3
When I finished speaking, the crowd erupted in laughter, as if they had heard the funniest joke.
“Seraphina Hayes? Don’t make us laugh. That’s a legend in this city, a figure with immense power. But there’s been no news of her for years. We heard she died overseas. You’re not saying *you’re* her, are you?”
“Well, now that you mention it, Seraphina has the same surname as the Hayes. Could she really be from the Hayes family?”
“No way, the Hayes only have one daughter!”
Tiffany Vance also covered her mouth, giggling.
“Lily, where did you find this impostor? Her acting is terrible, daring to impersonate Seraphina Hayes.”
I looked at her as if she were a dead woman walking.
The Hayes family had indeed only publicly acknowledged Lily as a daughter. As the designated heir of the Hayes family,
I was secretly trained from a young age for my safety, so very few people knew my true identity.
“Lily, haven’t you caused enough embarrassment? Make this impostor get out!”
Julian Thorne frowned, looking at my sister and me as if we were disgusting vermin.
Lily clutched my sleeve tightly, her eyes filled with worry.
I reassuringly patted Lily’s hand, my eyes turning sharp as I looked at Julian Thorne.
<
14 PM
“You’re not fit to speak to me! Where’s Victor Sterling? Tell him to get down here!”
Tiffany Vance scrutinized me from head to toe, then sneered.
“You’ve got some nerve acting so powerful. Too bad, if the real Ms. Hayes had returned, it would have rocked the entire city’s elite. How could there be no word of it?”
My fury intensified.
“I said, you have no right to speak to me. Get Victor Sterling down here, now!”
Tiffany Vance rolled her eyes dismissively.
“Mr. Sterling isn’t someone you can just summon! Since you’re talking such a big game, don’t blame me for teaching this \impostor a lesson!”
With that, she looked at the various men in the club.
“Grab her too and teach her a good lesson! If I’m satisfied, there’ll be a generous reward!”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Vance, we’ll make sure she knows what a man can do!”
“Since she claims to be Lily’s sister, let’s make her experience what Lily went through last night!”
The men in the club, their faces filled with greed, swarmed forward, vying for first dibs.
“Who gave you the guts to touch me?!”
My eyes were icy. The hidden blade in my sleeve slashed a deep gash across the lead man’s face.
“Ah!”
The man I had cut screamed, clutching his face, then roared, “Everyone, get her! Kill this filthy bitch!”
Ten men rushed forward at once.
One man seized the opportunity, his face contorted in a sneer as he grabbed my neck.
44-
“You bitch! How dare you hurt me? I’ll make you pay for that now!”
The surrounding crowd pressed in, some even pulling out their phones to record.
Lily lunged forward, trying to shield me, but Tiffany Vance yanked her hair.
“Still playing devoted sisters with this impostor? Once I’m done with her, you won’t escape either!”
Lily’s eyes welled with tears. She tugged at Tiffany Vance’s skirt, pleading in a low voice,
“Don’t touch my sister! Let her go, and I’ll let you examine me!”
Tiffany Vance kicked Lily to the ground, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
8:14 PM d
<
“We want to examine you, and we want to deal with this impostor too! Unless…”
Tiffany Vance smiled maliciously.
“Unless you grovel on your knees for me, until I’m satisfied. Then maybe I’ll consider letting your fake sister go.”
Lily turned her head, looking at Julian Thorne, who remained cold and observant. She gritted her teeth and yelled,
“My sister is the powerful figure you’re talking about! If you hurt her…”
Julian Thorne merely sneered,
“Why all the useless talk? Hurry up and kneel! If you don’t, they’ll just deal with your sister right here!”
Tiffany Vance looked down at Lily, as if she were an ant.
Lily let out a bitter laugh. “Alright, I’ll kneel!”
She dropped to her knees, bowing her head to Tiffany Vance, over and over. “Please, let my sister go…”
Even as her forehead swelled and began to bleed, Tiffany Vance didn’t tell her to stop.
My heart ached. I wanted to stand up and stop it all, but my hands and feet were restrained, unable to move.
Every time Lily bowed, it felt like a needle piercing my heart.
Lily had grown up under my endless doting. When had she ever suffered such humiliation?
Marcus should have been back by now. Why was he taking so long?
Tiffany Vance yawned idly.
“Alright, alright, stop kneeling.”
Lily’s pale face showed a flicker of joy.
“So you agree to let my sister go?”
Tiffany Vance scoffed, as if mocking Lily’s naivete.
“I only said I’d *consider* letting your fake sister go. But now I’ve considered it clearly. Her? I’m not letting her go!”
“You!”
Lily instantly turned into a furious small beast, trying to lunge at Tiffany Vance, but Julian Thorne kicked her away.
“Try touching my sister one more time!”
My heart twisted with a sharp pain, and I roared.
Tiffany Vance walked closer, a flicker of jealousy in her eyes as she looked at my face. She violently grabbed my neck.
“Oh, I’ll touch you first, then!”
“No! If you hurt my sister, when Victor Sterling gets here, he won’t let you off!”
Lily cried out frantically.
Tiffany Vance sneered.
“You still think your Hayes family is what it used to be? What right do you have to threaten me?!”
Tiffany Vance picked up the small knife I had dropped on the ground, pressing it viciously against my throat.
Just as she was about to press down with force, the private elevator door to the top floor suddenly opened.
Victor Sterling slowly stepped out of the elevator, followed by a group of men in black.
The moment he saw Tiffany Vance holding the knife to my throat, with blood already seeping out, his face darkened to
an extreme!
