Chapter 248

Vivian Laurent feigned shock perfectly. "Miss Roscente... surely you don't mean me?"

Her fingers trembled against her chest. "Victoria came to me with wine, saying we should bury the past. I trusted her and drank it, never imagining..."

Tears glistened in her eyes. "I came to this High Tea Party in good faith, yet she plotted to ruin me. Heaven showed mercy by turning her own scheme against her."

With those carefully chosen words, Vivian absolved herself completely.

Victoria Roscente had reaped what she sowed.

The guests exchanged disgusted glances.

"A Roscente heiress resorting to such vile tricks?"

"Serves her right for drinking her own poison."

"All that aristocratic pretense hides a viper."

Ethan Roscente's expression darkened. The family's reputation demanded damage control.

"If a single word of this leaks..." His razor-sharp gaze swept the crowd. "The Roscente Group will hunt you down."

Silence fell like a guillotine.

Nobody crossed the empire that ruled the capital.

"Your secret is safe with us," a guest hastily assured.

Ethan gave a curt nod. "This event is over."

As the crowd dispersed, Bianca Semona stood frozen.

"Vivian was your original target?" Ethan's voice could frost glass.

Bianca turned ghostly pale. "I... I don't know anything..."

She grabbed her clutch with shaking hands. "It's late. I should go."

Ethan led Vivian into the moonlit gardens.

"You knew about Victoria's plan."

Vivian arched a brow. "Here to avenge her?"

"I merely switched the glasses." Her gaze never wavered. "The drug was hers. The man was her accomplice."

A cold breeze stirred her hair as she delivered her final blow. "I'm not some helpless lamb, Ethan Roscente. If you want war, you'll get it."

Her eyes gleamed colder than the moonlight.