The Queen Returns—And She's Unforgiving

Her eyes met Lucas' deep gaze at this moment. "Here," he said as he looked at her indifferently.

Evelyn was surprised by his gesture toward her. Situations like this rarely happened. They did not interact much, and Lucas was not the type to be sentimental.

As for his thoughtfulness now, it was most likely thanks to Tiffany's influence.

Expressionless, Evelyn took the tissue and turned to leave. But before she could, she tripped over a cushion and twisted her ankle in the process.

"Be careful."

"Careful!"

Two voices could be heard, one after the other.

Soon enough, two hands reached out and steadied her at the same time.

Evelyn looked up and glanced toward Lucas and Blake, who were both beside her.

Lucas watched with a calm expression, and his tone was unhurried.

Blake, on the other hand, raised a brow at Lucas. "I never knew you had a soft spot for damsels in distress too."

This made Evelyn a little uncomfortable. He was just taking a dig at Lucas' indifference to her in the past.

"Thanks," Evelyn said as she pulled her hands free from both of them.

Lucas did not say much to Blake. He lowered his gaze and said to Evelyn, "Take care."

Meanwhile, Justine had already pulled out her phone and snapped a photo almost instantly.

She leaned over to Sebastian and whispered, "Doesn't Tiffany follow you on Instagram?"

"What do you want?" He was sure that she was up to something when she asked that.

"Post this on your Instagram Story and make it so that only she can see it. We've got to help Evie regain the upper hand!" Justine answered as she forwarded the photo to Sebastian. "Since she can't tell who's the real deal, we'll just have to put her in her place!"

Sebastian was left speechless. Justine sure knew how to hit someone where it hurt.

That said, he was not exactly a saint either. He was quite protective of his friends too.

As for the Instagram Story, he did not limit it to just Tiffany. He tagged Mason and Jason too. Surely, at least one of them was bound to see it.

He marveled at just how kind he was to not leave them out on the good stuff.

Evelyn had no idea what Justine and Sebastian were plotting behind her back. The ceremony was already enough to keep her busy.

At the resort, Tiffany saw the Instagram Story after it was forwarded to her by Mason.

Mason was quite amused by it. "As expected, Evelyn did not stay put. Luring Lucas away just like this-clearly she's doing this to annoy you."

They had planned to celebrate the occasion together at the resort. All was set, but Lucas was now nowhere to be seen.

Tiffany frowned. "She's more calculating than I thought. I'm not like her. I can't feign vulnerability like she does." She went expressionless after seeing the way Lucas steadied Evelyn in the photo.

It turned out that being aloof was just an act of hers. In the end, did Evelyn not end up clinging to Lucas whenever she got the chance?

Tiffany despised the manipulative behavior of Evelyn. She was pulling seductive stunts like this while well aware of her relationship with Lucas. She had no sense of boundaries at all!

"I'll call Lucas over immediately. I don't understand why he even bothered to entertain them. They never dared to confront him. Why waste time putting up this act?" Mason thought Evelyn was going overboard, always jealous and fighting for Lucas' attention.

Tiffany turned off her phone, not wanting to look at that tacky photo any longer. Her gentle smile faded. "Of course, Lucas wouldn't take her seriously. However, it's a different story if she pulls something off to make him stay."

Mason frowned and scoffed. "Don't worry, Lucas knows where he stands. Otherwise, there's no way Evelyn would've failed to capture his heart even after so many years."

Tiffany thought so too.noveldrama

"As for this photo..." Mason said before clicking his tongue. "Do you think Evelyn asked Sebastian to post it?" Her schemes were just too much!

There was a subtle sneer in Tiffany's gentle expression. "Do you think I care?" she asked. She had no intention of fighting for attention.

It was apparent that Lucas would always prioritize her needs.

None of Evelyn's games would ever change this fact.

...

This year, the ceremony was being held at home instead of the cemetery.

Deborah had prepared a feast large enough for everyone at the table. Evelyn planned to talk to Lucas about coming clean to Deborah after the ceremony.

As she looked around for him, she found him chatting with Sebastian.

"I heard Professor Hill is leading a research project for a new flight system next

year. Are there any open spots left on the team?

Evelyn stopped dead in her tracks.

At that moment, everything clicked.

It was no wonder Lucas would agree to finish this charade.