Chapter 35

"Whether Mr. Soren and I are in cahoots or not, let's put that aside for now. You've had zero evidence from start to finish. I don't understand why being accidentally rescued by Mr. Soren once at a party somehow turned into me being his mistress in your version of events." At this point, I glanced at Killian again.

"That notorious scumbag Hamilton from the social circle took advantage of me at a party last time and even drugged me. What a bastard."

Although everyone in the family knew about the things Killian had done, and knew that all these years he'd been grooming me as a socialite.

But a family was always hypocritical.

Now they were all talking at once about Hamilton's wrongdoings, saying that drugging me was a bastard.

As they spoke, a flash of displeasure crossed Killian's face, as if he felt these words were secretly criticizing him.

So he cleared his throat. "Enough!"

But the next second I continued, "However, I do have photos of Freya's secret meetings with Alberto in my possession."

Everyone gasped. "Alberto?"

They all knew Alberto's identity and what this meant for us.

Without waiting for Killian and Freya to react, I stood up and handed my phone to the assistant beside me.

Moments later, in the family's special conference room, clear photos appeared on the projector.

They showed exactly the scenes of Freya's private meetings with Alberto.

The two went to a hotel together, sat eating together, and after the meal, Alberto deliberately leaned in with his arm around Freya's shoulder.

All these actions suggested their current relationship was far from innocent.

Seeing this, Freya covered her mouth, almost screaming out loud.

She looked at me furiously, clearly not expecting me to have this card up my sleeve.

But I just looked at her calmly.

As for Freya, I had long lost any feelings of sympathy.

Thinking back on all these years, how I would sometimes be kind to her, I felt like all my kindness had been wasted!

The evidence I presented silenced everyone.

Indeed, for them, seeing was believing.

What Freya said earlier about Virio and me could at best be considered rumors, and Killian definitely didn't want to lose the nearly completed project, so he wouldn't go along with Freya's words.

Freya brought this up just to get the other family council members to humiliate me.

But what I presented now was solid evidence.

The situation reversed instantly.

In front of everyone, Killian was furious. "You did such things behind my back!"

Freya tried to deny it, "It's not like that..."

Tears burst from her eyes, mixed with shame and resentment.

But to prevent premature conflict with Camorra, Killian could only close his eyes. "Starting tomorrow, all your accounts are frozen, and you're grounded for a month!"

This was like a bolt from the blue for Freya, who kept several men.

When I left the family conference room, my steps were leisurely and cheerful.

Just as I walked out the door, a series of hurried footsteps followed behind me.

"Elvira, you did this on purpose, didn't you? In the car today, you already had these things, didn't you?"

Hearing Freya's voice, I turned to look at her.

Then looked past her at this place where I'd lived for so long.

After moving my things out, I had no attachment to this place anymore. After today's family meeting and my last meeting with Anderson, I had nothing more to say to them.

So I didn't answer a single word of Freya's questions.

I just walked out of the Lacey Villa like that.

Even after I got into the car Charles sent, I could still feel Freya's gaze following me.

That gaze was like a poisonous snake crawling in the darkness.

I didn't take it to heart.

After returning, I discussed this matter with Virio. "Freya and Alberto being together must mean they've reached some kind of shady deal."

I was held in Virio's arms.

He was sitting behind his desk, looking at various documents on his screen.

Now he seemed to have gotten used to my presence, not deliberately hiding many documents from me, which made me feel trusted.

I continued with my speculation. "Alberto wouldn't be interested in someone like Freya. If there was a deal to be made, I, having been groomed by Killian, would seem like the better choice."

I said this just to let Virio know my guess, but the next second, a pair of large hands gripped my waist. "So it sounds like you're quite looking forward to it?"

I was silent for a moment before replying, "No, I'm not looking forward to it. Alberto isn't my type."

Virio was.

But I didn't say this out loud in front of Virio.

Virio laughed, seeming to take it as a joke. "Looks like I need to train you quickly."

"What?"

"About what you mentioned before, wanting to learn to shoot, right?"

I nodded hesitantly. "Yes."

"Starting today, I'll teach you myself. In three days, you're coming with me to a nightclub."

For the next three days, Virio did as he said, making time every day to teach me necessary self-defense and shooting skills.

He took me to an underground training facility.

There were many of Virio's men here.

Each one looked fierce and intimidating, but when they saw Virio, they would all greet him respectfully and nod to me in acknowledgment.

I was nervous at first, but gradually relaxed and learned from Virio.

Starlight Club was one of the Soren family's properties.

I'd heard Charles mention this name before, but this was my first time being brought here by Virio.

When I stepped inside and felt the unusual atmosphere around me, I nervously grabbed Virio's hand.

But after a while, Virio took a phone call, gave me a look, and left first.

This made me a bit scared.

Then Charles came over, saying he could show me around, sort of letting me do an inspection in advance.

"You'll probably be coming here often in the future," Charles said.

With Charles there, I wasn't as panicked as before. I nodded and followed him through the nightclub.

But everything changed in an instant. When Starlight Club's alarm sounded, I noticed several people in dark green uniforms rushing in through the entrance.

They were actually Camorra's people.

They had a very obvious black mark on their cuffs with the letter "C"!

I frowned slightly, and before I could react, Charles called out to me, "Ms. Lacey!"

He was standing a few steps away from me, having been about to get me a drink.

Just then, I heard a slight movement behind me.

The moment I turned around, I saw Virio had returned.

"Virio..."