Unmasking the Heiress

"Breaking news alert. A massive pile-up on Dannington Road in downtown Avalon City has left hundreds injured at 12:38 p.m. today. Reports say up to two hundred seventy vehicles were wrecked, and over a thousand people were involved..." Evangeline zeroed in on the timestamp.

That was right when she was supposed to hit the freeway.

No wonder her uncles were freaking out. Holden was a mess; tears and snot were everywhere. Even Yale, a no-nonsense man, had eyes red and swollen.

"You guys thought I was in that mess on the highway?"

Everything clicked into place. Evangeline gently grabbed her uncles' hands as she remorsefully apologized,

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It was all happening so fast that I didn't want to hold up anything important, so I didn't get the chance to tell you," she explained.

Holden, finally at ease, gave an exaggerated eye roll.

"You have no idea. When we caught that news, our hearts dropped to the floor. If Alex hadn't shown us the security cam footage, we might've gone and given Walter a beating he wouldn't forget!" Evangeline's face said it all-she was beyond words. "Why would you go after Walter if I was in a crash?"

She and Walter were practically exes. It made zero sense for her uncles to go after him.

However, she knew her uncles were men of their word. The thought of Walter nearly getting thrashed... He must have been hurt badly, was he not? Also, what was that about Alex being involved? Holden recalled how badly Walter had been beaten, but he did not feel the slightest twinge of guilt." Who's fault is it that the kid kept picking on you? We've had enough of watching that happen..." "So you decided to take it out on Walter?" Evangeline felt at a loss, unsure of what to say.

The image of Walter getting pummeled stirred a wave of sympathy in her. Well, maybe after she wrapped up Lydia's issue, she should drop by the Gordons' place to check on Walter.

"But why did you guys go after Walter? What's Alex got to do with it?"

In Evangeline's mind, Walter and Alex might share the same face, but their personalities and ways of doing things could not be more different. It did not make sense for those two mismatched brothers to be in the same place without a good reason. Little did she know, her question was the key to unlocking Holden's chatterbox.

He eagerly took hold of Evangeline's arm. "Let me tell you, it's quite the tale, and I need to take my time. But first things first, I've got to say, Alex is one heck of a stand-up guy!"

After facing off with Alex, Holden's view of the guy he had only heard about changed entirely. His head was brimming with compliments, like a river that just would not quit.

He had been dying to tell Yale all about it, but Yale could not care less about that stuff. He finally had theNôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.

4

chance, and there was no way he was going to let it slip by.

Evangeline's eyes darted to Yale, silently begging for an escape as Holden wound up for one of his infamous lectures.

Yale caught her look instantly. He knew Holden was about to burst with unsolicited advice, so he flashed Evangeline a quick 'I'll-call-you' hand signal.

"I'm going to call Grandpa, let him know we're all good, I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Evangeline was on her own with Holden until Yale's fake call was over,

Before she could even muster a groan, Holden's voice was already in her ear,