"Inner beauty?" Tom sounded like he’d heard a funny joke. "Let me ask you, do people see your heart or your face at first glance? Girls who always have ’inner beauty’ on their lips are just self-hypnotizing and comforting themselves!"

Saying this, Tom turned around.

Next, two girls around Evelyn Morgan’s age came running out, taking Evelyn for a bath, massage, shampoo, and manicure, grooming her from head to toe.

Evelyn felt like a puppet, wanting to escape countless times, but Tom blocked her way each time, using a barrage of sharp words to attack her.

Strangely, in front of Tom, Evelyn felt as if she was facing a teacher, only obeying and not daring to resist.

After being tossed around for over two hours, Evelyn was almost exhausted.

When Tom was doing her makeup, she involuntarily closed her eyes and fell into a doze.

Evelyn was shaken awake, the lights were glaring, and she instinctively wanted to rub her eyes, but Tom quickly grabbed her hand.

"Sweetheart! If you rub your eyes now, all this makeup will be ruined! Get up and see how I’ve sculpted this raw gem? I’m so talented! You’re absolutely perfect now!" Tom exclaimed.

Evelyn instinctively recoiled.

She remembered how dismissive Tom was before she fell asleep.

How did a nap change Tom into a completely different person?

Sweetheart?

Could he be any cheesier?

It wasn’t until she sat up and looked in the mirror that Evelyn realized it wasn’t Tom who had changed, but her.

Her makeup was not heavy, it was actually quite light, making it seem as if she wasn’t wearing any.

However, she was different from her usual self.

The eyeliner made her eyes look bigger, bright and glistening, her nose appeared more defined, and her lips were coated with light pink lipstick, making her skin look even fairer.

Her hair had also been done while she slept.

The long straight hair was now slightly curled, with two small braids woven into a heart shape at the back, and the rest flowed down her back, looking incredibly delicate.

"Go put on the gown," Tom said softly. "Beautiful! Truly beautiful!"

Evelyn’s cheeks flushed even more intensely as she put on the dress Tom had chosen for her. Just as she zipped it up, the curtain was pulled open.

She looked back, unexpectedly meeting Caden Lockwood’s gaze.

Seeing Evelyn, Caden’s breath caught, and his heartbeat skipped a beat.

His hands subconsciously clenched into fists, his eyes fixed steadily on Evelyn.

"Isn’t she beautiful?" Tom said proudly. "Dressed like this, she’ll be the queen of the party! She has an ethereal quality that no one else has. Beautiful, truly beautiful!"

Looking at Evelyn standing under the lights, Caden’s heart began to race.

With makeup, Evelyn’s eyes looked like smoke, her lips left a lingering fragrance, and the short dress perfectly wrapped around her figure, like a carefully wrapped gift just waiting for him to unwrap slowly.

"Does it... look good?" Evelyn asked softly.

Why was Caden staring at her for so long without saying a word?

His silence was terrifying!

"Suddenly, I don’t want to take you anymore," Caden said sullenly.

Tom laughed heartily, but Evelyn was utterly confused.

"Why?" Evelyn was upset. "I’ve spent all afternoon on this! And now you say you’re not taking me! Isn’t that a waste of my time? I’m really tired, you know? I..."

Before Evelyn could finish her complaint, Caden leaned in and kissed her directly on the lips.