The crowd burst into laughter. Mrs. Liliana was the queen of sarcasm. Lydia was about to vomit blood hearing Liliana’s words. That was what she had always hated about her - that sense of superiority and the aura. Even when they had forced her to act as the servant at the Aprice Mansion when she was a child, Liliana had quietly gone about her job like she owned the place. Lydia hated her to the core. She could not wait to tear her to pieces. “You bitch, how dare you?” She exclaimed and made her way towards Liliana. “Miss Aprice, stop it!” Terry Draw stopped Lydia in her tracks. Most people in business knew Terry as he was an elite employee hired by the Smith Group with generous rewards. After being appointed, he became the manager of the Central Mall in a few short years. He had achieved everything on his own merits without any background help. Big bosses admired him and wanted to poach him, but Terry had shown excellent strength of character and wisdom by depicting loyalty an
Terry walked up to Liliana and bowed deeply to her. His action stunned everyone into silence. Terry had a reputation for having a backbone. Otherwise, others would have poached him already. He straightened his back and did not wait for Liliana to speak as he continued. “I can personally attest to the character of Mrs. Liliana. She is my benefactor.” “She gave me her King's High scholarship because she was rich enough to pay for her tuition. She is also the one who gave me relevant materials to prepare for entrance to Kings High after I had passed her tests." The crowd was in an uproar. 'She got a scholarship in Kings High and gave it away.' Both things were inconceivable to everyone. Terry continued, ignoring the murmurs. "After I entered Kings High, she directed me to use the alumni network to secure a scholarship abroad which was extremely generous. Since Kings High is ultimately a high school, she suggested I aim for a scholarship until post-graduation to secure my future.
While everyone was sighing in admiration for Liliana, the two women were utterly embarrassed. Vivian could not have imagined she could get humiliated further after her fall and be isolated like she was. Not to mention the cuts hurt so much. People had always admired her and looked up to her for her academic qualifications - both for the Kings High alumnus and for her prestigious degree from abroad. But Liliana hogged all the attention away from her in one fell swoop. While Vivian had never even heard of the Kings High scholarship, Liliana had not only qualified for it throughout her time at Kings High but also sponsored other students using it. With one kick, she cemented her position as someone with both intelligence and money. Everyone was talking about how wonderful a person Liliana was, and they had thoroughly ignored Vivian. Even when they looked at her, it was a gaze full of pity or loathing. Similar to Vivian, Lydia also felt humiliated. That fatal blow was hard to accep
Terry smiled helplessly. Liliana had always been cheeky. “I knew it was the right number.” He teased her back. “You only give wrong numbers to your pursuers. I am not one of them.” Liliana rolled her eyes at him. He looked around and added, “I just wanted to make sure people don’t gossip behind your back that you just put on a show to make yourself look humble while secretly disdaining poor people like me.” Liliana chuckled, “As expected of the Kings High alumni, of course.” Terry smiled as he said, “I will excuse myself, Lil. Let me buy you some tender coconut water someday. It was my childhood dream which you ruined by talking sense into me.” Jennifer piped in, “Why would she ruin your dream?” Terry looked at her and answered truthfully. “I come from a very humble family. We barely managed our daily needs and had no money for insurance, education, or healthcare. I grew up thinking my dream of attending a school would be just that. When Lil made my dreams come true, I wanted
Liliana ignored everyone and tilted her head to look at the police officers who had just entered the venue. Vincent was whispering something to them.She guessed he was probably informing them that Aprices were not on the guest list.“Right on time!” She said softly.Lydia had come to her senses in the meantime and rushed to her to topple her to the ground.Just as Lydia was about to reach her, Liliana sidestepped in the nick of time.Jonathan held Liliana close as Lydia fell to the ground.The crowd burst into peals of laughter.Lydia was not reconciled and cried, “Daddy!”Lester Aprice had wanted to keep a low profile. But he could not leave his daughter in the dumps.He had doted on Lydia for so many years that giving her the best of everything and helping her out had become quite an instinct.“How dare you hurt my daughter?” He roared at Liliana, “You insolent brat! Kneel and apologize to Lydia now!”Liliana felt absolutely nothing. It was precisely how they had parted ways seven
Lester was enraged and was about to slap Liliana in the face and show her rightful place.But the police approached them, and he held back his impulse.It would not do well to create a scene in front of authorities and half of the upper class.Both Lester and Lydia were blissfully unaware that both the authorities and anyone worth something in the upper class had already pegged them for the uncultured aggressive opportunists that they were, and they would steer clear of them as much as possible.The police came, and Liliana answered their questions.The police then secured the perimeter, and Henry treated Vivian’s wounds after the police cleared her for the same.“You are that bitch’s friend. Who knows if you are working with her?” Vivian exclaimed.Her plan had not worked as expected, and she had a sinking feeling that she would get exposed. Hence she wanted to discredit people around Liliana to leave herself some room for maneuver.But plans made in desperation are never the wisest
When Henry was treating Vivian’s wounds, some police officers were busy checking all the surveillance cameras.They came and inspected the venue and called another team to gather fingerprints.After an arduous hour, the evidence was conclusive.“Miss Stone, please come with us to the police station.” The officer said.“Officer, since I am injured, can I file the lawsuit from here or send my lawyer for the same? Do I need to go there personally?” Vivian was smug about her victory.“Miss Stone, you are being apprehended as the prime suspect for sabotaging this event.” He explained to her clearly.Vivian was so shocked that she stood up abruptly and hurt her wounds.“Ah!” She exclaimed.Trying to regain her composure, she asked.“I am the victim here. I am the one who got hurt. How can you arrest me and not her? She is the organizer. She should be responsible. Or did she perhaps bribe you?” She asked, annoyed.Some people echoed her thoughts.“Yes, she is the victim here.”“Maybe the Smi
Vivian was taken into custody by the police officers despite her protests.Her reputation went from bad to worse.People hurled abuses at her online and boycotted her Design firm offline.She had destroyed herself with her bare hands. Even so, she was the lady of the Stone family and got released on bail. She did not have to suffer in the police station, even for a night.The night ended more positively for both the Smith group and L&L Design.The party continued after the security guards escorted Vivian, Lester, and Lydia out.Although the event did not go as planned, and there was a lot of sensation - it was publicity, and they had come out on top without any mud on them.Liliana’s dynamic with the Aprice family went under scrutiny, but no one found anything about it, and people regarded it as slander.Jonathan received word from his contact at the police station as soon as Vivian got released.He called Liliana to inform her about it. But he was in for a shock as she was the one wh