Chapter 141

The sun cast long shadows across the cobblestone path as Lucas Laurent's gaze hardened.

Vivian Vanderbilt clutched her wrist, the delicate silver bracelet glinting under the afternoon light.

His fingers wrapped around her arm with sudden urgency. "Where did you get this?"

Her pulse spiked.

Why is he asking about this?

"Answer me!" His voice was sharp, cutting through the quiet of the garden.

Vivian swallowed. "It—it was a gift from my mother."

Lucas's eyes darkened. "Is your mother Miranda de Arma?"

Her breath hitched.

Miranda? His aunt? That means Evelyn is—

Her stomach twisted.

"Do you know her?" she asked carefully.

A cold laugh escaped him. "So my aunt's daughter is you?"

The realization struck like lightning.

Miranda was nobility. Which makes Evelyn—

Her face drained of color.

That wretched girl is a noblewoman?!

"Your name," he demanded.

"V-Vivian."

"Give me your number."

He typed it into his phone without another word and strode away, leaving her frozen in place.

If not for that bracelet—identical to the one his mother, Lillian de Arma, wore—he would never have believed this woman was his cousin.

Her?

Disgusting.

Vivian stumbled back into the Vanderbilt manor, her mind racing.

Laura Scott rushed to her side. "Vivian! What's wrong?"

"Mother—" Her voice trembled. "Evelyn's mother was a de Arma."

Laura's face paled. "What?"

Vivian clutched her arm, recounting the encounter. Laura's grip tightened around the bracelet.

Lucas thinks Vivian is Miranda's daughter because of this.

Damn it. That means Evelyn is nobility—connected to the royal family of Stoslo!

The Lucas family had risen to prominence through Lillian's marriage.

And now, Evelyn—that bastard—was one of them.

"What do we do?" Vivian whispered.

Laura's eyes gleamed with ruthless calculation. "Your father can never know. Neither can your grandmother."

She leaned closer. "And Evelyn must never find out."

Vivian's breath caught.

A slow, cruel smile curved Laura's lips.

"If Lucas believes you're Miranda's daughter..."

Her fingers dug into Vivian's shoulders.

"Then we take Evelyn's identity for ourselves."

Vivian's heart pounded.

Steal Evelyn's birthright?

The thought sent a thrill through her.

And for the first time, she and her mother were thinking the same thing.