CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: GO ON STAGE WITH ME

Evelyn Clayton heard every word, yet remained expressionless.

Even if this group of people came right up to her and talked about her, she couldn’t be bothered to roll her eyes.

Since she had agreed to come and act, she anticipated she would be talked about.

Audience members judging actors was only natural.

And from their reactions, it seemed her performance wasn’t bad at all!

Soon enough, Evelyn Clayton sat in a corner of the banquet hall, her expression cold.

She regretted not listening to James Grant earlier and having something to eat; now all the cake was gone, leaving only cold cuts and alcohol, which would upset her stomach.

"Are you Sister Evelyn?"

A girl in a white strapless dress suddenly approached her, shyly looking her over.

"And you are?"

"I’m Amber Whitman, it’s normal you don’t know me. James rarely talks about me to others."

Amber Whitman put on a sweet smile, but there was an unmistakable hostility in her eyes.

However, since her father’s passing, Evelyn Clayton had developed an unbreakable heart.

She crossed her arms and stepped down from the bar stool.

"Perhaps it’s because you’re not important to him."

Amber Whitman’s lips twitched subtly but forced out another smile.

"Sister Evelyn, you speak so rudely. No wonder James decides not to introduce you to me, he dotes on me and can’t bear to hear others talk about me like that."

Evelyn returned her gaze with scrutiny: "Amber... Whitman, is it? How do you speak like that comfortably? Got a sore throat?"

"..." Amber struggled to maintain her composure.

She took a deep breath: "Sister Evelyn, do you know why James didn’t pick you up today?"

"I don’t care to know."

Amber ignored her response, leaning closer to her ear: "Because James came to pick me up."

"Since it seems you’re having difficulty expressing yourself, it must be due to a physical condition. It’s a good deed to help others, I’ll make sure to reward him when I get home tonight."

Evelyn deliberately spoke ambiguously, deepening her smile.

These words made Amber’s face flush red with anger, unable to continue her act.

"Evelyn Clayton, how can you be so shameless! You climb the high and step on the low, dumping Matthew Sullivan after getting together with James. A woman like you doesn’t deserve to marry him."

Evelyn burst into laughter.

Amber was now at a loss for how to vent her fury.

"What are you laughing at!"

"I’m laughing at how naive you are—yes, so what if I climb high and step on low? You know full well, doesn’t James know? Yet he still wants to marry me, what can you do? If you have the ability, go tell him not to marry me."

Amber was shaking with anger.

If crying, making a scene, and threatening James hadn’t worked, would she really lower herself to personally drive Evelyn away?

"Ding ding ding."

The prompt sounded, signaling the official start of the banquet.

Several lights in the hall turned off, focusing all attention on the stage.

In the darkness, Amber glared sideways at Evelyn.

"I heard your family background is average, you probably haven’t seen such a spectacle? Just stand here and don’t embarrass yourself up front."

Evelyn smiled silently.

Having already angered Amber enough earlier, there was no need for her to say more; soon someone would come to her aid.

A minute later, someone approached her in the dark, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"It’s me." James Grant said in her ear: "Accompany me to the stage."

"Do we have to go on stage? I don’t want to." Evelyn knew Amber was watching, so she deliberately leaned into James.

Amber, as expected, bit her lip tightly and called to him softly: "James, I’m here too, don’t you see?"