Chapter 4

Vivian

Time quickly arrived at evening, and I sat alone at my dressing table, looking at that somewhat tired face in the mirror, gradually covering the dark circles under my eyes with powder and rouge.

Then I didn't touch any of the haute couture sets Camille had brought, but instead picked a dark green velvet gown I had custom-made two years ago from my wardrobe. This dress was conservative in style, without any excessive crystals, looking very low-key.

I planned to handle tonight's banquet simply - as long as I could maintain the superficial marital relationship between our two families and bring new cash flow to the Holloway family, that would be enough.

Vivian, hang in there, get through these few hours and your mission will be complete.

At noon, after I replied to Caden's weekend invitation message, he hadn't said anything more. I also didn't want to ask him about the ball... perhaps he would wait for me?

But when the car stopped in front of the hotel, reality gave me a resounding slap that left me dizzy.

Caden had no intention of entering with me at all - as soon as I opened the car door, I saw him in a black handmade suit, standing upright in the most densely lit area. And beside him, Camille was intimately linking his arm.

Camille had changed into a silver-white backless fringe dress, walking at the front with him with a radiant smile. The media cameras flashed frantically, and everyone was praising their chemistry.

While I stood alone by the car, cold wind lifting my dress hem. At this moment I felt like a superfluous and ironic outsider. Caden was in front, not looking at me once.

I took a deep breath, submitted my invitation and entered the banquet hall alone. It was fine, even if Caden had his social circles to handle, I didn't need to completely overlap with his dealings.

I first chatted briefly with several ladies I knew from before - this was a task my mother had specifically given me before coming. But God, at this moment I just wanted to say this was torture.

After several rounds of toasting and conversation, I finally stopped and deliberately found an inconspicuous corner to sit down. At this moment I just wanted to be invisible.

I sat on the sofa and had just taken two deep breaths when a figure appeared before me - Camille holding two glasses of champagne, looking very enthusiastic as she walked toward me.

Her voice was pitched extremely high but loud, ensuring the wealthy ladies at several surrounding tables could hear clearly. "Vivian, why are you hiding here alone? Caden was just discussing billion-dollar deals in the VIP area and couldn't get away, so he specifically asked me to come get you."

Looking at her hypocritical smile and the gazes from people around us, I took a deep breath and stood up. This was what Mrs. Lux should do.

"Tsk, so that's Mrs. Lux? Why is she dressed like an antique from last century, not even a decent current season haute couture gown. No wonder Caden doesn't bring her on the red carpet, he brings Camille instead." People around began whispering, their harsh words drilling into my brain, making my stomach churn as I gripped my handbag tightly.

"What do you know, I heard her father knelt at the Lux family estate gate like a dog back then, begging for the arranged marriage, otherwise the Holloway family would have gone bankrupt long ago. A fallen family that sold their daughter for money - Caden giving her a title is generous enough, what more affection could she expect?"

"Yes, and Camille is the Reed family's eldest daughter. I heard she and Caden used to..."

These words made Camille beside me smile with satisfaction, while I gripped my handbag tightly, my nails digging painfully into my palms, following Camille forward with a pale face.

Camille led the way in front, but she didn't take me to any VIP area. Instead, she led me all the way to the back of the banquet hall, to a dark corner blocked by Roman columns. As soon as we stopped, she turned around, the respectful expression on her face instantly fading.

Camille approached me in her high heels, looking me up and down. "Vivian, forgot to tell you, if you wear this outfit, Caden might be disgusted with you." Her words made me pause. Before I could speak, she clicked her tongue twice more, "Perhaps you shouldn't have refused my kindness this morning - what a pity, I don't want to wear that dress anymore either, after all, it got dirty."

I was almost laughing with anger at her shamelessness. "Camille, please do your job as a secretary properly."

"My job?" She moved even closer to me, "Vivian, Caden and I grew up together, naturally we understand each other best. Perhaps you don't know how obsessed he is with my scent... You two had a forced marriage, right?"

As she spoke, she maliciously reached out, wanting to slap my face. Looking at this extremely ugly face before me, my stomach churned, and humiliation overwhelmed me. I instinctively raised my arm and forcefully pushed away Camille as she leaned in again, coldly warning her: "Don't touch me!"

But I never expected that although my force was clearly very light, the moment Camille was pushed, a flash of triumph appeared in her eyes, then her whole body dramatically swayed backward. Accompanied by a piercing scream, she fell hard onto the marble floor.

The champagne glass in her hand instantly shattered, wine spilling all over her. She sat collapsed beside the broken glass, tears streaming down her face, looking pitiful to the extreme.

This sudden commotion broke the harmony inside the banquet hall. In an instant, all the guests who had been chatting around were attracted by the screaming and looked over.

"Vivian... I'm sorry, it's all my fault!" Camille fell on the ground, trembling as she covered her wrist while pretending to cry helplessly to the onlooking crowd, "I know you're angry with Caden because of last night's overtime work... it's all my fault, I shouldn't have come to call you, don't be angry..."

The whispers around started again. I froze in place, my hands even still maintaining the posture of trying to push her away. But soon, I reacted.

Looking at Camille's Oscar-worthy performance on the ground, I didn't become hysterical, but slowly raised my right hand, pointing to an extremely hidden red dot above the Roman column, calmly saying to her.

"Camille, nice acting. But unfortunately, directly above your head is a panoramic HD surveillance camera. Tonight's banquet is hosted by the Lux family. Since everyone's here, why don't I call security right now to pull up the footage and see whether you fell by yourself or I pushed you?"

Upon hearing the words "pull up footage," Camille's crying froze for a moment. She lowered her eyelashes, got up from the ground by herself, covered her face crying and said, "Vivian... you... fine, let's just say I fell by myself!" After saying this, she left the scene without looking back with the support of several socialites, not giving me a chance to confront her publicly.

Camille left, but those contemptuous gazes around me still stuck to me. I walked to the restroom, took a deep breath, and turned on the faucet. The moment the cold water hit my face, I felt my thoughts clear up slightly.

At this moment, my phone in my bag vibrated violently. I looked at the name on the phone silently for a few seconds, and finally pressed the answer button. "Vivian! What's wrong with you? You got physical with Caden's secretary at the banquet?" My mother's sharp scolding hit me, "Are you crazy! I'm warning you, your father's project next month still depends on Caden's signature. You go apologize to that secretary he values right now! If you court death and get hated by the Lux family, what about your brother? What about our Holloway family?!"

These words hit me making me dizzy and lightheaded. I didn't want to hear another word, so I hung up directly. But the ringing continued relentlessly, so I pressed the power button.

Good, now the world was finally quiet.

This was my family - they only cared about the Holloway family's interests and didn't care about my dignity at all.

And since Caden already had the perfect Camille by his side, I wasn't needed here at all. Why should I stay here to humiliate myself?

I picked up my bag and walked step by step, slowly but firmly toward the underground parking garage.

The underground parking garage was dimly lit and empty. I had just gotten off the private elevator and hadn't yet reached my car when sharp high heel sounds came from the shadows. It was Camille. She had actually taken a shortcut and was waiting here.

At this moment she was wearing a coat, lazily leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, looking down at me condescendingly. Her face, which had been disguised as pure and flawless, was now full of undisguised malice. "Vivian, even if we check the surveillance, do you think Caden would believe you or me?"

"Who he believes has nothing to do with me." I wanted to go around her, but she grabbed me.

"How can it have nothing to do with you? If Caden doesn't trust you anymore, do you think those bloodsuckers in your family would force you to jump off a building?" She tilted her head and blinked, looking like she was thinking of me.

I clenched my fists, my nails almost embedding into my flesh, my arms trembling slightly. I took a deep breath, not wanting to deal with this crazy person, and tried to sidestep around her to get in my car. But Camille was like sticky candy, suddenly stepping out to block my car door, even reaching to grab my handbag.

"What? Hit a nerve? You..."

I snatched my handbag back. But the moment I touched my bag, Camille's malicious provocation at the corner of her mouth instantly disappeared, replaced by a sinister cold smile.

Immediately after, her whole body slid along the car door, extremely smoothly, once again falling heavily onto the cold, hard cement floor. Her forehead hit the car window edge hard, instantly swelling up with a large red mark.

"Ah... Vivian, I'm sorry..." Camille lay on the ground, crying weakly.

The next second, in the silent parking garage, suddenly rang heavy and urgent leather shoe sounds. Accompanying the footsteps came Caden's voice that could almost freeze the air, bone-chillingly cold, ringing behind me. "Vivian, what are you doing?!"