Chapter 257

"Mr. Sullivan, thank you."

Ethan Sullivan's steps faltered slightly, his tall frame radiating distance.

In the study, the man's slender fingers tapped lightly on the desk, his gaze icy.

"Did you verify everything?"

"Mr. Sullivan, the video was indeed filmed by a passerby and has no connection to Isabella Jackson. The uploader recognized her as the design competition champion."

The chill in Ethan's eyes deepened.

"Keep investigating that repairman. This isn't as simple as it seems."

"The backlash on Weibo..."

"Continue deleting it," he said coldly. "Ban accounts if necessary."

Colin Keller accepted the order and left.

In the bedroom, Evelyn Sullivan stared at the surveillance feed. A crowd still swarmed outside Elm Cove Villa.

She needed to resolve this quickly.

After the video went viral, Isabella's following exploded, inflating her ego. She plotted to leak more dirt on Evelyn to climb even higher.

"Evelyn was born to be my stepping stone," she smirked at her reflection.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a notification.

Evelyn had posted on Weibo.

The moment Isabella played the audio clip, her face drained of color. It was a recording of her berating Evelyn backstage at the design competition!

"Evelyn! Are you insane?!" She dialed with trembling fingers. "Delete it now!"

A calm voice answered, "Have you lost yourself in all the recent praise?"

"I didn't post that video! But you hitting me is a fact!"

"You insulted my adoptive parents. Did you expect no consequences?"

Isabella's tone suddenly softened. "Sis... I was wrong... I just won the championship. Don't ruin this for me..."

"Your reputation matters, but mine is disposable?" Evelyn hung up with a cold laugh.

Isabella frantically redialed, but the calls went unanswered.

Hands shaking, she opened the comments—only to find them flooded with attacks against Evelyn.

[Fake audio? How pathetic!]

[No wonder she dropped out of high school—zero brains!]

[LOL, queen of staged drama!]

Isabella froze, then burst into manic laughter.

"Idiot! Who'd believe such obvious fake evidence?"

Just as she prepared to mock Evelyn in a new post, two fresh Weibo updates appeared.

The moment she read the titles, her face turned ashen.