Unmasking the Heiress

With a triumphant smirk, Julia slipped by the watchful eyes of the bodyguards and tiptoed out the back door.

Evangeline settled into her private booth at Kronovia Royale Pub, surrounded by glasses of Bloody Mary. The Fosters were gambling royalty, their power unchallenged.

Evangeline, a true Foster by blood, had always been drawn to the color of blood.

7

Staring into the deep red of her drink, her favorite, Evangeline could not shake the image of Walter from

her mind.

Evangeline! You're the Foster family's treasured princess, the apple of everyone's eye, raised with love and care by your doting grandfather and uncles-not to be mistreated!

What's a guy like Walter even worth? To think he drove you to drink your sorrows away and torment yourself. Does he deserve that power over you? Absolutely not! ran her thoughts. Évangeline's heart screamed the answer, but her hand betrayed her, lifting the glass and emptying it in one defiant swig.

Walter was, after all, a man she had once loved. On this night, she would let herself go wild, just this once.

Right then, a knock echoed at the private room's door.

The bodyguard, always close by, stepped in with Evangeline's nod.

"Miss, should we hide tonight's affair from Mr. Cole Foster?"

The thought of her sick grandfather, lying in bed back home, cast a shadow over Evangeline's gaze. Cole was still dreaming of holding a great-grandson from her and Walter.

However, she was already on the brink of divorce. How could her dear grandfather endure such news?

"Keep it under wraps for now. I'll find the right moment to explain everything to him myself," she decided.

With a wave of her hand, the bodyguard withdrew, gently closing the door behind him.

Evangeline was left alone in the spacious room, surrounded by a sea of Bloody Marys. She came to her own bar to drown her sorrows in peace.

However, before she could truly lose herself, there was one more call she had to make.

She pulled out her phone and dialed James' number.

"Uncle, please remind Walter to pick up his divorce papers from the County Clerk's Office tomorrow. And about that Foster family's sapphire necklace auction, Walter didn't really drop one hundred thirty-five million on it, did he? Make sure he gets his money back." The Fosters were loaded, their business empire so vast that a few million was just a drop in the bucket

for them.

16

However, she was done with Walter. She wants to cut him out of her life for good, never to lay eyes on him again.

James had never been a fan of Walter, and Evangeline's decision brought him both relief and a pang of

sorrow.

Their darling girl should have had an easy time finding a decent guy to live out a fairy-tale life. Instead, she got stuck with a jerk like Walter.

Over at the Gordon family's old house, the buzz about Walter and Aria's spat did not take long to reach Trey.

He thought about Aria's polar opposite treatment of Evangeline and her sister Julia, and he let out a weary sigh.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Mother-in-law drama was as old as time, and if Aria kept up her meddling, Walter and Evangeline's marriage was doomed.

That settled it for Trey.

He had promised to keep Evangeline's secret, but for the sake of her happiness with Walter, he was ready to deal with her pesky mother-in-law. 'Get Mdm. Gordon in here, now!"