*****For one long, suspended moment, the grand hall fell into a silence so sharp it could have sliced through glass.The hush was not caused by the announcer’s voice itself… no, that deep, ceremonious tone had been sounding all evening without causing more than the occasional polite pause.The announcer, part of the event planner meticulously arranged, had one job: announce the arrival of each Upper Second Rank family with the kind of grandeur usually reserved for royalty or movie stars.In Riverton City, this tradition of announcing the names of the distinguished persons in an event was a signal for the crowd to crane their necks, to confirm the rumors, and to bask in the reflected glow of privilege.And indeed, until now, that’s exactly what had happened.Every new name called had drawn an eager sparkle to the eyes of those in the second and third sections, who hurriedly turned toward the doors as if an A-list celebrity were about to stroll in and autograph their foreheads. M

*****The other third-rank family leaders nodded their heads, each of them imagining how it would feel if they could also bully a rival with such ease. The atmosphere thickened with restless ambition.Through it all, the lady was invisible.Her existence dissolved in real time that only her boyfriend’s parents spared her a glance… a sharp, frosty glance that could have frozen boiling water.The father’s jaw tightened, and the mother’s nostrils flared, both of them sighing with audible relief that the attention had shifted away… only to immediately glare at their son, their eyes sending silent daggers.The daggers came with messages: "You’ve got explaining to do later."And the smaller, sharper daggers: "Dump her, now!" In the third section, the lady felt the heat in her chest begin to cool. Her hand came up, pressing against her collarbone as though she could steady her racing heart.Relief. That was the first emotion.The second came unexpectedly: a sudden, harsh understand

*****At this moment, inside the cavernous hall… a hall so extravagantly adorned it looked like someone had emptied an entire royal treasury into its décor, silence reigned.It wasn’t the comfortable kind of silence, but the kind so sharp it seemed to cut through the air, leaving nothing but the faint hum of the chandeliers and the ACs.The place currently contains more than two hundred and fifty guests. But right now, every single one of them… young and old, men and women, dignified or decidedly not, had frozen mid-motion, gawking in the exact same direction.The double doors at the far end stood open, framed in gold and glass, and in that entranceway… every mouth had dropped open, every pair of eyes had gone round, as if they had just witnessed the literal descent of an angel.Correction: two angels.Although technically, these ones hadn’t descended from any heavenly clouds… they had simply walked through the entrance, but the spotlight had practically bent the laws of physics

*****Sarah quickly shook off the strange thought in her mind, almost scoffing at herself.'Impossible! He can’t be familiar,’ she thought, trying to convince herself.‘A man so handsome like this, appearing like someone taken out of a painting… draped in wealth and exuding such a level of untouchable charm? If I had ever met him before, I would burn him into my memory and etch him onto my mind like ink, remembering him for life, even in my dreams,' She smiled, mocking herself.Then, with this, Sarah pushed the doubt aside and went back to indulging herself in the intoxicating sight of him. Until…“Wait… why does he resemble that bastard?” The words slipped out under her breath, her eyes narrowing. The resemblance itched at her like a mosquito bite she couldn’t scratch.Once again, Sarah shook her head, this time with more force. “I must be high,” she muttered to herself, half-laughing at the absurdity. “There’s no way that broke, low-life ex-con could even be in the same spec

*****The instant Lucius’s gaze settled on Xavier, recognition hit. It took him a heartbeat longer than the rest… the change was that drastic, but he understood.He knew this man.And instantly, his blood boiled.Hatred surged like wildfire through his veins, burning away reason. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer effort of not lunging across the hall right there and then.Lucius’s loathing for Xavier wasn’t ordinary rivalry, it was venomous and primal. Why wouldn’t it be?This man… the one currently standing as Grace’s husband had ruined things for him again and again.Lucius had orchestrated everything so perfectly just two days ago that he should have completely won and dominated Grace and the Sky family.He had pulled strings, manipulated Sky Group’s partners, and boxed Grace and her Sky Group into a corner so tight they had no escape.His plan had been flawless: crush Grace’s spirit, make her crawl to him for salvation, and then, chain her… not as wife