Chapter 4

The air in the banquet hall seemed to freeze instantly.

The guests' gazes all slammed onto me, from initial confusion to recognizing my face, gasping in shock.

The smug smile on Lily's face instantly froze.

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

"You... how can you be here?"

I ignored her, only staring at Victor.

His pupils suddenly contracted, panic flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly covered by his usual ruthlessness. He released Lily's waist and walked to my side, his voice carrying barely noticeable panic.

"Serena? How did you get here? Didn't I tell you to wait at home?"

"Wait at home?"

I repeated those words, smiling as I looked up at that familiar face, then spoke softly, "Wait for you to give away my winery to someone else, or wait for you to publicly declare I'm your household servant?"

Victor's expression instantly darkened.

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

He lowered his head, deliberately lowering his voice, trying to plead, "There are too many people here with loose lips. This isn't the place to talk."

"Serena, come home with me first."

"Whatever it is, we'll talk about it when we get home. I'll explain everything to you slowly later."

He tried to reach for my wrist, the movement as practiced as countless times he'd coaxed me over the past ten years.

But looking at the cheap plastic button on his cuff, smelling the perfume on him that didn't belong to me, I only felt my stomach turn.

I quickly stepped back, avoiding his touch.

"Explain?"

I laughed, the sound particularly jarring in the silent banquet hall.

"Explain why you're wearing a suit from our enemy's brand?"

"Explain why you turned the winery my brother gave me into a gift for your mistress?"

"Or explain just how pleased you felt when you called me a servant?"

Victor's face went from red to white. He probably hadn't expected me to tear off the facade publicly, and the panic in his eyes could no longer be hidden.

He gritted his teeth, his voice even lower, almost pressed against my ear: "Serena, stop making a scene!"

"Do you really want to embarrass me in this kind of setting? Just come with me first. I'm begging you."

"Please?"

He tried to use his past intimate tone to soften me, but I only found it ironic.

Back when he was being chased and beaten on the streets, I was the one who carried him three blocks to find a doctor.

When he was slashed by rivals and lying on the operating table, I was the one who signed the critical condition notice and kept vigil outside the operating room for three days and nights.

"Victor," I looked up at him, my gaze as cold as ice, "do you think there's still a 'later'?"

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

"Serena, must you do this?"

He almost spoke through gritted teeth, "Ten years of our relationship-can't you give me a chance to explain?"

"Relationship?"

I pulled out a stack of documents from my bag and threw them viciously in his face.

Papers scattered across the floor, the top one showing hotel penthouse suite records for him and Lily.

"When you were tangled up with her while I was unconscious with fever, how come you didn't think about our relationship then?"

Victor was hit by the documents and turned his head, veins bulging on his neck.

The next second, he turned back viciously, his eyes flashing with hatred I couldn't understand.

"Serena, then don't blame me."

Victor suddenly turned around and shouted.

"This woman is not Mrs. Blackwood at all! She's just a maid hired by the Blackwood family!"

"Back then her family was so poor they couldn't make ends meet. I was kind enough to take her in, give her food and clothes, let her work as a servant in my house!"

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

"Never thought she'd have such ambitions-seeing my successful career, she tried to climb into my bed and even dared to forge an identity and swagger around outside!"

Lily immediately cooperated by tearing up, hiding behind him and choking out.

"Victor, don't say that... Serena was just confused for a moment..."

As she spoke, she secretly glanced up to observe the guests' reactions, unable to hide her smugness.

Several of Victor's friends immediately stepped forward to agree.

"That's right! We all know!"

"This woman is just a maid. Just because she stayed with the Blackwood family for a long time, she wanted to climb the social ladder!"

"Victor has been more than kind to her, yet she dares come here and make trouble. Truly shameless!"

The guests' discussions grew louder, their gazes toward me filled with contempt and disgust.

Some pointed at me, and some even whispered, "So she's a fraud. Looks respectable on the outside, but her thoughts are so dirty."

Victor watched this scene, a twisted smile appearing on his face.

He stepped forward, closing in before me, threatening in a voice only we could hear.

"Serena, be smart and get out of here yourself. Otherwise I'll make you completely disgraced here, without even a way to survive!"

Looking at his ferocious face, I only found it incredibly laughable.

The old butler trembled with rage, his finger shaking as he pointed at Victor.

"You... you ungrateful wretch!"

"If Miss Serena hadn't pulled every string to save you back then, you'd have rotted in prison!"

"She cut ties with her family for you. She took a blade for you and almost died. How dare you treat her like this?"

Victor's face flushed then paled, clearly unprepared for the old butler to lay his past bare in public. A ruthless light flooded his eyes.

Just then, Lily, who had been hiding behind him playing pitiful, slifted her head. A vicious glint flashed in her gaze.

She clutched Victor's sleeve, her voice a timid whisper, but the words that followed were pure venom.

"Victor...I know I shouldn't say this... but if Serena keeps making trouble like this...won't it ruin your important deal?"

She paused, as if gathering courage, and looked toward the guests. Her voice trembled, yet every word carried clearly.

"I've heard the brothers say before...when dealing with people who mean you harm... they usually...throw them into the ocean."