Chapter 169

The airport was nearly packed solid with Alice's fans. Surrounded by the crowd, Alice carried herself like an empress about to be crowned — proud, confident, and untouchable.

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Sophia, Nicholas, and Ethan quietly dragged their luggage into the terminal without looking back.

The moment she landed, Alice started getting ready. The Buckner family banquet was set to begin at seven that evening, and she was determined to walk in as the most dazzling person in the room.

At seven o'clock, the Buckner estate was already filled with nearly all the family members when Alice and Benjamin made their entrance, drawing every eye in the room as they walked in slowly.

Emory Buckner, the head of the Buckner family, spotted them and strolled over with a glass of red wine. "Welcome, handsome gentleman and beautiful lady. The lights of this castle shine brighter tonight because of you."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Benjamin and Alice dove into the crowd, mingling and socializing.

Then the heavy front doors were pushed open from outside, and a flash of red pulled everyone's attention.

Sophia stood in the doorway wearing a red evening gown. The clean, simple cut traced every line of her figure perfectly.

Her hair was bare of any accessories — her dark, glossy hair simply fell loose around her shoulders. Yet somehow every strand looked like it had been rehearsed a thousand times, framing her beauty without a single detail out of place.

Red lips, white teeth, hair as dark as the night sky, skin as pale as fresh snow — Sophia looked like an angel who had drifted down from the heavens, pure and otherworldly.

A flash of admiration crossed Emory's eyes. Then his gaze quietly drifted over to Benjamin.

Benjamin's face was blank. He watched Sophia walk toward him the way you'd look at a stranger — not even his breathing shifted for a moment.

"Ms. Brown, what brings you here? You need a personal invitation from the Buckner family to get in. Do you have one?"

"I do," Sophia said with a calm smile. "But didn't you steal it from me?"

"What are you talking about? This is not the place for you to cause a scene." Alice raised her voice and turned to the security guards at the door. "This woman is here to ruin the banquet. Why haven't you thrown her out yet?"

"Who said anything about ruining anything?" A loud male voice cut through the room. Nicholas and Ethan walked in side by side, and it was easy to see that Nicholas was holding a black-and-gold invitation — clearly one issued directly by the Buckner family.

Nicholas and Ethan took their places behind Sophia, standing like two knights guarding her, ready to back her up no matter what.

Emory walked over with a smile, his manner easy and gracious. "All guests are welcome here. Please, everyone, help yourselves — eat and drink as much as you like."

Sophia gave Emory a polite bow, then spoke clearly and directly. "Mr. Buckner, the truth is that the woman standing before you — Alice — was never the project lead."

"She stole my work, took my identity, and stood on a stage that was never meant to be hers."

Sophia's voice was soft, but every word landed with absolute certainty.

Emory paused for a moment, then caught on. "My dear, claims like that require proof."

"Of course," Sophia replied, her tone steady, her eyes calm but unwavering.

The people around them immediately broke into whispers, though not a single voice was on Sophia's side.

"What does this pretty woman think she's doing? Crashing the party? This is a Buckner family banquet — who does she think she is?"

"What gives her the right to say Ms. Baker stole her achievements? I've seen every one of Ms. Baker's designs — each one is brilliant. Is she seriously claiming Ms. Baker stole all of them from her?"

"That project had so many people keeping a close eye on everything. If she was really behind it, how could anyone just walk off with the credit? She's out of her mind."

"Honestly, she's probably just here to get Mr. Buckner's attention. This kind of thing has happened more than once or twice over the years. She's just like the rest of them — another one trying to climb her way up."

Sophia heard every word. She didn't let any of it touch her.

She gave Nicholas a small nod. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a USB drive, and walked straight toward the large screen.

Alice saw it and immediately felt a jolt of panic. She grabbed Benjamin's arm, her voice tight with anxiety. "Benjamin — Sophia isn't actually going to destroy me, is she?"

Alice had paid off reporters and media contacts when she arrived, setting up a live stream back home in China — all to squeeze every bit of publicity she could out of attending the Buckner family banquet.

She planned to let everyone back home watch her moment of glory. She never expected Sophia to show up and blow the whole thing apart.

Benjamin patted her hand and said gently, "Don't worry. I won't let her do this to you."

With that, he stood up and walked straight toward Nicholas with long, purposeful strides.

Sophia saw exactly what Benjamin was doing — he was going to stop Nicholas from playing whatever was on that drive.

But did Benjamin really think she hadn't already seen this coming?

Sophia turned slightly and said quietly to Ethan, "The rest is on you."

"Leave it to me."

While Benjamin's attention was locked on Nicholas, Ethan slipped away and reached the screen first, plugging in the real USB drive.

Before anyone had time to react, the files on the drive began rolling across the screen one by one.

The reporters and camera crews in the room immediately swung their lenses toward the screen. Some even switched to split-screen mode, capturing both Sophia's and Alice's expressions at the same time.

Scrolling across the screen was a complete record of everything Alice had done since joining the project team — from major design drafts down to which meetings she had attended. Every detail was documented.

The people in the room weren't stupid. One look at the attendance records made it obvious just how much — or rather, how little — Alice had actually contributed to the project.

Back in the live stream, viewers were stunned. The woman they had built up and cheered on for so long had been living off someone else's achievements the entire time.

"Where's Alice? Get her out here and make her explain herself. We defended her so many times — and for what?"

"As someone who's worked a regular job, watching this is making me picture my own hard work getting stolen by someone with connections. I'm absolutely furious."

"You should only get what you've actually earned. Alice didn't have the talent to deserve any of this, yet somehow she got everything. How is that even possible?"

"Whoever said they wanted to inherit Alice's career luck — come get it now! At this point, I doubt anyone would take it even for free."

"This is genuinely terrifying — am I the only one who noticed this? Right at the start of the project, Alice was already hinting that she was involved. But the records show she didn't even join until two months in. So she was manipulating public opinion from day one."