Chapter 3

I bought a plane ticket that night and flew to France.

At the winery, the old butler's eyes flashed with surprise when he saw me.

"Miss Serena, why are you here? Didn't you say you were lending the estate to Victor for a party today? You even had all the family members cleared out."

Anger surged through me.

Just as I was about to respond, Victor's call came through.

"I'm in a meeting here. I'll fly back to be with you as soon as I'm done."

Before I could answer, a sickeningly sweet female voice came through faintly from the other end.

"Victor, does this look good on me?"

The next second, Victor covered the phone and walked away.

"Gotta go, meeting's starting."

Almost simultaneously, the ornate gates of the winery were pushed open, and over a dozen luxury cars pulled up one by one at the fountain plaza.

Countless people I'd never seen were seated, and I found a secluded spot to sit down too.

Once everything was ready, Lily made her entrance in a fire-red haute couture gown, every inch the newly successful upstart.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Lily, the new owner of this winery."

"Victor said from now on, the wine here, the castle-even every single grape in the vineyard-all belongs to me!"

"To celebrate, all wines are thirty percent off today. Consider it my greeting gift to everyone!"

Thirty percent off? How generous of her. The cheapest wine here costs at least a million dollars a bottle.

Some were collector's items even the British royal family would hesitate to acquire!

The old butler who'd watched me grow up was livid.

"Since when did this vineyard become hers!"

"And Victor is actually cheating on Miss Serena with some...fling! Has he lost his mind!"

Seeing the butler ready to storm out, I shook my head quickly. It wasn't time to expose her yet.

I wanted to wait for Victor to personally admit his relationship with Lily, then watch this pair of cheating scum fall from grace.

Just then, the ornate doors opened again, and Victor walked in wearing a haute couture suit.

Seeing this, Lily immediately threw herself into his arms, smiling as she tugged on his arm playfully.

"Victor, I told you this brand's clothes fit you best."

Victor's eyes clearly stiffened, but he still nodded without changing expression.

And the fire of anger inside me was nearly burning out of control. The founder of this brand was our mortal enemy.

Back then, my father was set up by them and literally died of anger because of it.

Victor wasn't ignorant of this, yet now he was publicly slapping me in the face.

Just as I couldn't hold back anymore and was about to rush out, all of Victor's friends crowded around.

"Victor, she's so young and vibrant, so lively and charming!"

"Lily, our Victor gave you a winery worth hundreds of millions. Where else would you find such a good man!"

"This winery is yours now. How are you going to thank our Victor?"

Amid their laughter, Lily looked down, a blush coloring her cheeks.

Just then, the winery manager who had come to deliver the wine spoke up, confused.

"Wait. Didn't you borrow this place from Miss Serena?"

The guests fell silent, then turned to each other, murmuring.

"What is she talking about?"

"I thought this vineyard belonged to Mrs. Blackwood. But isn't she a Sterling?"

"Huh? But this woman is a Reed. Is she...an imposter?"

The manager's face already showed anger.

"How could you do such a thing behind Miss Serena's back!"

As he spoke, he was about to pull out his phone to call me.

The next second, the bodyguards behind Victor swarmed forward and forced the manager to his knees.

Victor's cold gaze swept across everyone present.

"Tear out his mouth. Let him know the price of talking nonsense."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the ruthlessness unique to someone long in power. The banquet hall instantly fell silent.

Victor didn't even lift an eyelid, his fingertips casually caressing Lily's face.

"Lily is the Mrs. Blackwood! Serena is just a maid in my household."

A servant?

I almost laughed from anger.

It seems Victor has truly forgotten who it was that pushed him, step by step, to stand above everyone else.

Had it not been for me back then, he'd still be a nobody on the streets, getting kicked around.

I spent ten years fighting by his side. I took two knife wounds to the chest. I had Alex pull strings in the shadows.

When I was hovering between life and death, all I thought about was how to clear the path for him.

I never expected that in the end, I'd just be the "maid" in his story.

No one there dared contradict Victor, so they all played along.

"So that's how it is! Mrs. Blackwood is so generous, letting her maid parade around under the Blackwood name."

Someone even turned to advise Lily.

"Mrs. Blackwood, a maid like that might try to seduce Victor at any moment."

"You should be careful. I'd fire her immediately."

"With that kind of malice, she deserves to be thrown into the sea!"

The smugness on Lily's face was impossible to miss.

The manager's face was ashen. Even as he was being dragged away, he kept fighting.

"I need to see Miss Serena! She's the real Mrs. Blackwood!"

The guests looked on with disdain.

"That maid is truly cunning. Even the winery manager was deceived by her!"

"Ungrateful wretch! Victor, you can't possibly keep her around. "

Victor's cold gaze swept over the crowd, his thin lips parting slightly.

"I'll say this once more. Lily is my wife. From now on, anyone who disrespects her will face the consequences."

The scene fell completely silent, with only me slowly clapping. The applause made everyone turn around.

I took off my baseball cap and looked at them coldly.

"Tell me. If she's Mrs. Blackwood, who am I?"

The smiles on Victor's and Lily's faces instantly froze.