Chapter 17

"They claimed you're having an affair and that you both conspired to manipulate me!"

Dominic's expression darkened instantly. "What ridiculous lies are you spouting?"

Vanessa, however, froze at Evelyn's accusation. Confronted so bluntly, guilt flickered across her face, and she averted her gaze instinctively.

Hearing Dominic's sharp tone snapped her back to reality. "Honestly, Evelyn, how could you believe such nonsense? It's absurd!"

"Evelyn, the three of us have been friends for years. Do you really need outsiders to define our relationship? How could you fall for such petty rumors? It’s hurtful." Vanessa’s voice trembled, her eyes welling up with tears as if she were the one wronged.

Evelyn nearly scoffed at the performance. If life were a stage, Vanessa would have won an Oscar by now.

She lowered her lashes, feigning confusion. "It wasn’t just one person saying it. Multiple people mentioned you and Dom—"

"Evelyn!" Dominic cut her off sharply, gripping her arm. "Are you seriously this naive? Why would you trust strangers over us? Think for once—who has stood by you all these years?"

His tone was laced with fury, as if her doubt alone was an unforgivable betrayal. And yet, the irony wasn’t lost on Evelyn. If she had truly used her brain sooner, she wouldn’t have been fooled for so long.

Watching Dominic’s anger and Vanessa’s crocodile tears only amused her further. She had expected them to crumble under pressure, but they clung to their act like seasoned actors.

Fine. If they wanted to keep pretending, she’d play along.

"Since things have escalated, why don’t we just announce that Vanessa and I co-developed Eternal Bloom?"

"No!" Vanessa snapped instantly. "After last night’s disaster, no one would believe it! It won’t salvage DR Holdings’ reputation—it’ll only make things worse!"

Dominic hesitated at first, but Vanessa’s firm rejection spurred him into agreement. "Exactly. Besides, your track record in the industry is already questionable. If we admit you worked together, it’ll look like we’re covering up last night’s mess. I won’t allow that."

"Then what’s your solution?" Evelyn already knew they’d refuse. She was curious how they planned to clean up their own mess.

"Evelyn." Dominic grasped her shoulders, his voice dropping to a low, urgent whisper. "There’s only one way. You have to do it."

"What do you mean?" She arched a brow, feigning ignorance.

"We’ll call a press conference. You’ll admit you got carried away and tried to take full credit. Then, you’ll apologize to Vanessa. DR Holdings will publicly forgive you, and we’ll spin this into a redemption story." He spoke smoothly, as if he’d rehearsed the script a hundred times.

Evelyn bit her lip, pretending to consider it. "But what about Phoenix Labs?"

"Just reject them. Did you sign anything with them yet?" His frown deepened at the mention of the rival company, irritation flashing in his eyes.