With that, she ignored their frozen expressions, turned, and walked toward a corner to sit down. She was waiting for the right moment, for that "grand gift" to stun the room.

Xavier watched her figure retreating into the shadows of the corner, feeling that something was wrong. Seraphina was always one to settle scores; how could she let go so easily? However, he surveyed the room and found nothing out of the ordinary, so he temporarily suppressed his doubts and turned to accompany Sienna in greeting the guests.

Seraphina glanced at the time. The scheduled moment for the broadcast was drawing closer. She stood up quietly, avoided the crowd, and found the event manager.

"This is a surprise I’ve prepared for the couple. Please play it exactly at eight o'clock."

She handed over a USB drive, her gaze calm but authoritative. "No matter what happens in the middle, do not stop it."

The manager was taken aback, but meeting her gaze, he instinctively nodded.

With the arrangements made, Seraphina turned to walk out of the hall. Reaching the door, she glanced back. Xavier was holding Sienna by the waist on the stage, accepting everyone’s blessings.

The corner of Seraphina’s mouth curled slightly. Without a hint of lingering attachment, she stepped out of the banquet hall and into the car that had been waiting at the curb.

"Driver, to the airport."

She took out her phone and sent a message to William Thorne:

[Mr. Thorne, things here are settled. I will fly to South Haven as agreed.]

The message sent successfully. She put away her phone and closed her eyes. A faint, relieved smile played across her lips.

Chapter 9

"Xavier, when are you planning to dump Seraphina Vance?"

"It's been three years. You haven't actually caught feelings for that idiot, have you?"

Without any warning, the dialogue suddenly blasted from the large screens behind the stage.

Xavier froze, turning his head in disbelief. On the screen, the footage was slightly shaky, but it clearly showed him holding Sienna under the dim lights.

Seraphina hadn't just recorded the audio; she had recorded video!

The video continued, with the people on screen talking one after another, laying bare the filthy tactics Xavier had used to scheme against Seraphina.

A loud ringing filled his head. He spun around and roared at the staff below the stage: "Turn it off now!"

The staff members were panicked by his roar, fumbling with the switches, but the more they rushed, the more chaotic it became. The video continued to play in front of everyone. There was no need to guess whose handiwork this was.

No wonder he had felt so uneasy before the engagement party.

A surge of rage rushed to his head. Xavier instinctively looked toward the spot where Seraphina had been sitting—but there was only an empty chair.

She was gone.

The whispers of the guests flooded his ears like a tide:

"Heavens! Seraphina Vance is the real heiress? Sienna is just an illegitimate daughter?"

"I never expected Xavier Sterling to use such lowly tactics to scheme against a girl..."

"Running into this twisted couple... Seraphina Vance really had the worst luck!"

Xavier’s hands, hanging at his sides, clenched so tight that the veins popped. His voice was terrifyingly cold as he issued commands to the secretary rushing onto the stage:

"Find Seraphina Vance! Scour every inch of North Shore and bring her to me! Also, notify every media outlet present. If anyone dares to leak a single detail about today, don't blame me for being heartless!"

His chest heaved violently. A soft hand suddenly grasped his own.

Xavier was startled. He turned to see Sienna’s pale but determined face. She forced a smile: "Xavier, my sister surely didn't mean it..."

She took a deep breath, putting on a graceful, understanding front: "We can't lose our cool. Let's finish the ceremony first so we don't give people more to laugh at."

Seeing her trying so hard to comfort him despite her own humiliation, Xavier’s heart softened. He was about to pull her into his arms when a sudden burst of gasps erupted from the audience.

Only then did he realize the video had stopped. He turned to look at the large screen, and the blood in his body froze instantly.

Photo after photo of Sienna kissing other men pierced his eyes.

Seeing him freeze, Sienna looked back in confusion. In the next heartbeat, the color drained from her face, and she screamed uncontrollably:

"Turn it off! Turn it off now!"

She tried to rush off the stage like a madwoman, but Xavier gripped her firmly.

Unable to move, she could only offer incoherent explanations: "They’re fake... Seraphina edited these to hurt me! Xavier, don't look—"

Before she could finish, the photos ended, and a video jumped out immediately.

In the footage, Sienna was dressed scantily, a grape held in her mouth as she boldly fed it into the mouth of a stranger. The people around them were laughing and cheering, the atmosphere thick with ambiguity.

Xavier had never seen her like this. He had always thought she was pure and shy, someone whose face would turn red just from holding hands.

In the video, someone asked with a laugh: "Sienna, aren't you afraid the Sterling guy will find out?"

"Afraid of what?" Sienna’s tone was full of boastfulness. "You guys have no idea how head-over-heels he is for me."

"That idiot Xavier Sterling even got his savior wrong."

"He thinks I’m the one who saved him, but the person who actually dragged him out of the water all those years ago was Seraphina Vance!"

She let out a silly laugh, her voice sweet yet laced with poison:

"He's so easy to fool. Even if he finds out, I’ll just make up a few lies and it’ll pass... He could never bear to doubt me."

Chapter 10

Sienna’s legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

She reached out with trembling hands to grab the hem of Xavier’s trousers, shaking her head in a panic:

"No... it’s not like that... Xavier, listen to my explanation..."

Xavier turned his head stiffly, his gaze toward her so cold it was bone-chilling:

"The person who saved me... was Seraphina Vance?"

"You lied to me?"

"I didn't!" Sienna countered shrilly, but she stammered, unable to find the words, "I just... I just..."

"President Sterling!"

Seeing things take a turn for the worse, Arthur rushed onto the stage to stand between the two.

His face was ashen, yet he forced himself to remain calm: "Whatever this is, we can discuss it in private!"

"With so many people present today, the priority is to stabilize the situation!"

"He’s right!" Margaret followed him up, shooting a venomous glare at Sienna.

No matter how much she loathed this illegitimate daughter, she understood that the big picture had to come first at this moment.

"If word of this gets out, it will be a scandal for both families! It’s better to finish the ceremony first, then issue a statement saying the images were photoshopped and the rumors were started by competitors to suppress the fallout!"

But Xavier couldn't hear a word they said.

His mind was filled only with that sentence: "He probably doesn't know to this day that the person who actually dragged him out of the water was Seraphina Vance!"

If it were true...

Then what did his three years of favoritism for Sienna and his schemes against Seraphina amount to?

He had identified the wrong person and trampled his true savior into the dirt.

Clearly... he had originally had a chance.

Just as Xavier was about to refuse with a cold face, the doors to the banquet hall were suddenly pushed open.

Two police officers entered with a young man and walked straight onto the stage.

The lead officer displayed his credentials, his voice solemn:

"We have received a report regarding your suspected involvement in a criminal case from two years ago. Please cooperate with the investigation."

The eyes of the young man beside him were bloodshot, his hatred almost bursting forth:

"President Vance, do you still remember the people you ruined three years ago?"

"I want you all to pay back—in blood!"

Arthur frowned, ignoring the young man's words as he turned to the police:

"Officers, there must be a misunderstanding..."

"I don't think there is a misunderstanding."

The officer interrupted him.

Immediately following that, Arthur’s own voice rang out clearly through the banquet hall’s speakers:

[I’ve suppressed this matter. But President Sterling, this was a flaw in a joint project between our families after all... It’s better to have a marriage alliance.]

[Once our families become a community of interests, everyone can rest easy.]

After a brief silence, there was Xavier’s icy response: [Deal.]

Arthur’s expression changed instantly. Margaret hurried forward to smooth things over:

"This... this is just a recording; it doesn't prove anything!"

"The Vance and Sterling families are prominent targets; how many rivals want to bring us down? If we have to admit to every random recording used to defame us, where would it end?"