Husband With Benefits
Chapter 250: The Scandal

Chapter 250: The Scandal

"Is this what the Sterling family hopes to bring to the future of Estania? We’ve never differentiated between a Prince of a Princess. But...."

Lucien leaned forward to see the pictures before cursing under his breath. These were pictures from when they met that first night. While his picture was not very clear, the same could not be said for Evangeline. As she projected through the headlines shouting Scandalous behavior, raunchy, Explosive etc, he could see her getting paler by the minute.

He was distracted by Nora who jabbed him as she leaned close to him, questioning in a whisper," You have a hidden twin as well?"

Prime Minister Sterling rubbed his forehead as he saw the pictures. He’s seen them earlier but he’d thought that they were well hidden. However, as he looked at the man sitting opposite him and the way his daughter was avoiding him, it seemed the ’mysterious’ man’s identity in the picture was also revealed to him.

Looking at his distressed daughter, he patted her back," I’ll have the PR get on it. They’ll deny all involvement as malicious and the pictures to be photoshopped and then we will introduce Eleanora and the tie-up with the Frost industries. That will take off the hint of scandal and divert attention. I hope that is okay, Demetri?"

"Of course, Minister Sterling," Demetri spoke casually, continuing to lean back as he sent a glance at his younger brother, who did not disappoint.

"Why deny involvement?" Lucien blurted out.

Evangeline looked at Lucien before quickly turning away. It was fine that he wanted to use her to get to Eleanora but did he have to be so cavalier about her reputation? Hadn’t she mentioned to him how important it was for her to maintain her flawless image. The man had not even been listening to her probably.

Just as she was about to give him a piece of her mind, he continued," Just tell them that she was with her fiancé and there is nothing wrong with being intimate when the intention is marriage..."

Nora turned to look at Lucien narrowly. Was the man joking. But as she saw the hands clenched under the table, not visible to anyone else, she knew that he was not as nonchalant as he seemed.

With a glance at Demetri she conveyed how his brother was as devious as him...Leaning close to her hubby, she whispered," If I’d known about the show, I would have brought some popcorn..."

Lucien turned to glare at Nora who’d become as bad as his brothers before turning back to Prime Minister Alexander and explaining," I met Evangeline at a party a few years ago. Even though we did not keep in touch, our meeting was known by many and how we spent the evening together. I have never appeared with another woman in the last few years. We can simply claim that she and I were seeing each other secretly over the last two years and now we are engaged so...."

"That way, her reputation remains unblemished and there is no scandal. Even if you deny the scandal those people might have some other pictures so it would be better to accept the truth and give it a spin."

As he said this, he looked directly at Evangeline trying to remind her that they’d been together outside on other occasions as well. How many would she be able to deny?

In answer to his hint, Evangeline banged a fist on the table and retorted sharply," I will not marry you."

Nora blinked up at Evangeline and her flushed expression. Ohh yes. This was getting interesting by the minute. Evangeline was totally into Lucien as he was into her and yet she was not jumping at the chance to be with him. Uh oh. Lucien had definitely done something foolish... Poor Lucy. Poor Evangeline. And poor her... for no popcorn...

Taking out her cell phone, she messaged in the group," You guys need to learn something from Demon and Lucy. See, Demon quickly snatched me. And Lucy is about to snatch his girl!"

Ian: Lucy? Snatch Evangeline? You must be dreaming!

Seb: Lucy is as slow as a snail. There is no way he can be fast.

Gabe: You. He’ll start courting today and Princess Evangeline will probably fall for him in a few years.

Erasmi: Don’t try to pull a fast one on us, Nora.

Nora: Well, he just proposed marriage to Evangeline. Does that sound slow to you?

As silence reigned in the chat window as well as in the room, Lucien finally muttered," You don’t need to marry me, Priness Evangeline. Your expression will make people think I asked you to eat raw tarantula. We’ll just pretend to be engaged. Spin a fairytale until this calms down and then quietly break off the engagement."

Nora shook her head and typed," I spoke too soon. Let it be."

Gabe: Hey! You can’t just say that and then apologize. You can’t leave us hanging here!

Seb: Were you dreaming that Lucy had proposed?

Nora: He changed his stance. He’d proposed a fake marriage.

Ian: No way! That is even more unbelievable.

Seb: Yup. Out of all of us, Lucien considers a marriage to be the most sacred. He wouldn’t.

Erasmi: Holy shi!! Nora. He is actually pulling this stunt. Do you think he will succeed.

Gabe: Nah. Lucy is too innocent. He would not fool the girl into falling for him and marrying him. That is so cliche...

Nora: I think Erasmi might be right...

Ian: Ho ho ho! Our Lucy has grown up!

Seb: Lucy! We are proud of you! Good good! We will have a new sister-in-law by the end of the year!

Erasmi: That is scary actually. With Lucy down, it will be three of us down within two years. Who will be next? Ian or Seb.

Seb: Hey! It will be you! Don’t curse me!

Ian: I am a sworn bachelor! We need no wives or girlfriends. You, Seb and I will be the three musketeers.

Nora looked down at the messages on her phone and grinned. This was going to be interesting. Next time she will make it a point to keep popcorn ready at all times...

Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.