Chapter 1609
No.1
The office fell dead silent, as if everyone had been frozen in place.
Hugo Lee resisted checking his phone, barking instead, "Iris, what nonsense are you spouting?"
Iris feigned deference. "Martha and I rushed here to deliver the news, but someone else beat us to it. Isn't that bad?"
"What news?" Hugo's gut twisted with dread.
Martha sighed. "It wasn't Kingsley Group who clarified for Evelyn. It was Alexander Kingsley himself!"
"Nonsense!" Hugo nearly snatched Wendy's phone. "What the hell is going on?"
Wendy trembled too much to speak. A legal staffer bravely explained, "Mr. Lee, Alexander denied any relationship with Isabella Winslow. That marriage certificate might be fake..."
"Might?" Hugo's eyebrows nearly singed off.
No.2
Wendy shakily handed over her phone. "He provided photo evidence. The headshots on the certificate were cropped from this picture..."
If even the photos were fake, how could the certificate be real?
Alexander's statement was crystal clear.
"This..." Hugo tossed the phone back. "What does this have to do with Evelyn? He only clarified things with Isabella!"
"Keep scrolling!" Iris boldly took the phone and swiped down.
Hugo tried to look away but found himself glued to the screen.
Before his clarification, Alexander had reposted the viral photos—the ones exposing Evelyn and the "fake Alexander" at the hotel.
His caption was simple:
No.3
[I don't mind being the man in those photos.]
The internet exploded.
Two meanings:
First, denying the man in the photos was him.
Second, declaring he'd gladly be the one standing beside Evelyn.
The scandal had never been about Evelyn being with Alexander at a hotel. What stung was that she'd allegedly settled for an impostor.
Had she truly been with Alexander, who would dare slander her so brazenly?
The office was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
No.4
"Weren't we firing Evelyn?" Martha broke the silence. "Weren't we making her publicly apologize?"
Iris muttered, "Good thing we didn't. That would've been humiliating. Forcing an innocent person to confess—how would Horizon Media ever recover?"
Hugo's face darkened like scorched iron.
He'd heard Evelyn had cut ties with the Kingsleys, but forgot one crucial detail—the Sinclairs had once saved Alexander's life.
Alexander Kingsley's arrival struck Hugo Lee like a sledgehammer to the chest.
Cold sweat beaded on his temples as his fingers absently fiddled with his suit cuff.
How had Evelyn Sinclair managed to summon this untouchable titan?
Melissa Lee's intelligence had clearly failed catastrophically.
No.5
"Shall we continue?" Evelyn's crisp voice rang out, a delicate hammer tapping against everyone's nerves.
The legal and HR directors simultaneously turned pleading eyes toward Hugo.
The office plunged into tomb-like silence.
Alexander's denial—"Nothing of the sort"—still reverberated in the air.
His rejection had been absolute, elevating Evelyn to untouchable status in the same breath.
This wasn't distancing—it was a blatant declaration that Evelyn stood under his protection.
Hugo's Adam's apple bobbed as he ground out through clenched teeth, "Why is everyone just standing around?"
The staff began scattering like startled birds—
No.6
"Where are Horizon Media's representatives?"
A booming male voice cut through the room as a dozen suited figures filed in. The lead attorney's gaze crackled with electricity.
"Kingsley Group legal department." He flashed credentials. "Here to investigate the fraudulent cease-and-desist letter bearing our name."
The words detonated like grenades.
Every head swiveled toward the legal director.
The woman's face drained of color, her nails biting into her palms.
Evelyn's workstation sat mere feet away.
Her personal belongings were boxed up, the forged document conspicuously placed atop the pile.
No.7
The legal director's stare burned into Evelyn's back, her breathing turning ragged.
"Cease-and-desist letter?" Evelyn turned, and the woman nearly collapsed.
But Evelyn's gaze slid past her, landing instead on her abandoned desk.