"Oh? Isn't that Lila?"
A sharp voice sliced through the buzzing banquet hall like a blade, silencing the crowd in an instant.
"Tsk tsk… but that guy next to her—he's definitely not Young Master Lu Zhe, right?"
"Of course not! That's a gigolo from a high-end club. I've seen him with my own eyes!"
"Cheating right before the engagement? Lila has no shame!"
"Word is, there's a video—everyone's seen it. What a disgrace to the Lu family!"
The murmurs swelled like crashing waves—sarcastic, gleeful, cruel—aimed straight at Lila, who stood in the center of it all.
But she didn't flinch. Her crimson lips curved into a cold smile, and a glint of ice flickered in her eyes.
Panic? Why should she panic?
This gift was meticulously prepared by her dear "sister" Vanessa—her engagement present to sabotage Lila and Lu Zhe's marriage. In her past life, she was powerless against this mother-daughter duo, accused of things she never did, abandoned, slandered, until even Lu Zhe turned cold.
But this time?
She had been reborn.
She was done playing the victim.
Vanessa wanted to see her destroyed?
Then let's see who gets ruined first.
"Lila! What do you have to say for yourself?!" her adoptive father, Joel, bellowed, his face red with rage. "We raised you, clothed you, gave you a future with the Lu family—and this is how you repay us? Sneaking around with some lowlife?! You've shamed the entire Joel family!"
"Dad, please calm down," Vanessa said sweetly, voice pitched just loud enough for the whole room to hear. "I'm sure she didn't mean to… Lila, say something. That video… was that really you?"
What a perfect performance—caring big sister, heartbroken but forgiving. Lila almost wanted to applaud.
"Was it me?" Lila's voice was calm, laced with icy amusement. "Sister, aren't you the one who knows best?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Vanessa's mother, Susan, shot to her feet with a shriek. "Your sister is pure and decent—unlike you! Always sneaking off to clubs and bars! Joel, I even heard Lila's been sleeping around with married men! She has no shame—she's going to drag us all down with her!"
Susan tossed Vanessa a quick glance. The two women were perfectly in sync, ready to nail Lila to the wall and rip her out of the Joel family—because once she was gone, the Lu marriage would fall right into Vanessa's lap.
Joel clutched his chest in fury, glaring at Lila like she was a walking disaster. Offending the Lu family? That was like provoking a god. The Joel Corporation would be crushed in a heartbeat.
The crowd leaned in eagerly—this was better than TV drama.
"I heard Lila's just the adopted daughter. Rude, arrogant, even bullies her own sister and foster mom!"
"Right? She seduced Grandma Lu with her looks and schemed her way into this engagement. What a snake!"
"And she still cheated? On Lu Zhe of all people? Is she insane?!"
Lu Zhe, 23 years old. A business prodigy. In just a few years, he'd multiplied the Lu Empire's holdings, earned countless accolades—"Youngest Economic Genius," "Finance Prince"—and topped every socialite's dream husband list.
Yet Lila, a no-name girl, had actually gotten engaged to him?
And still wasn't satisfied?
The host was trembling. He had thought working with the Lu family would make his career. Now? He feared this engagement party would end his entire hosting life.
Lila stood alone in the storm. Graceful. Unshaken.
Her eyes slid to Lu Zhe.
As cold and unreadable as ever.
His face was perfect—handsome to the point of cruelty—but his eyes were darker than night, filled with one clear emotion: disgust.
In her past life, that look had shattered her.
Now? She found it laughable.
He hated her? Fine.
She didn't want this engagement anymore.
"Lila, can't even own up to what you did?"
"Explain yourself! The whole video's out!"
"No wonder Young Master Lu wants nothing to do with her! Look at her lifestyle!"
The crowd was ruthless, and Vanessa and Susan were glowing with satisfaction. They thought they had already won.
Lila coughed softly.
The noise died.
She blinked innocently and spoke in a soft, almost teasing tone, "Wow… that girl in the video does look quite a bit like me."
"You admit it?!" Vanessa practically leapt forward, eyes gleaming.
She thought Lila was still that same naive idiot—easy to crush, easy to break.
"She's guilty! Caught in 4K!"
"Disgusting! The Lu family would be insane to keep this marriage!"
"She's just a foster child—how can she compare to Vanessa's elegance and grace?"
Voices rose again, everyone eager to condemn her.
Vanessa looked at Lu Zhe, eyes full of fake tears and suppressed joy.
Soon, the position of fiancée would be hers.
But then—Lila smiled.
Radiant. Devastating.
A smile so calm it made the room go cold.