Chapter 30

Evelyn neatly stacked her documents and sighed. "Penelope, is there no end to your idiocy? Didn't you learn anything from last time?"

She tilted her head, eyes glinting with amusement. "Did you come here just so I could humiliate you again? No wonder people whisper about you behind your back. It all makes sense now."

Penelope's face flushed crimson with rage. "I'll make you pay for this, Evelyn!"

Nathaniel stepped forward, his gaze darkening as he loomed over Penelope. "Go ahead. Try it. I dare you." His voice was a low, dangerous growl. "And when you do, I'll make sure your plastic surgeon gets another chance to rebuild that nose of yours."

Penelope instantly clapped a hand over her nose, fear flashing in her eyes.

Evelyn looped her arm through Nathaniel's. "Let's go. Aunt Margaret always says not to waste time on fools."

Fury radiated off Penelope like steam. As they walked away, she quickly snapped a photo of their retreating figures before dialing Victoria.

"Victoria, didn't you tell the committee head to close registrations early to keep Evelyn out?" she hissed.

"That's right," Victoria replied smoothly. "I made sure of it. Registration was supposed to end yesterday."

"Well, guess what?" Penelope seethed. "I came here today just to laugh at her, but instead, I had to watch that witch strut in and register! She humiliated me!"

"That can't be." Victoria's brow furrowed. She had given explicit instructions.

"Victoria, you need to fix this. Get them to reject her application. Ban her from the competition. I won't let her get away with this!"

After hanging up, Victoria immediately called the committee head. "I told you to close registration yesterday. Why wasn't it done?"

"I intended to, Ms. Sinclair," the man stammered. "But Mr. Montgomery personally intervened. He ordered us to stick to the original deadline. We had no choice but to comply."

Victoria slammed the phone down, her composure cracking. Everything had been going perfectly—why did Nathaniel have to interfere now?

She clenched her fists, swallowing her frustration. She couldn't risk crossing Nathaniel openly. Not yet.

With a deep breath, she called Penelope back. "There's nothing we can do. But don't worry—Evelyn knows nothing about interior design. She won't last past the first round."

Penelope scoffed. "True. But that's not all. She wasn't alone. Some guy was with her—looked pretty cozy, too. Maybe her new boyfriend?"

Victoria's interest sharpened. "What did he look like?"

"I took a photo, but he was wearing a mask and hat. Hiding like some celebrity." She sneered. "Probably too ugly to show his face."

"No need to send it," Victoria said smoothly. "But make sure Nathaniel doesn't see it. He might... misunderstand."

She hung up, smirking. Penelope wasn't bright, but she’d take the bait.

Sure enough, Penelope grinned wickedly. If Nathaniel saw this, Evelyn was finished.

Her fingers flew over her phone as she sent the photo to Nathaniel with a venomous message: "Guess who showed up with a new man today? Doesn’t look very innocent to me."

Satisfied, she leaned back. Evelyn wouldn’t recover from this.

Nathaniel was in the middle of a meeting when the notification chimed. He glanced at the photo, his expression hardening.

The man beside Evelyn was unidentifiable—hooded, masked. But the way she smiled at him sent a sharp twist through Nathaniel’s chest.

He forwarded the image to Robert. "Find out who this is."

Robert studied the blurry photo. "Sir, it’s just a back view. Without more—"

"Check the security footage," Nathaniel cut in coldly. "Do I need to spell everything out for you?"

He stared at the photo again. Evelyn’s smile—warm, unguarded—was one he hadn’t seen in years.

It irritated him more than he cared to admit.