Chapter &
Her friends immediately jeered:
“Exactly! She’s filthy–keep her off the carpet!”
“Did you forget, Sophia? She used to act all high and mighty, claiming she didn’t care about wealth or poverty. And now? She ditches her crippled boyfriend and runs straight to a place like this to fish for rich men?”
Their harsh laughter echoed through the hotel lobby.
Listening to their twisted accusations, I stared coldly at Sophia and grinted out a single word:
Get out”
“You dare tell me to get out?” Sophia’s expression darkened. She suddenly shoved me–hard!
Caught off guard, I stumbled backward, crashing into a large display cabinet stocked with premium red wines and spirits.
CRASH!
SMASH!
Dozens of exquisitely packaged, astronomically priced bottles–Château Lafite, Romanée–Conti, rare Macallan–toppled like a waterfall, shattering into fragments on the marble floor.
The noise was deafening. Everyone in the lobby turned in stunned silence to stare at the wreckage.
Then the silence shattered–drowned by cruel, mocking laughter.
“Hahaha! Look at that disaster–broke girl’s in big trouble now!”
“Someone count them! Let’s see how many treasures this country bumpkin just destroyed!”
“One bottle of Lafite… two of Romanée–Conti three Macallan Rare Casks. Oh my god, how much is that?!”
“Easily over a million! Even if we sold her, she couldn’t pay it back.”
“Can’t pay?”
Sophia sauntered over, lips curled in a wicked grin. “Easy fix! Just kneel down and lick the spilled wine clean! For every drop she licks, I’ll pay for it! Can’t finish? Then keep licking until we’re satisfied! Hahaha!”
Her clique erupted in sadistic agreement.
“Yeah! Get on your knees and lick it up!”
“Let’s see how the Takeout Queen licks the floor!”
Sophia’s sycophants grabbed my arms and forced me down toward the glass- and wine–covered floor.
“Knzel Lick it!!
“Do it, or we’ll call the cops and throw you in jail!”
A wave of pain and humiliation seared over me
d the ground.
My arms were twisted behind my back, my hair yanked, my head shoved toward
Summoning all my strength, 1 litted my head and rasped out in a hoarse voice:
“I’m Emily! The sole heir of Carter Enterprises! Richard Carter is my father!”
A heartbeat of stunned silence.
Then another explosion of derisive laughter.
“She says she’s the Carter heiress?”
“Her dad’s the richest man in the city? Is she delusional or just completely broken from the shock?”
Oh please–It she’s the Carter heiress, then I’m the President of the United States!”
Sophia doubled over, laughter bordering on hysterics.
“The Carter heiress? You mean the fiancee of my brother, Alexander? The second young master of Grand Horizon Corporation?”
“Spare me the drama–don’t bother calling your rich daddy. If you’re really engaged to Alexander, have him come out and discipline” us, why don’t
you
“What a joke. She doesn’t
t even know how to lie properly!”
And just as I stood humiliated in the center of it all-
A familiar figure walked toward us
Jacob
Dressed sharply in a tailored suit, suave as ever, his eyes flickered with surprise and a hint of pity when he saw me,
“Emily? Sophia? What’s going on here?”
He took in the scene–the broken bottles, the chaos, and me being pinned to the floor–then frowned and stared down at me with icy detachment.
“Emily, how did this happen? Did you cause trouble again?”
“But… if you ask me for help, beg me, maybe for old times sake, I might be able to cover the damages-
His words hung in the air as a commotion came from the hotel entrance.
The crowd scrambled aside.
“Is that Alexander? He’s so tall and handsome!”
“Duh! He’s the golden boy of high society’s elite–of course he’s in a league of his own!”
Chapter 4
A strikingly handsome man in a perfectly tailored, all–black bespoke suit cut through the lobby.
His gaze zeroed in on me–instantly.
The moment he saw me pinned to the ground, disheveled and humillated, his expression darkened like a thundercloud –
“What are you all doing?!”
His voice sliced through the laughter–sharp as a blade sheathed in lee
The lobby plunged into dead silence.
I restrained me. His voice was frostbite given sound.
He stepped swiftly toward me, those deep, piercing eyes scanning the people who had res
“Let her go.”
The command was simple–yet carried an unquestionable authority.
The hands restraining me jerked back as if scalded.
The smugness on Sophia’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by sheer panic.
She stumbled back a step, lips quivering like a plucked violin string.
“Al… Alexander…”
The name died in her throat–a whisper trayed with terror.
But her lackeys, still oblivious, piped up mockingly:
“Sophia, why are you scared? Your brother’s here now! Tell him to kick this takeout girl out!”
“Didn’t you always say your brother spoiled you the most?”
“Exactly! We were just punishing a troublemaker who damaged hotel property!”
“throw this filthy delivery girl out already!”
Alexander’s eyes raked over my wine–soaked coat, soaked with wine and speckled with glass shards, A muscle feathered in his jaw. “Emily, you’re just like when we were kids–you never knew how to protect yourself, huh?”
“What…?!
I stared at the man’s handsome face.
Only then did i dare believe He really was the neighbor boy who used to follow me around everywhere.
There was no time to say anything more
He shrugged off his expensive bespoke suit jacket without hesitation and gently draped it over my battered shoulders.
His touch was tender, as if I were something precious.
“Alexander…”
Sophia’s complexion drained of all color.
Her earlier abravado evaporated like alcalal on a flame, leaving only naked fear.
A trendous smile cracked her face.
the wrong idea. It’s this woman… she damaged the hotel’s wine, and then tried to pretend…”
“Pretend what?***
Alexander cut her off, his voice now frigid and laced with disdain.
“Sophia, tell me what
exactly does my fiancée, Emily, only daughter of Chairman Richard Carter, need to pretend about?”
His ley poze swept over Sophia mulher group of cronies.
A gap rippled through the crowd. The same people who’d mocked her now shrank back, as if afraid her gaze might brand them next
