Chapter 4

The air in the banquet hall seemed to instantly solidify.

The guests' gazes uniformly slammed into me. From initial bewilderment, to seeing my face, they all gasped sharply.

Serena's triumphant smile instantly froze.

She instinctively shrank behind Victor, her fingers, gripping his sleeve, trembling uncontrollably, her voice shaking.

“You… how are you here?”

I ignored her, my eyes fixed on Victor.

His pupils abruptly constricted, a flicker of panic in his eyes, but it was quickly masked by his usual ruthlessness. He released Serena’s waist, walked towards me, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremor of alarm. “Elara? Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to wait for me at home?”

“Wait for you at home?”

I repeated those words, smiling as I looked up at his familiar face, then spoke softly, “Wait for you to give my winery away to someone else, or wait for you to announce to the world that I’m merely your family’s housekeeper?”

Victor’s face instantly darkened.

After a moment, he seemed to have suppressed his emotions.

He lowered his head, his voice deliberately hushed, attempting to plead, “There are too many ears here; this isn’t the place to talk.”

“Elara, come home with me first.”

“We’ll discuss everything at home; I’ll explain everything slowly later.”

He tried to reach for my wrist, his movements as familiar as the countless times he’d placated me over the past decade.

But looking at the cheap plastic flower pin on his cuff, smelling the perfume on him that wasn’t mine, I felt my stomach churn.

I sharply recoiled, avoiding his touch.

“Explain?”

I laughed, the sound jarringly loud in the silent banquet hall.

“Explain why you’re wearing the brand of our sworn enemy?”

“Explain why you gave the winery my brother gifted me as a present to your mistress?”

“Or explain how smug you felt when you just called me a housekeeper?”

Victor’s face went from green to pale. He likely hadn’t expected me to publicly slap him in the face like this, and the panic in his eyes was undeniable.

He gritted his teeth, his voice dropping even lower, almost a whisper against my ear. “Elara Sterling, don’t make a scene!”

“Do you really want to humiliate me in front of everyone? Just come with me now, I’m begging you.”

“Please?”

He tried to soften me with his past intimate tone, but I found it utterly sarcastic.

Years ago, when he was being chased and beaten in the streets, I was the one who carried him on my back for three blocks to find a doctor.

When he was stabbed by a rival and lay on the operating table, I signed the critical condition notice and waited outside the operating room for three days and three nights.

“Victor Thorne,” I looked up at him, my gaze as cold as tempered steel, “Do you really think there’s a 'later' for us anymore?”

Victor’s face completely lost all color. He probably hadn't expected me to be so merciless.

“Elara, do you really have to be like this?”

He practically gritted his teeth as he spoke, “Our ten years together, can’t you give me a chance to explain?”

“Years together?”

I pulled a stack of documents from my bag and flung them hard at his face.

Papers scattered across the floor, the top one a record of his and Serena’s stay in a hotel penthouse suite.

“When you were tangled up with her while I was burning with fever and unconscious, why didn’t you think about our 'years together'?”

Victor's head snapped back from the impact of the files, veins bulging in his neck.

The next second, he whirled around fiercely, his eyes filled with a hatred I couldn't comprehend.

“Elara Sterling, then don’t blame me.”

Victor abruptly turned, his voice sharp.

“Everyone, look closely! This woman is no Mrs. Thorne! She’s just a housekeeper employed by my family!”

“Her family was so poor they couldn’t make ends meet back then. I kindly took her in, gave her food and clothes, and let her work as a housekeeper in my home!”

He pointed at my nose, the ruthlessness in his eyes almost overflowing.

“I never expected her to be such an ungrateful snake, seeing my success and daring to try and worm her way into my bed, even forging an identity to flaunt around and deceive people!”

Serena immediately played along, her eyes reddening, sobbing behind him.

“Victor, don’t say that… Ms. Sterling was just confused for a moment…”

As she spoke, she secretly glanced up to gauge the guests’ reactions, a hint of triumph in her eyes.

Several of Victor’s friends immediately stepped forward to back him up.

“That’s right! We all know!”

“This woman is just a housekeeper, using her long stay in the Thorne household to try and climb the social ladder!”

“Victor has been more than benevolent to her, yet she still dares to cause trouble here. Shameless!”

The guests’ murmurs grew louder, their gazes at me filled with disdain and disgust.

Some pointed fingers at me, and one even muttered, “Turns out she’s a fraud. Looks decent on the outside, but her heart is utterly foul.”

Victor watched the scene, a twisted smile on his face.

He took a step forward, closing in on me, and threatened in a voice only we could hear, “Elara Sterling, if you know what’s good for you, get out now, or I’ll ruin you here and ensure you have no future left!”

I looked at his distorted face, finding it utterly ridiculous.

Mr. Abernathy, the old butler, was trembling with rage, shakily pointing at Victor.

“You… you ungrateful snake!”

“If Ms. Sterling hadn't begged her father to pull strings and save you, you’d have rotted in prison long ago!”

“Ms. Sterling broke ties with her family for you, even taking a knife for you and almost dying! Is this how you repay her?!”

Victor’s face went from green to pale, clearly not expecting the old butler to expose his past in public. The ruthlessness in his eyes was almost overflowing.

Just then, Serena Vance, who had been hiding behind him and feigning pitifulness, suddenly looked up, a sinister glint in her eyes.

She clutched Victor’s sleeve, her voice timid, yet her words were venomous.

“Victor… I, I know this might not be good to say… but if Ms. Sterling keeps pestering you like this, won’t it… won’t it jeopardize your plans?”

She paused, as if summoning courage, then looked around at the guests, her voice trembling but clear. “I heard the others say before that people with malicious intentions, ungrateful snakes like her… they should be… they should be thrown into the ocean to feed the fish…”

At her words, the hall fell into a terrifying silence.

Even Victor’s friends were stunned, clearly not expecting this woman, who usually acted so sweet and innocent, to utter such cruel words.

Victor’s pupils constricted sharply. He instinctively looked at me, a complex flicker in his eyes.