Chapter 93

"Am I wrong?" Evelyn's sardonic tone cut through the phone line.

Nathan remained unrepentant. "You're in no position to challenge Alistair yet. This is for your protection."

"Spare me the false concern and let him come at me!"

The call ended abruptly. Nathan glared at the darkened screen, his jaw tightening with barely contained fury.

"That foolish woman!" he muttered. "Let's see how she handles this mess!"

His assistant interrupted from the front seat. "Mr. Sterling, Simon just messaged. There's an urgent situation with the Frenda project requiring your immediate presence."

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Book the earliest flight."

The Frenda venture was critical - important enough that he'd entrusted Simon with oversight.

Lately, Nathan had been drowning in corporate affairs, feeling Evelyn's absence more acutely than he'd anticipated. Perhaps letting her face consequences would be instructive. When she hit rock bottom, he'd extend a hand. Then she'd return to Sterling Enterprises without resistance.

Meanwhile, Evelyn turned from the call to find Elliot restraining Julian, preventing his interference. Once the line disconnected, Elliot finally released him.

"Why'd you stop me? I wanted to tear into that bastard!" Julian protested.

"Looking for another broken arm?" Elliot's quiet warning made Julian instantly back down.

The tense exchange lifted Evelyn's spirits despite the earlier confrontation.

How could she feel alone with such loyal support? Her family was her foundation.

She chuckled. "Easy, Elliot. Julian's still healing."

"Exactly! Since when do you manhandle your baby brother? I'm telling Dominic and Grandpa!" Julian seized on Evelyn's defense.

"I didn't touch your injury." Elliot settled into a chair. "If necessary, I'll summon the family physician. My treat."

Julian turned pleading eyes to Evelyn. "Back me up here!"

Evelyn made a strategic retreat upstairs. "Early night for me. Big day tomorrow."

Dawn brought Olivia's frantic call. "Eve! The internet's imploding!"

Evelyn sighed. "Let me guess - public execution by hashtag?"

"Execution? They're burning you at the stake! Natalie tried removing posts but it's like playing whack-a-mole with comments!"

Checking social media confirmed her fears. #EvelynTheHomewrecker and #EvelynTheBully dominated trends.

A viral post accused her of cheating on Nathan with Harrison Whitmore to secure her Kingsley Industries position.

"Proof" included:

A photo of Julian driving her home pre-divorce

A coffee meeting with Dominic in Darai

A blurred "school bullying" video captioned: "We didn't need hidden cameras for this monster"

The internet erupted:

"Knew she was trash!"

"How dare she cheat on Nathan Sterling!"

"Harrison Whitmore deserves better!"

"Bullies never change!"

"DIG DEEPER!"

Kingsley Industries' stocks plummeted 10% as investors panicked.

Julian and Elliot burst into her room.

"Eve..." Julian gently smoothed her hair.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this," Evelyn whispered.

"Please, my fans know better than to believe tabloid trash," he scoffed.

Elliot remained pragmatic. "I can scrub this, but large-scale deletion may trigger cybersecurity scrutiny."

"No," Evelyn refused. "This is coordinated. Remove one post, ten more appear."

Was this Alistair's retaliation Nathan warned about? The scale was unprecedented.

"Dominic's catching the first flight back," Elliot reported. "He wants you homebound until this blows over. Maxwell will handle company damage control."