Chapter 190 Clamor
Chapter 190 Clamor
Sophia's pov
I didn't even feel like getting angry. It just seemed pathetic.
My gaze carried a quiet intensity as I let my eyes drop slightly, landing precisely on the badge half-hidden beneath Vivian's jacket.
"You keep saying you got a sponsor's viewing pass," I said, my voice low but cutting clean through the noise around us, "so why are you wearing an 'assistant' badge on your chest?"
A faint smirk pulled at the corner of my lips as I stripped away Vivian's last shred of pretense. "You've been blacklisted by every major luxury house and dragged through the mud for plagiarism. You couldn't even get in through the front door. So you slapped on a fake title and snuck in like a rat to watch the show. What gives you the right to stand here and run your mouth?"
A few muffled laughs rippled through the people passing by.
Looks of contempt landed on Vivian from every direction.
It was like she'd been slapped across the face in front of everyone. She scrambled to cover the badge on her chest, her face flushing deep red, the veins in her neck standing out.
But I wasn't done.
My voice stayed cool and precise, each word landing exactly where it needed to. "And by the way, Carl sold off prime retail space in the city center last night at a 75% loss just to scrape together enough to cover the penalty fees. The Smith family's cash flow has completely collapsed. They're drowning in debt. Bankruptcy isn't a question of if, it's when. You're still out here playing the role of the Smith family princess. Don't you find that a little embarrassing?"
"Shut up! Shut your mouth!" Vivian shrieked, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
The word bankruptcy had hit a nerve she couldn't hide.
She jabbed a finger at my face, her expression twisting with rage. "Even if the Smith family goes bankrupt, I'm still a thousand times better than you, you bastard child they dragged in off the street! I'm a real socialite! I'm about to marry into the Lopez family as their young mistress! And you?!"
Panic and jealousy were eating her alive.
She stared at my face, no makeup, and still somehow infuriatingly beautiful, and watched how even a plain work uniform couldn't touch the effortless authority I carried. Something inside her was bleeding with hatred.
Why? Why did this woman have to do absolutely nothing to make her feel like dirt?
Vivian pulled in a sharp breath, straightened up, and turned to the group of wealthy girls who usually hung around her. "What are you all just standing there for?" she called out loudly. "The Smith family and the Lopez family are still standing! Anyone who helps me put this arrogant nobody in her place today is my friend, and the Lopez family will make it worth her while!"
There's always someone willing to act when the reward is big enough. And in this circle, plenty of people were looking for any excuse to get in good with the Lopez family.
Before the words had even settled, a girl named Evelyn stepped forward, sharp-faced, dressed in a couture skirt suit, and wearing her cruelty like an accessory.
She'd always been one of Vivian's biggest fans. Right now, she saw this as a golden opportunity to get herself noticed by the Lopez family.
Evelyn crossed her arms, clicked over to me on her stilettos, and looked me up and down with a grating sneer. "I was wondering what that smell was in this hallway. Turns out someone let a wild little fox in from outside. It's not your place to worry about whether the Smith family goes bankrupt. But something like you, thinking you can go toe to toe with our Vivian?"
Her voice carried. The insult was loud and shameless, and it drew a crowd, designers, media reporters, all stopping to watch.
The bigger the audience, the more Evelyn fed off it. She pointed at me with a finger tipped in bright red, her words turning vicious. "Don't think people don't know about your dirty little secrets. You get recognized by the Spencer family and suddenly you're a vice president at a branch company? Everyone's wondering how many of the old shareholders' beds you had to crawl through to get there."
Gasps spread through the crowd. Eyes turned toward me, curious, searching, loaded with judgment.
Evelyn kept going, louder now, practically spitting. "Absolutely no shame in your private life, and you have the nerve to show up at an international competition acting all high and mighty? If I were running this event, I'd have security drag you out with a stick. A shameless little homewrecker like you has no business being here. You're making the whole place dirty."
My eyes narrowed slowly.
The warmth drained out of them completely.
The air around me seemed to go still, the pressure dropping until it was hard to breathe.
I hadn't even opened my mouth yet when Lisa, who had been standing quietly behind me this whole time, finally snapped.
She was shaking. Her eyes were red.
She was timid. She was intimidated by these girls and their money and their names. But she would not stand there and let anyone talk about me like that, not the person who had believed in her when no one else did.
She shoved herself forward in one sharp step, planting herself directly in front of me like she was shielding me with her whole body.
"That's a lie! Don't you dare talk about Miss Spencer like that!" Lisa's fists were clenched tight, her voice pushed to its limit. "Miss Spencer earned that position on her own merit! She worked for it honestly! She's nothing like what you're describing! This is slander, and you need to apologize to her right now!"
Evelyn blinked, caught off guard for just a second. Then she burst out laughing like Lisa had just told the funniest joke she'd ever heard.
She looked Lisa over with open contempt, from her flushed, furious face down to her faded, budget work uniform, not bothering to hide a single drop of her disgust.
"And who exactly are you?" Evelyn rolled her eyes and waved a hand in front of her nose like she'd caught a bad smell. "You reek of poverty. You're bringing down the whole event just by standing here. I guess it makes sense though, birds of a feather. A woman who sleeps her way to the top, paired up with a broke little nobody. You two really deserve each other. Absolutely revolting."