THE UNSEEN HEIR

Invalid Invitation.

Chloe’s triumphant smile froze instantly. "Director Victoria? What are you—"

"Shut up!" Victoria whipped around, her eyes flashing like daggers as she scolded Chloe directly. "You are disturbing our most honored guest! One more word out of your mouth, and I will have you blacklisted from every Lancaster property globally!"

Before Chloe could even process the threat, Victoria turned back to Lorenzo. She bent her waist, bowing a full ninety degrees in absolute, trembling reverence. "Hello, honored guest. I apologize deeply for our security's complete lack of training and unpardonable ignorance."

Victoria straightened up, her face turning entirely cold as she glared down at the whimpering guard. "As for you—you’re fired. Clear out your locker and leave immediately."

The security guard wailed tearfully, the reality of his ruin crashing down on him. In a desperate, pathetic move, he crawled forward on his knees and clung tightly to Lorenzo’s pants leg, weeping and pleading for mercy.

Victoria didn't let him finish; she stepped in, kicking his arms away with the sharp point of her heel, and signaled the perimeter team. "Get him out of my sight before I have him arrested for assault!"

Chloe’s expression darkened into a sickly, bewildered shade of gray. Justin’s chest deflated, a cold sweat breaking out under his velvet tuxedo.

Victoria turned sharply to the remaining security team. "Check the invitations of these two people again. The VIP security protocols were just updated in our global database. Make absolutely sure we aren't letting unqualified, fraudulent people enter our hall."

Two massive guards stepped forward instantly, blocking Chloe and Justin as they tried to slip through the doors. The guards ran Chloe's golden card through the digital scanner. A sharp, red error light flashed across the screen.

"Your invitations are invalid," the head guard stated flatly. "Please step off the premises immediately."

With two firm grips, the guards began escorting a sputtering, protesting Chloe and a pale Justin down the red carpet, expelling them into the street.

Lorenzo paused at the top of the steps, looking down at Chloe's frantic face with a light, mocking chuckle. "Don't forget the bet we made just now, Ms. Hawthorne."

Chloe’s face turned violently red with embarrassment and fury. Clinging to the last shreds of her dignity, she tried to weasel out of it. "It... it was a joke! The scanner is clearly malfunctioning!"

Roxana stepped forward, her voice ringing out with an unyielding, calm clarity. "A bet is a bet, Chloe. You were more than willing to force us to our knees."

Justin stepped in front of Chloe, his voice shaking but trying to sound appeasing. "Look, let's not be so aggressive here. It was just a casual remark between classmates. Is it really necessary to take a joke so seriously?"

"It doesn't matter to me either way," Lorenzo shrugged casually, his eyes cold. "I can't physically force you to honor your own word if you lack the character to do so. But with so many journalists, cameras, and high-society onlookers watching this entrance right now... I'm fairly certain your story and your faces will be plastered across the entertainment news headlines by tomorrow morning."

Chloe gasped, looking at the flashing cameras of the paparazzi stationed at the barricades. The humiliation was too much. Victoria paid them no more attention, sweeping her arm forward to guide the main couple. "Young—Sir, Ms. Vance, please follow me inside."

Out on the pavement, Chloe violently ripped her arm away from Justin. "How could our invitation be fake?! You told me you knew the senior management inside Vanguard Apex, so why is this happening?!"

Justin swallowed hard, his mind racing in sheer panic. The truth was a terrifying secret: Justin wasn't royalty. He was merely the spoiled son of Lorenzo’s family chauffeur.

The gold invitation he had used to charm Chloe had actually been stolen directly from the Lancaster manor's study by his own mother, who worked there as a head maid.

Because Lorenzo's true identity was so heavily concealed from the public, Justin had no idea that the "poor student" he had been bullying on campus was the actual young master of the house his parents served.

"Calm down, Chloe," Justin lied smoothly, pulling out his smartphone. "It's a system glitch. I'll handle it right now."

He quickly dialed a private number, reaching Manager Harold, the Senior Director of Operations for Vanguard Apex.

Harold possessed far more authority than Victoria, but more importantly, he was Justin’s maternal uncle. Harold was the corrupt insider who had been using his position to help Justin maintain his false, billionaire identity in exchange for a cut of the social-climbing schemes.

"Uncle Harold," Justin hissed into the receiver. "Me and the Hawthorne heiress just got blocked at the entrance by Victoria's security detail."

On the other end, Harold muttered a curse. "Give the phone to the head guard immediately," he ordered.

Justin aggressively shoved the phone into the face of the guard at the door. The guard took it, listened to Harold’s booming, authoritative voice for three seconds, and immediately went stiff. "Understood, Director Harold."

Hanging up, the guard bowed reluctantly, parting the velvet ropes. Chloe adjusted her dress, her haughty sneer returning as she and Justin successfully walked into the grand ballroom.

Inside the main hall, the opulence was breathtaking, but Roxana’s focus was entirely on business. Sitting at a private lounge table, she had already handed her project proposal to Victoria, her eyes full of a desperate, intense hope.

"Director Victoria, please," Roxana pleaded softly, her hands clasped tightly together. "I just need you to show this contract to President Lancaster. My family's tech firm is willing to forgo thirty percent of our projected profits just to secure this partnership and establish a solid, long-term cooperative relationship with Vanguard Apex."

Victoria looked at the document, then glanced subtly at Lorenzo, who was sipping his champagne with a completely neutral expression. Without a direct order from her master, Victoria had to play her part.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Vance," Victoria said, sliding the folder back across the glass table. "My instructions tonight were strictly to receive and accommodate certain guests. I have absolutely no authority to negotiate or approve corporate contracts."

"Please, just look at the margins," Roxana begged repeatedly, her voice cracking slightly. "The technology we designed is flawless."

"Ms. Vance, let's be blunt," Victoria stated firmly, maintaining her corporate mask. "Our intelligence department knows that Vance Tech is currently facing severe internal financial problems. Your company's liquid income is being systematically drained by your stepmother’s personal accounts, and the firm is on the absolute verge of insolvency. Vanguard Apex does not cooperate with high-risk, unstable companies."