Chapter 289

The two women were getting pampered at the luxury spa, so Beatrice couldn't answer her phone.

This time, it was Cassandra who wasn't picking up.

Beatrice tapped her manicured nails against her champagne flute. "Who knows? That idiot Cassandra lost everything - her reputation, her job. She'd probably say anything for money now."

Victoria nodded thoughtfully. "That's certainly possible. But she wouldn't make up such a specific claim without reason, would she?"

"If Evelyn's pregnant, could it be Nathaniel's? Wouldn't that complicate things for you?" Beatrice suggested with feigned concern.

Victoria's perfectly sculpted brows drew together as she dismissed the idea.

After all, Evelyn had been spending considerable time with Julian recently, making him the more likely candidate for fatherhood.

Just the thought sent a chill down Victoria's spine. That nobody must never get close to the Montgomery brothers!

Something didn't add up. Victoria immediately dialed her assistant. "Pull Evelyn Carter's medical records. I need to know if she's pregnant."

If Evelyn was indeed carrying a child - regardless of who the father was - Victoria would ensure that pregnancy never came to term.

Beatrice leaned forward eagerly. "Ms. Sinclair, what's the status on the demolition compensation? I'm dying to see that little gold-digger suffer."

"Everything's arranged perfectly." Victoria's lips curled into a cold smile. "She'll never see a penny of that money."

A dangerous glint flashed in Victoria's eyes. Crushing insignificant ants like Evelyn was child's play.

After the humiliation of being forced to apologize to that nobody, it was time for Evelyn to experience real consequences.

Meanwhile, Evelyn returned home from her doctor's appointment to find Margaret pacing anxiously by the living room window.

Margaret kept glancing at her phone like it might explode.

"What's wrong, Aunt Margaret?" Evelyn asked gently.

"Evelyn, I heard the demolition compensation was processed yesterday, but our account still shows nothing. I checked with the neighbors - everyone else has received their payments. We're the only ones left out. Do you think there's a problem?"

That was strange. "That shouldn't be happening. You gave them the account details I provided, right?" Evelyn verified.

"Of course! I even took photos of the paperwork. The account number matches perfectly."

"Don't worry, Aunt Margaret." Evelyn placed a reassuring hand on her aunt's shoulder. "I'll visit Vista Properties tomorrow. It's a reputable company - there must just be a processing delay."

Given Victoria's earlier threats, Evelyn strongly suspected interference. But regardless, she would get to the bottom of this.

It was absurd that only her family's payment was missing.

Even if Victoria Sinclair thought she controlled everything, Evelyn wouldn't let her win this time.

Retreating to her room, Evelyn called Sebastian. "Sebastian, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"How would someone go about accessing a company's internal systems if they needed certain information?"

She could practically hear his eyebrow arching through the phone. "Which company are we talking about?"

Evelyn cleared her throat. "Hypothetically speaking. I've completed all the coding exercises you assigned, so technically I'm halfway to being a hacker now. Just curious about how it works in practice."

Her natural aptitude for technology had surprised even herself.

When Cassandra had spread those vicious rumors at university, Sebastian had traced the IP address effortlessly.

That incident had sparked Evelyn's interest, leading to these secret hacking lessons.