Tail Watson logged into Ice Devil only to find Evelyn's avatar standing motionless outside the auction house. He frantically typed a message: "Lyn, what are you doing? Why the divorce?"
Evelyn didn't reply. She methodically stripped her high-level character of its legendary gear, selling everything for pennies to the local players, before hanging the empty account on a trading platform. She deleted the app, silenced her phone, and let sleep claim her.
By 2:00 PM, the cramping in her stomach had subsided. The House keeper came to check on her several times and had a staff deliver a bowl of hot chicken soup to her. After eating, Evelyn traded her pajamas for a simple, flowing white dress. She grabbed the keys to the Maserati and stopped by a florist for white chrysanthemums and carnations.
'The Cemetery'
The cemetery was silent, save for the rustle of the wind through the cypress trees. Evelyn placed the chrysanthemums on her grandmother's grave, touching the cold stone where her grandmother's smiling photo was etched.
"Grandma, why did you and Dad leave me alone?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "I miss you so much..." And tears slid down her face.
The weight of the betrayal by the Watson family pressed down on her. Tail Watson and his father hadn't just taken the company; they had dismantled her entire support system.
"I'll make them pay, Grandma. I promise."
She moved to her mother's grave, placing the carnations down. "Mom, thank you and Dad for raising me with so much love. I'm okay now... I think. Don't worry about me."
As the wind whipped her white skirt, a man in a suit watched from a distance. The Man recognized her immediately, the girl from the heatwave. Seeing her now, draped in grief and white silk, she looked like a tragic painting. He felt a strange pull toward her, a sense that their paths were destined to cross again.
When Evelyn finally got home, she received a message and numerous photos from an unsaved number on her phone. Opening the message, she went through the photos and a wicked smile crossed her lips. When she was done freshening up and laid on the bed, she opened her chat with Tanya Banks, clicked on two of the received photos, and uploaded them into her. Then, with a flick of her finger, she blocked Tanya's account.
Three minutes later, her social media notifications began to scream. She'd forgotten to block Tanya there.
"Evelyn Meyers! You cheap snake! What have you done to Tail?" Tanya's messages were frantic. She tried calling Tail, but his phone was off. Blocked on one app, she turned to the public comments section to vent her rage.
"What did I do?" Evelyn typed back, deciding to play along since she couldn't sleep anyway. "Didn't you see the photos? Maybe you should check on your 'loyal' fiancé."
Tanya's blood ran cold. She knew Tail had been obsessed with women for a decade, since they were fifteen. Tail had only played the "devoted boyfriend" to Evelyn for three years to help his father's plan to dismantle the Meyers Group. Tanya had spent those years watching the man she loved flatter another woman. She had even been the one to help drug Evelyn that night at the party so a "random" man would take her virginity and ruin her reputation.
But seeing the photo of Tail "enjoying" himself with three women on the bed made Tanya want to vomit. She wasn't going to let this slide.
Tanya Banks, having just raced back into the city, tore through the streets towards High Scene Hotel. If Evelyn had done something to Tail, she would pay.
She arrived at the fourth floor and pounded on the door of Room 405. A tall, slender woman wrapped only in a towel opened the door, looking like she had just stepped out of the shower. Tanya's heart hammered and fury rushed to her head. "You slut, who sent you here?" she raised her hand and landed a slap on the woman's cheek. And the woman in anger slammed the door closed on her face.
"What..How dare-,"
Simmering with rage. Tanya pulled out her phone and called her security.
Within minutes, the men pulled up, but to Tanya's horror, a swarm of reporters arrived right behind them.
Evelyn! That bitch tipped off the media! Tanya thought, trying to hide her face with her designer bag. In reality, Evelyn hadn't called a single journalist. This level of precision and "coincidence" had a much colder, more powerful architect behind it.
"Miss Banks, should we take down the door?" The one who headed the team inquired.
"Yes! My fiancé, Tail Watson, is inside!"
By this time, the hotel manager had rushed over. Without letting them break the door, he produced a master key and opened the door.
As everyone rushed to get inside, the e sounds coming from inside made the entire crowd freeze. The messy room revealed Tail Watson, but he was pinned under a woman with bleached blonde hair, a known "international" escort.
The reporters went into a feeding frenzy. Tail, suddenly sobered by the flashing lights, scrambled for the duvet to cover himself. And Tanya finally snapped to her senses.
"Close the door, do not allow anyone to take photos!"
And the guards scrambled to close the door and prevent anymore pictures from being taken.
Evelyn woke up the next morning feeling refreshed for the first time in months. She opened her phone to see the headlines: "Watson Group VP caught in 4k."
The reports were brutal, causing The Watson Group's stock to freefall.
Was it Michael? Evelyn wondered. It had to be him. No one else could move that fast.
She hopped on her scooter and headed to work, prepared for the fallout. She wasn't disappointed. The moment she stepped into the store and, Rosie Dan was waiting.
"Evelyn, the stockroom needs a total inventory. Start at the back. Now."
Evelyn spent the morning covered in dust, her hands raw from moving boxes. But just as she reached her breaking point, the shop bell chimed aggressively. Tanya Banks marched in, followed by a group of tough looking women.
"Cousin, bring that bitch out here!" Tanya screamed.
Evelyn stepped out of the warehouse, wiping soot from her forehead. Before she could even speak, Tanya lunged forward.
SLAP!
The sound echoed through the silent boutique.
SLAP!
Tanya hit her again before Evelyn could recover. Evelyn clutched her burning cheek, her eyes narrowing as she raised her own hand to strike back.
"You cheap tramp!" Tanya hissed. "You think you're still a princess? You're not even a Meyers! I heard your father tell your grandmother years ago, you aren't his biological daughter! You're nothing but a stray, and today, I'm going to teach you your place!"
The boutique was silent, the air thick with the scent of high-end perfume and low-class betrayal. Evelyn touched her throbbing cheek, her eyes transforming from a victim's tears to a predator's glint.
"What have I done to you?" Evelyn whispered, her voice dangerously calm. "I'm looking at what your mother did to you, clearly, she raised you with skin so thick it's a medical marvel. Bitch? You're the one who specialized in 'stray' behavior for ten years while I was feeding you at my table."
"You got what you deserved!" Tanya hissed, her face contorted with a mask of pure malice. "My father, Uncle Watson, loved your mother for twenty years, and your 'father' stole her. Then you stole Tail from me. I've waited three years to see you in the dirt, Evelyn. And now, you're going to call the reporters and tell them you drugged Tail yourself!"
Evelyn stared at her as if she were a psychiatric patient. She reached over to the cash register, picked up the landline, and began dialing.
"Hello? 110? There are several stray dogs in the Glory boutique at the Horizon Shopping Complex... yes, they're barking quite loudly."
Rosie lunged forward and slammed the receiver down. "Calling the police? Not on my watch."
Tanya snapped her fingers, and her group of "sisters" swarmed Evelyn, dragging her toward the large VIP fitting room.
"Evelyn, I'm asking one last time. Will you be obedient?" Tanya smirked, enjoying the sight of the former socialite pinned down.
Evelyn went limp, a sudden, eerie smile touching her lips. "Fine. I'll be obedient."
Tanya signaled her girls to let go. Across the store, Jade was desperately trying to hide in a corner to call for help, but Rosie noticed and snatched the phone from her hand.
"Calling for backup, Jade? Who gave you the courage?"
"I don't need permission to have a spine, Manager Dan, Give it back!" Jade snapped, finally losing her temper.
Evelyn, meanwhile, walked calmly to the VIP lounge, poured herself a glass of ice water, and downed it. Tanya watched her, confused. Then, Evelyn walked right up to Tanya, took another mouthful of water, and sprayed it directly into her face.
"You want me to listen to you? Dream on!" Evelyn roared, pouring the rest of the glass over Tanya's head.
"Ah! You cheap slut!" Tanya screamed, her previously well styled hair clinging to her face like wet seaweed.
Evelyn didn't stop. She grabbed a heavy glass ashtray from a side table and smashed it onto the marble floor. It shattered into jagged, lethal pieces. She bent down, picked up a large, sharp shard, and leveled it at the group. "One more step and I'll see how much that 10,000-dollar plastic surgery on your faces can handle!"
Jade, seeing Evelyn's fire, felt a surge of adrenaline. "Evelyn, let's finish this together!" She lunged at Rosie delivering a kick that sent the manager sprawling.
The "sisters" backed away, terrified. Evelyn approached Tanya, the glass shard reflecting the store's soft lighting.
"You wanted to see me broken, Tanya? Let's see how your 'fiancé' likes your face when it matches his reputation."
"Evelyn, you're crazy!" Tanya whimpered, backing into a rack of silk dresses.
Evelyn moved with lightning speed. The glass grazed Tanya's cheek, leaving a thin, blooming line of red. "That's for ten years of lies."
SLAP! Evelyn delivered a palm strike to the injured side of Tanya's face that made the girl howl for her mother. Between Evelyn's fury and Jade's unexpected Taekwondo skills, the boutique was in total chaos.
"You had a hand in my father's imprisonment!" Evelyn screamed, raining blows down on Tanya. "Sue me if you have the guts! I'll see you in court and in hell!"
The mall security finally arrived, alerted by the screams. "Stop! What are you doing?!"
"Run, Evie! Now!" Jade grabbed Evelyn's hand. They bolted through the stockroom door and out into the secondary mall corridor.
"Good job, Jade!" Evelyn panted as they sprinted toward the elevators.
"You too!" Jade grinned, her eyes bright with the thrill of the fight.
But the victory was short-lived. As they rounded the corner toward the parking garage, the elevator doors opened. Three uniformed police officers stepped out, prompted by Rosie's earlier call.
"There they are! Subdue them!"
Evelyn and Jade slid to a halt, trapped between the security guards behind them and the law in front of them.