Chapter 127

"Xander Quincy, you'd better stay away from Evelyn Laurent." Oliver Valentine blocked Xander with a cold expression, his gaze sharp. "She's Ethan Sullivan's fiancée."

Xander raised an eyebrow, studying Evelyn as she sipped her drink alone.

"What? You're smitten too?" He nudged Oliver playfully. "Last I heard, you were planning to pursue her."

Oliver scoffed. "That was a joke. Besides—" His eyes swept over Xander. "You're too old."

"What?!" Xander bristled, pointing at his handsome face. "Women swoon over me everywhere I go. How dare you call me old?"

He launched into a tirade, but Oliver ignored him and strode toward Evelyn.

"Miss Laurent." Oliver gave a slight nod.

Evelyn glanced up, her fingers tapping the glass with a crisp sound.

"Ethan didn't come?" Oliver scanned the room.

"No idea." Her tone was indifferent, as if discussing a stranger.

Xander sidled up, grinning. "You don't even know where your fiancé is?"

Evelyn's eyes turned icy. "Should I put a GPS tracker on him?"

Xander choked on his words and retreated, though his gaze flickered toward Bianca Fairchild in the corner.

The air grew heavy with tension.

"This is the third son of the Quincy family," Oliver offered, trying to lighten the mood. "He and Ethan grew up together."

Evelyn didn’t even lift her eyelids.

Oliver tactfully pulled Xander away. Evelyn picked up her glass again, her gaze drifting lazily across the ballroom.

Suddenly, a sickly sweet voice pierced through the chatter.

"Uncle Sullivan!" Sophia Lowell curtsied dramatically in her white dress, her hands trembling as she held up a gift box. "I’m Ethan’s student. I came to wish you a happy birthday!"

Vincent Sullivan narrowed his eyes, the air around him turning frigid. Sophia froze under his stare, a cold sweat breaking out on her back.

The ballroom fell silent.