IN NEED OF A LOYAL SERVANT?!]
【Idris and Vivian are socially executed! SO SATISFYING!]
【DAMIEN! TURN AROUND! EVELYN NEEDS YOU! (screaming))
