Chapter 18

Evelyn Laurent stood at the center of the ballroom, a faint smirk playing on her lips.

Her gaze swept over the crowd kneeling before her, a flicker of mockery in her eyes.

These very people had sneered at her moments ago. Now they groveled like beaten dogs.

"Miss Laurent, we were wrong!"

"Please forgive our ignorance..."

"We didn’t recognize your status..."

Their pleas echoed through the grand hall.

Alexander Langley stood beside her, his slender fingers lightly tapping a crystal glass.

Each sharp chime sent a tremor through the kneeling figures.

"Get out." His voice was ice.

Security immediately moved in, roughly hauling the offenders to their feet.

"Wait." Evelyn's voice cut through the tension.

The room held its breath.

She stepped toward Vincent Lowell, looking down at the man who'd once called himself her father.

"Mr. Lowell," she said softly, "Now do you see who the real bastard is?"

Vincent's face turned ashen. His lips trembled, but no words came.

"Throw them out." Evelyn turned, her gown swirling gracefully.

What followed was a spectacle.

A dozen well-dressed socialites tumbled through the doors like discarded toys.

The Lowell family—all four of them—were shoved out last, their humiliation complete.

Outside, the winter wind cut like knives.

"This is your fault!" A middle-aged man grabbed Vincent by the collar. "If we hadn't listened to your lies—"

Fists rained down.

Vincent curled on the pavement, his face bloodied.

His hate-filled eyes remained fixed on The Grand Hyatt's golden doors.

Inside, the daughter he'd discarded was being treated like royalty.

While his family lay in the gutter where they belonged.

"Dad..." Sophia Lowell wept prettily. "What do we do now...?"

Vincent clenched his jaw.

This wasn't over.

Back inside, Evelyn accepted a champagne flute from a waiter.

"Satisfied?" Alexander asked.

Evelyn studied the golden liquid. "This is just the beginning."

The chandelier's light danced in her eyes like flames.

The gala continued, but everyone knew—

After tonight, the power structure of the city would never be the same.