Evelyn Kendrick didn’t move. She stood her ground, her cold gaze sweeping over the three members of the Fletcher family.
She then demanded, "Does the Fletcher family think the Kendricks are easy to bully?"
"Or do you think an engagement gives you the right to do whatever you want?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Fletcher said with a beaming smile, "Evelyn, my dear, we’ve come in good faith to clear up this misunderstanding."
Evelyn Kendrick sat beside her father. Her gaze swept over the group before finally landing on Mrs. Fletcher.
"Is ’good faith’ your way of saying you’d bring his mistress along?"
"Your ’good faith’... is truly something else."
Just then, the phone in her hand began to vibrate wildly. She glanced at the screen—it was Hazel Sinclair.
She stood up and said to them, "Please excuse me for a moment." With that, she turned and walked out of the private room.
Standing in the corridor, Evelyn Kendrick answered the call. "What’s up?"
"Jasper Fletcher cheated again?" Hazel Sinclair asked, getting straight to the point.
"The video of you hitting him on the street has been posted online. All the netizens are trashing you."
"Your public image is about to be toast." Hazel Sinclair’s tone was thick with schadenfreude.
Hearing this, Evelyn Kendrick turned her head, her gaze falling on the closed door of the private room.
Then she asked, "There’s a good show going on here. Want to come watch?"
Hazel Sinclair caught on immediately. She shot up from the sofa and said, "Address."
"What kind of show?"
"You get to see the disgusting face of a cheater. And, of course, if necessary, I need you to be my mouthpiece." Evelyn Kendrick thought about the people inside. ’Hazel’s sharp tongue will definitely shut them up.’
"I’ll just watch the show. I won’t butt in," Hazel Sinclair said, grabbing her keys and heading out the door.
Leon Sterling heard the noise and walked to the door with a rag in his hand. "Where are you going this late?" he asked.
"I have something to do. You just do your thing." With that, Hazel Sinclair shut the door and headed downstairs.
Staring at the closed door, Leon Sterling pursed his lips, a sour feeling in his heart.
’Is she... going to see Luke Lancaster?’
"Be my mouthpiece, and I’ll give you a hundred thousand," the wealthy Evelyn Kendrick offered.
Her eyes lighting up at the mention of money, Hazel Sinclair immediately agreed. "Done. I guarantee I’ll roast them so bad they won’t be able to say a single word."
After hanging up, Hazel Sinclair called a rideshare. The destination was a bit far, and taking a shared electric scooter would take too long. She decided to splurge a little on a car.
Evelyn Kendrick pushed the door open and re-entered the private room, just in time to hear Mr. Fletcher trying to persuade her father.
"That girl, Evelyn, she’s a bit stubborn and has a fiery temper. To make such a mess of our two families’ happy occasion over such a small thing is simply preposterous."
"Which wealthy man in Veridia doesn’t play around a little?"
"My son just has a little girlfriend on the side. Why make such a big deal out of it?"
Mrs. Fletcher chimed in, "Exactly. If you ask me, you spoil Evelyn too much. She’s just a girl, yet you not only give her shares but also plan to make her the chairwoman of the company."
"A daughter is water splashed out, after all. You two are only in your fifties, you can easily have another child." Her words were a blatant attempt to belittle Evelyn Kendrick while trying to convince Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick to have another baby.
Evelyn stood to the side, listening. She crossed her arms and sneered. "Does the Fletcher family live by the sea? You seem to think you’re in charge of everything, from the sky to the earth, and now even whether my parents have another child."
She glanced at the four of them, disgust written all over her face.
"I must have been blind to even consider a marriage alliance with a family of old-fashioned chauvinists like you who have no sense of decency."
"Don’t go corrupting the Kendrick family’s principles."
Hearing this, Jasper Fletcher couldn’t help but retort, "Evelyn Kendrick, what is that tone you’re using with us?"
"They’re your elders, for God’s sake. How can you be so disrespectful? How are you supposed to be a good daughter-in-law to the Fletcher family?" After a round of brainwashing from his mother, Jasper Fletcher’s confidence was restored. He no longer feared that his inappropriate words would jeopardize the partnership between their families.
It was as if he was certain the Kendricks couldn’t do without the Fletchers, certain that Evelyn would compromise for the sake of her family’s interests.
"Now, aren’t you going to apologize to them?"
The three Kendricks were speechless.
’The Fletchers are masters of keeping up appearances,’ Evelyn thought. ’Otherwise, we never would have been fooled by such scoundrels.’
Evelyn Kendrick sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and focused on the food in front of her, completely ignoring Jasper Fletcher.
"Dad, this fish is quite good. Have some more."
"Mom, here’s the salt-baked shrimp you like. Eat up."
Evelyn ignored them, using her chopsticks to place food on her parents’ plates.
Evelyn wouldn’t give the time of day to people who didn’t respect them. ’Once my mouthpiece gets here,’ she thought, ’Hazel will take care of them.’
As the elegant and distinguished acting chairwoman, roasting people was beneath her. She didn’t need to get her own hands dirty.
The very person on her mind, Hazel Sinclair, was just getting out of her rideshare. She opened her phone to pay and saw the fare was 25.
"Twenty-five for a four-mile trip? That’s so expensive," Hazel Sinclair grumbled. But she didn’t hesitate to enter her payment password, put her phone away, and look up at the restaurant.
It was a rather remote but exceptionally expensive restaurant, with wealthy-looking people constantly coming and going.
Hazel Sinclair nodded. ’Today is certainly an eye-opener,’ she thought.
Just as she was about to enter the restaurant, a man’s voice called out from behind her.
"Miss Sinclair."
She turned to see a man in a custom-tailored, deep blue suit walking toward her.
Hazel Sinclair didn’t recognize him, but since he knew her name, the original owner of this body must have known him.
’Who is this?’ Hazel Sinclair asked her system.
[Silas Hawthorne, a corporation chairman. He has met the original owner a few times.]
Having confirmed his identity, Hazel Sinclair put on a faint smile and said, "Chairman Hawthorne, what brings you here?"
Silas Hawthorne stopped in front of her, his gaze sweeping over her before he spoke. "I’m here for a business engagement, of course."
"And you?" Silas Hawthorne asked, his dark eyes fixed on her. "Miss Sinclair, you’re not part of the upper class anymore. What are you doing here?"
In response, Hazel Sinclair nonchalantly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "I was invited, of course."
With that, she started walking inside, and Silas Hawthorne fell into step beside her, his assistant in tow.
"By whom?"
"Evelyn Kendrick," Hazel Sinclair answered immediately.
"Evelyn Kendrick is having dinner with Jasper Fletcher. I’m just here to do one thing: tear that shameless bastard a new one and get Evelyn to break off the engagement."
The mere thought of Jasper Fletcher filled Hazel Sinclair’s voice with disgust. "I’ve never seen anyone so shameless. He dates a girl for three years, then turns around and gets engaged to someone else."
"And he didn’t even have the decency to break up with her first! He just planned to keep her on the side."
"It’s just plain disgusting." The more Hazel Sinclair spoke, the more disgusted she sounded. "You men are really something else."