Chapter 245

"I'm terribly sorry I can't stay longer, Ms. Carter and Ms. Arabella."

Theodore sighed with visible guilt. "I should return to the office now. Ms. Carter, if anything happens—anything at all—you must call me immediately. I'll come straight back!"

"Alright, alright, you worrywart. Just go already." Evelyn gave him a gentle push toward the waiting car. Theodore gazed at her with longing before finally departing with reluctant steps.

Arabella watched their exchange with quiet resignation. She bit her plush lower lip as a pang of jealousy twisted in her chest. Yet she couldn't bring herself to resent her sister—Evelyn was perfection incarnate. Of course Theodore would be drawn to her.

Someone as weak and insignificant as me doesn't deserve someone like Theodore. But why did Evelyn's ex-husband leave her? Could it be... some terminal illness? Did he leave to spare her the pain of widowhood?

Evelyn had reserved an exclusive VIP suite. As the sisters approached their door, ear-splitting shrieks masquerading as singing erupted from the opposite room.

"Ugh! That's horrifying!" Arabella tightened her grip on Evelyn's arm, shoulders hunching involuntarily.

If that qualifies as singing, then every donkey is a Grammy winner!

Evelyn swiftly pulled Arabella into their private room, putting distance between them and the auditory assailant across the hall. They ordered craft beers, an artisanal fruit platter, and an assortment of gourmet snacks.

Their playlist came together quickly.

From timeless classics to contemporary hits, the Kingsley sisters sang with abandon.

Evelyn danced, sang, and drank with increasing enthusiasm. Celebrating her Westridge project victory, she soon reached a pleasant buzz.

"Arabella... I need the ladies' room. Stay put—don't wander off!" Evelyn's vision swam slightly, her words beginning to slur.

"Evelyn, are you drunk? Let me come with you."

Arabella noticed how Evelyn's normally porcelain cheeks had bloomed a delicate peach hue. Her usually sharp emerald eyes glazed over with intoxicating warmth. As Arabella moved to assist, Evelyn waved her off.

"Nonsense! I'm the older sister—if anyone should be drunk, it's you! Then I'd have to drag your lightweight self back to campus!" Evelyn punctuated this with an undignified hiccup.

Arabella didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of warped logic was that?

Emerging from the restroom alone, Evelyn navigated the hallway using the gilded walls for support.

First her limbs had turned traitorous, now her head spun like a carousel.

The opulent karaoke lounge mirrored Versailles' hall of mirrors—endless reflections and deliberately confusing room numbering. Soon, Evelyn found herself thoroughly lost.

Drunk and disoriented, she wandered the labyrinthine corridors until she stumbled upon what she believed was her room.

Pushing the door open, she collided headfirst with a towering, broad-shouldered figure.

"Oof!"

The soft exclamation escaped her lips as her already unsteady heels betrayed her. Her slender frame teetered backward.

The stranger's eyes flashed as he swiftly caught the small of her back.

Through her thin silk blouse, the man could trace every contour of Evelyn's narrow waist with his large palm. She fit against his hand like a missing puzzle piece.

His breathing hitched. Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses with his free hand, he studied Evelyn's exquisite features with the intensity of a connoisseur appraising rare art.

"Miss, you're intoxicated."

"Mmm... No!" Evelyn squinted drunkenly at the man's refined, aristocratic features.

Suddenly, her crimson lips curled mischievously as she reached to remove his glasses.

The man's gaze turned razor-sharp.

The last person who'd dared touch his glasses now fed the fishes off the Serenian coast.

"Hehe... Critter! You're Critter!"

The man inhaled sharply, expression transforming completely!

His penetrating eyes raked over Evelyn's flushed face before he ventured cautiously in a velvet baritone, "Evelyn Kingsley?"