Chapter 335

"Of course!" Abigail answered. Then curiosity crept into her voice. "But Amelia, why are you calling so late? Is everything alright?"

Amelia pretended to hesitate. "Oh... it's nothing! I just bought you a souvenir during my trip, but when I got back, I realized you weren't in town. I wanted your address to mail it to you."

Warmth flooded Abigail's heart. "That's so sweet of you, Amelia! You actually remembered me while traveling!" Her voice turned bitter. "If only you were my sister—then I wouldn't have spent ten miserable days in detention! Grandma wouldn't have exiled me overseas either. I'm practically under house arrest here!"

Amelia feigned shock. "Detention? What happened, Abigail?"

The memory made Abigail's blood boil. "It's all Evelyn's fault! Ugh, why did Nathaniel have to marry some backwater peasant? She's manipulative, two-faced, the absolute worst!"

Amelia sighed dramatically. "Speaking of which... Gabrielle got arrested today. I couldn't even bail her out. I needed to talk to someone about it..."

"What? Gabrielle's in jail too?" Abigail gasped. "What's going on?"

Amelia artfully dodged direct answers at first, letting Abigail pry the story from her in pieces. She carefully curated the narrative, emphasizing only the details that painted her as the victim.

Abigail's outrage grew with each revelation. "Evelyn again? I knew she framed Gabrielle! How could my brother marry such a witch?"

Seeing her plan working, Amelia cautiously asked, "Abigail... you haven't checked any news from home recently, have you?"

"No, I've been avoiding local sites. Why? Did something happen?"

"Promise me you won't let Grandpa and Grandma see any news from back home. I'm worried it might upset them..."

"Why? Is it about our family?"

"Just... don't look it up, okay? Trust me on this."

Amelia's evasiveness had the exact effect she intended. Abigail immediately grabbed her tablet. The headlines made her blood run cold. "That shameless gold-digger! Faking identity theft for money? If people find out she's Nathaniel's wife, our family's reputation will be ruined! This is unacceptable! I'm telling Grandma right now—she'll make Nathaniel divorce that wretch!"

Amelia pretended to protest. "No, Abigail, don't! It's not good for their health—"

But Abigail was already changing clothes. "Don't worry about that! Our family won't tolerate this disgrace!" She hung up before Amelia could "stop" her.

Hearing the dial tone, Amelia smirked. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

Meanwhile at the Grayson estate, Evelyn rushed upstairs, desperate to wash off the dried, sticky soda coating her skin.

Nathaniel followed, but Evelyn slammed the door in his face.

He blocked it with one strong hand, arching an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to learn how to get along with me. So why am I locked out?"