Chapter 199

"Silence!" Vivian shrieked, her eyes burning with fury. "You wretched creature, if fate hadn't favored you that night, Victor Baldwin would have-"

Mid-sentence, Vivian froze as realization struck - she'd lost control and revealed too much. Her entire body began trembling violently.

Gasps erupted around them.

Evelyn casually picked up a wine glass from the nearby table, swirling the crimson liquid as she approached Vivian. "Indeed, had fortune not smiled upon me six years ago, your scheme would have succeeded. Weren't you just claiming to be Miranda's daughter? Don't you covet the de Armas family name so desperately?"

"That identity holds no value to me - not when even my own mother rejected it. Allow me to toast you in her memory." Evelyn's lips curved into a chilling smile as she raised the glass and poured its contents over Vivian's head.

The wine cascaded down Vivian's hair, staining her face and designer gown.

Vivian stood paralyzed, humiliation burning through her veins as every guest witnessed her disgrace.

Sophia's eyes widened with realization. "Vivian Vanderbilt, how shameless can you be? Impersonating Zoe's mother's daughter?"

"No! That's not-!" Vivian tried to flee.

"Don't you know how your mother schemed her way into the Vanderbilts?" Sophia continued mercilessly. "Zoe's father never divorced Miranda when your mother was carrying you! Not only are you an illegitimate child who's been harassing Zoe relentlessly, but now you're stealing her identity too?"

The crowd erupted in scandalized whispers.

"Good heavens! What a vile woman!"

"So her mother was the homewrecker, and she's denying her own parentage now?"

"All this time she's been impersonating a de Armas heir? The audacity!"

"I actually treated her kindly earlier. What a waste of my courtesy."

The cruel remarks assaulted Vivian from all sides, making her sway unsteadily as her carefully constructed world crumbled.

Evelyn set the empty glass down with finality. "Remember this, Vivian - even an identity I reject remains forever beyond your reach."

'Let her savor the consequences of tonight,' Evelyn thought.

Without sparing a glance at the stunned crowd, Evelyn turned and exited the banquet with effortless grace.

Vivian saw Lillian's thunderous expression and moved to explain, but a stinging slap silenced her.

Even Lucas looked shocked - his etiquette-obsessed mother had never struck anyone in public before.

Lillian's rage burned white-hot. "How dare you make a fool of me!"

"Aunt Lillian, please! They're lying-"

"Take your documents and get out!" Lillian hurled the papers at Vivian's face before storming away.

The atmosphere turned palpably tense until the Bouchers intervened, salvaging what remained of the event.

Security swiftly escorted the hysterical Vivian out as society's elite mocked her mercilessly.

"Imagine impersonating a de Armas heir! She's burned bridges with the Laurents permanently now."

"The sheer nerve of that woman!"

Vivian trembled with humiliation beyond anything she'd ever experienced.

'This humiliation demands repayment in blood. Evelyn Vanderbilt must die!'

Evelyn had already vanished into the night, leaving the scandal far behind her.