Chapter 118

"What a shame she couldn't escape the chaos she created with Penelope."

Inside the car—

Nathan drove back to the Goldmann mansion. Evelyn, seated in the passenger seat, kept her gaze fixed out the window.

"He hasn’t said a word. Is that good or bad?"

When the car stopped at a red light, Nathan turned to look at her, his gaze burning with intensity.

Evelyn felt it immediately. She met his eyes. "Mr. Goldmann, is there a reason you're staring at me like that?"

He arched a brow. "Do I need a reason to look at my woman?"

A smirk tugged at her lips. "Being your woman is a dangerous job. I doubt you'd say the same if I were the one in that lounge last night."

Nathan’s expression darkened, his eyes turning icy.

"What would I have done if it had been her? I might have killed every man who laid a hand on her."

He looked away, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Seems I underestimated you."

"To escape those men, she either has skills I don’t know about… or someone helped her. I need to look into this."

#Penelope Santiago’s Scandal at the Party#

#Nathan Goldmann’s First Public Girlfriend#

By the next morning, Penelope had skyrocketed to the top of Google Trends, surpassing even Nathan’s announcement about Evelyn. It was the most explosive news of the year.

Shortly after, the host of the elite socialite party issued a statement—Penelope was permanently banned from all future events.

Effectively, she had been erased from Bassburgh’s high society.

Though her father, Alexander Santiago, wanted to defend her, the public backlash forced him to issue a public apology instead.

Evelyn sat in her office, scrolling through the headlines with an unreadable expression.

"If I hadn’t prepared last night, I would be the one trending right now. The one being humiliated."

"Vivian wanted to set me up. How could I let her walk away unscathed? She deserves to taste her own medicine."

"Now that Penelope is ruined, the person she’ll hate most is Vivian—the mastermind behind this disaster."

Gregory walked in, grinning. "Zoe, big news."

Evelyn glanced up. "What is it?"

"Alexander Santiago seems to have figured out his daughter’s downfall is linked to Vivian. He’s retaliating—Viana Jewelry’s stocks dropped 15% today."

"That’s at least a three-million-dollar loss overnight."

Evelyn rested her chin on her hand, amused.

"Penelope wasn’t even part of my plan. Vivian dragged her into this mess. Now, they’ve saved me the trouble."

Gregory hesitated. "Zoe, now that Nathan has publicly claimed you, the Santiagos won’t dare touch you. But I’m worried Vivian will shift all the blame onto you."

He had pieced it together—last night’s incident was Vivian’s doing. Penelope was just an unlucky pawn.

And Vivian? She’d never admit it was her scheme.

Evelyn leaned back. "Uncle Gregory, arrange a meeting for me with Mrs. Santiago."

At the Santiago manor—

"Get out!" Penelope hurled objects across the room, keeping the servants at bay.

Mrs. Santiago entered, heartbroken at the sight of her daughter’s devastation.

"Penelope, you need to eat something—"

"I won’t!" Penelope screamed, her eyes bloodshot. "I’m Bassburgh’s biggest joke! How can I face anyone now?!"