Chapter 209: The Real Show Begins

“A hundred-year-old ginseng,” the attendant holding the gift box stepped forward, about to open it, when Taylor interjected, “That’s not one of my gifts.”

She lifted her eyes and said, “I only prepared two gifts. How did you record the gift list? You can’t just stick a guest’s gift under my name; what would that guest think?”

Then she turned to the crowd and said, “I don’t know which esteemed guest sent the ginseng, but it was mistakenly listed under my name. Please, come forward so I can apologize to you in person.”

When Taylor finished, the guests all nodded in approval. The daughter of the Kendall family really knew how to handle herself. Paul, on the other hand, always came up short in terms of tact. Just like now—he hadn’t even shown his face. What a breach of etiquette.

After Taylor spoke, no one stepped forward. The gift ledger keeper frantically flipped through the pages, cold sweat beading on his forehead. “It can’t be a mistake… it clearly says ‘granddaughter-in-law…’”

There was only one grandson in the Powell family—Paul—so naturally, there was only one granddaughter-in-law. Who else could it be but Taylor?

Carl sat at the head of the crowd in a high-backed seat, while Huajing stood at his side with her arms crossed. Her long curls fell over one shoulder as she looked in a certain direction, smiling sweetly. “Boss, look—what’s Ms. Elsie doing pushing through the crowd like that?”

Elsie didn’t hold any real status, and with no one to introduce her, there was no way she’d make it to the front. But she’d buttered up Kelvin earlier, so he had taken her upfront with him. Now, however, she was sneakily edging her way forward, leaving Kelvin behind.

Of course, with everyone fixated on finding out who had sent the ginseng, no one noticed her inching ahead. Elsie pushed her way to the very front. Seeing that no one had caught her yet, she tugged at her dress hem and let out a soft cry as she pretended to trip.

That sweet little gasp rang through the room like a sudden thunderclap, grabbing everyone’s attention.

Chapter 200: The Bed She Beguiled

Everyone instinctively turned to the woman behind her, who looked completely baffled. She hadn’t stepped on the woman’s dress. She had no idea how the girl had just gone down like that.

Realizing she was about to be made the scapegoat, her face flushed red with anger. She snapped at Elsie, “Who the heck are you? You slammed right into me! That hurt!”

She clutched her shoulder, making it clear she wasn’t to blame. Elsie’s eyes went red, and she bowed nervously. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. Don’t be mad at me,”

The woman was speechless. Who is this unbelievably sweet girl, and where did she crawl out from? But this was a room full of rich and powerful people. She didn’t know which family Elsie belonged to and didn’t dare lash out. She didn’t—but someone else did.

A shadow fell over them. Elsie looked up with teary eyes and locked eyes with Taylor’s mocking smile. “You again.”

“Taylor…” Elsie shrank back, head down, looking pitiful and scared. Taylor placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ve got pull here. If someone’s bullying you, I’ll back you up.”

What is she playing at? Elsie gave Taylor a wary glance. But Taylor turned to the scapegoated woman and coldly asked, “Did you step on her dress?”

The woman broke out in a nervous sweat, frantically shaking her head, “No, she—she did it herself.”

“You stepped on Ms. Taylor’s friend’s dress, and you’re not going to apologize?” Someone next to her piled on the pressure.

“I didn’t, I swear!” the woman said, nearly in tears.

Elsie, all understanding and grace, tried to defuse the situation. “If she says she didn’t, then she didn’t. I’m not hurt anyway—please, don’t make this harder for her…”

The woman was fuming, eyes red with rage as she glared at Elsie. Elsie reached out to help her up, but just then, Taylor subtly pressed her heel down on the hem. Elsie took a step and she went flying face-first to the floor. Her lip split on impact, blood spilling down her chin.

The woman couldn’t make sense of it. Elsie was supposed to be Taylor’s friend?

Taylor smiled. “That acting of yours needs work. That first fall was so artistic. Were you filming a scene?”

The crowd finally caught on. They looked at the woman sprawled on the ground, her skirt torn, a mess, blood on her lips. Now that was what a real fall looked like.

Up on the second floor, Yunice watched the chaos below with nothing but satisfaction. Only the ruthless can deal with the wicked. Elsie might have a talent for stirring the pot, but in the face of real power, the crowd would gladly twist truth into fiction. Taylor had status—and if she said a deer was a horse, everyone else would just smile and agree with her.

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