Chapter 329
“Isabella? Where is she?” Nathaniel’s voice was sharp through the phone.
“Mr. Blackwood! She did arrive, but she claimed your granddaughter offended her and forced her departure!” Gloria’s tone was strained with helplessness.
Archibald Worthington’s brow furrowed deeply. The expert he’d pleaded with came, and his own granddaughter drove her away?
He ended the call abruptly, his palm slamming onto the polished mahogany desk. “Vivienne! What is the meaning of this? Do you comprehend how difficult it was to secure this meeting? How could you be so foolish? Do you even care about salvaging your reputation? I, Archibald Worthington, will disinherit you!”
His face flushed a deep crimson, his neatly trimmed mustache seeming to bristle with his rage.
Vivienne had never witnessed her grandfather so enraged. She quickly tried to explain. “Grandfather, I did not dismiss the person you invited! I only removed Isabella Montgomery from the premises!”
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes narrowing as a dreadful suspicion took hold. “Grandfather… the expert you invited… it wasn’t her, was it?”
“How would I know her name? All I know is she masterminded the Celestial Gala! She transformed Arabella Fontaine and Genevieve Beaumont overnight! One was a perpetual third wheel, the other a faded star! Yet she made them both shine! Your situation would be trivial for her! Why must you always let your temper destroy everything?!”
Archibald’s roar echoed in the lavish study. It took every ounce of his self-control not to strike his granddaughter.
The truth crashed down on Vivienne. Who else could have engineered those turnarounds but Isabella Montgomery?
The so-called expert her grandfather revered was that woman all along!
She had dressed meticulously, prepared to humble herself before the expert… only to find it was Isabella? Her grandfather wanted her to beg Isabella for help?
Fury ignited within her. “Grandfather, you are only seeing the surface! You have no idea how vile that woman truly is! She’s sleeping with Nathaniel Blackwood!”
“What?!” Archibald’s white eyebrows shot up in stunned disbelief.
Vivienne met his gaze with fierce intensity. “The expert you begged to come is Isabella Montgomery! Recently returned from abroad! The disgraced adopted daughter who brought shame to the Montgomery family!”
“Grandfather, do you truly believe she possesses such talent? She has Nathaniel Blackwood backing her! For all we know, he is the one providing her with all those strategies!”
“Vivienne, you know I despise lies. Where is your proof?” Archibald’s expression was stern. “Didn’t Reginald Blackwood himself confirm your engagement to Nathaniel by month’s end?”
Vivienne let out a bitter, scornful laugh. “That was his parents’ arrangement! Nathaniel wants nothing to do with me! Isabella has him completely ensnared! I witnessed it myself! They were all over each other! They even live under the same roof!”
Seeing the raw honesty in her eyes, Archibald’s initial rage began to cool, replaced by dawning horror. “Is this true? Nathaniel rejects you… for an adopted daughter from the entertainment industry? An actress?”
“Grandfather, have I ever lied to you?” Vivienne guided him to his chair, her movements suddenly gentle as she poured him tea. “When Seraphina first told me, I refused to believe it. I thought a man of Nathaniel’s stature would never be interested in someone like her. But I saw it with my own eyes at the Blackwood Estate. Isabella even convinced Oliver to threaten me with pythons to drive me away.”
She relayed the entire humiliating encounter. Archibald’s fist crashed onto the desk again, the sound thunderous in the quiet room.
“Preposterous! This is utterly preposterous! A woman of her dubious background… who knows what filth she’s been involved with! How could Nathaniel possibly be interested in her?”