Chapter 409

Evelyn's fingers trembled slightly as she dialed the emergency number, her piercing gaze never leaving Victoria and Penelope.

Penelope's lips curled into a smug smirk. "Why bother calling the police? Do you really want the whole world to know about your little rendezvous with Mr. Kensington?"

Victoria's face paled. She hadn't anticipated Evelyn would actually involve the authorities!

A cold smile played on Evelyn's lips. "You both saw everything, didn't you? You'll need to give your statements to the police. How else are we going to track down Anthony?"

Victoria caught on quickly, her voice laced with irritation. "Must you drag the police into every petty dispute? When will this nonsense end?"

Evelyn's eyes flashed with defiance. "Why wouldn't I call them? Especially when I have no memory of the events you're accusing me of."

"If Penelope truly has a friend who claims to have seen me at that hotel, then it's obvious I was drugged and taken there against my will."

"Whoever is behind this will pay dearly."

Even Penelope, usually so dense, finally grasped the gravity of the situation.

Her claims about a witness spotting Evelyn with Anthony at the hotel were nothing but lies, fabricated to ruin Evelyn's reputation.

But now, with the police involved, the truth would inevitably come to light if an investigation was launched.

Evelyn's smirk turned icy. "Once Mr. Kensington arrives, we can settle this face-to-face."

Panic flickered in Penelope's eyes. What had she gotten herself into?

Victoria's frown deepened. This was spiraling out of control. How could Penelope be so foolish as to hand Evelyn such an advantage?

If this escalated, it could damage Victoria's standing with Anthony. And if that happened, how could she expect him to help her take Evelyn down?

Victoria shot Penelope a sharp look and hissed under her breath, "Penelope, you need to clarify things. Making baseless accusations won't help anyone."

Penelope hesitated. Her earlier words had only been meant to humiliate Evelyn.

Leaning closer, Victoria whispered urgently, "If Mr. Kensington finds out you lied, you can forget about meeting those famous pianists. It's better to end this now."

Penelope swallowed hard, then turned to Evelyn with reluctant resignation. "I—I just remembered, I only heard rumors. I didn’t actually see you with Mr. Kensington."

"Then you can explain that to the police," Evelyn replied coolly, already turning away to resume decorating the hall.

Victoria's voice stopped her. "Evelyn, Penelope was just joking earlier. There's no need to involve the police."

"If this gets out, the paparazzi will have a field day. It’ll tarnish both the university and the Music School’s reputation."

Though it pained her to back down, Victoria couldn’t risk the police digging deeper.

Evelyn arched a brow. "Oh? So it's just a joke when you're not the one being slandered. How convenient."

"What do you want?" Victoria ground out between clenched teeth.

Evelyn glanced pointedly at Penelope. "The one who spread the lies should apologize."

"I won’t!" Penelope snapped immediately. Apologize to Evelyn? Never.

Victoria exhaled sharply before pulling Penelope aside. "Penelope, remember—the Music School belongs to Christopher."

"If this escalates and my brothers find out, it won’t reflect well on you. How do you expect to marry into the Montgomery family then?"