Chapter 118: The Party

The guests in the main hall are busy gossiping, and the cacophony of their voices makes the room quite noisy. The party was supposed to boost the Peters' image, but it's embroiling them in another scandal instead.

"Please, I beg you to not speculate," Anthony says over and over, "If it was true, Mr. Howel would give us an explanation. Please, just get back to enjoying the party. I implore the press to leave and wait for further news."

Though the air conditioning is at full blast, the dancing hall is swelteringly hot. Everyone has crowded into the room in the hopes of hearing more about Evan and Avery. Anthony wipes sweat from his forehead as he tries to reason with and cajole the press, but the journalists ignore him—they know he doesn't have any real power. Anthony tries to recruit Evan's bodyguards to throw the journalists out, but the guards refuse to act without Evan's direct order.

Vanessa fans her face with her hand. The smell of all those bodies and perfumes makes her feel sick. Janetta stands on her tiptoes and counts the guests. She stops when she reaches 116.

"That's quite a turnout," Vanessa says.

"The more the better," Janetta smirks, "Last time the divorce news turned into a pregnancy plan, but it won't be so easy for them to explain it away this time."

"The evidence is indisputable," Vanessa replies, "The documents were notarized and the notaries have confirmed it. What can Evan and Avery possibly say?"

"I don't know," Janetta says nervously, "But don't you agree that Avery is harder to deal with now?"

"So what?" Vanessa snaps, "She still relies on the Howel—she's nothing without them. Just wait for the divorce, then you'll see. "

The noise in the room only grows louder as the crowd waits for some sort of explanation from Evan.

"Look, Mr. Howel is here," someone shouts.

The mood immediately becomes anticipatory as the guests crane their necks to look for Evan. They all turn toward the stairs, and the journalists raise their cameras and push each other to get a clear shot of Evan. Evan descends the stairs with one hand casually in the pocket of his fine suit.

Evan walks slowly and stares down at the crowd like a king examining his subjects. His powerful presence quiets the hustle, and the silence becomes intense enough to hear a pin drop. The female guests feel their knees weaken as they look at him with admiration. 

Robert clears his throat, "Mr. Howel has something to say about the divorce rumor that's been spreading on the internet."

Evan takes a cold look at the noisy crowd, knowing they're all hoping that his marriage has failed.

"There has been a bereavement, but there's no divorce," he says vaguely.

The journalists start whispering madly.

"Is this some sort of statement of love for your wife?" one reporter asks.

"Are you sure you want to say this in front of the press?" inquires another, ``Aren't you afraid you'll break your vows?"

"What do you know?" chimes in another, "He's telling us he regards Avery as his wife. That's kind of romantic."

"The divorce is fake?" asks another.

"It looks that way," his friend replies, "There is no valid notary stamp on the documents."

"Mr. Howel has made the situation clear," Robert announces, "I hope there are no more questions about his marriage. Please, leave us alone now."

Robert gives a meaningful glance to the bodyguards and they begin to clear the room of journalists. Though the guards are highly trained, it proves difficult for them to separate the press from the general public and the room descends into chaos. Despite the hubbub, no one dares to ask more questions about the marriage. After all, Evan represents the Howel family and the press knows better than to challenge them.

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Eventually, the party guests are asked to leave as well. Anthony apologizes to them as the guards escort them out of the villa. The security guards do their jobs efficiently, but some of the journalists refuse to leave quietly. In the hustle to remove them, they drop their phones and other equipment.

Janetta and Vanessa exchange resentful looks. They had no idea that Evan would take the press on in this way.

"I apologize for the unfortunate incident, Evan," Anthony says, clearly flustered, "I'll order my men to find out who sent the photo. I won't stop until I get to the bottom of this."

Evan is still standing on the stairs and Anthony stands below him—his position couldn't be more inferior.

Evan's face is dark red as he replies, "There's no need."

"Why not?" Avery asks.

She descends the stairs wearing a light green, off-the-shoulder evening dress. She looks like a woodland fairy, and her face is prettily flushed. Evan's words have confused her. She knows he probably just said what he did to stop the press from harassing him, but a faint sense of hope pierces her chest and makes her limbs feel numb.

Evan looks up at her as she descends and their eyes meet; something seems to pass in the air between them. She feels so overcome, she can hardly remember to put one foot in front of the other. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, but she forced herself to calm down. She knows she'll need her wits about her in the battle to come; Evan will be out for the blood of whoever sent the photo, and she will have to prove that it wasn't her.

"Avery, if Evan says we should let it go, we should," Anthony says.

Evan is pissed off about the leak, and Anthony doesn't want to deal with the possible consequences of a full-scale investigation.

"Why? We've been made an absolute laughing stock in the middle of our party," Avery says, "If someone in this house did it, they meant to insult you. You're the man of the house. Aren't you worried about such a show of disrespect?"

Anthony feels shamed by Avery's speech, and his face turns sour as she questions his masculinity and honor.

"You think it's one of us?" he demands.

"We can only be sure after a proper investigation," Avery said.

"What do you propose?" Anthony asks.

"Look, Dad, there's something dodgy about this phone.," Janetta says sweetly, holding one of the phones dropped by a journalist, "Look, at this message here."

"Give it here," Evan commands.

Robert takes the phone from Janetta and wipes it clean with a handkerchief before unlocking it and passing it to Evan. The screen shows a message containing photographs of the divorce agreement. According to the contact information in the phone, the person who sent it is named Gabrielle.

"Where is Gabrielle?" Evan asks coldly.

Avery is standing next to Evan and she sees everything over his shoulder. She can't help scoffing.

"How could it be Gabrielle?" she thinks, "She's the last person that would do such a thing!"

"Gabrielle is in the makeup room. I'll call her," Robert says.

Before Robert can leave, the sound of footsteps makes everyone lookup. Gabrielle is descending wearing an elegant dress and a full face of makeup. Thanks to the stylings of Josiah, she has shed her immaturity and looks to be a sophisticated beauty. She smiles sweetly as if she has no idea what storm she's about to face.

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