91.1%


    Grace abruptly lifted her head, tear tracks still visible on her face, her eyes filled with hurt.


    Asher had just openly dered his feelings for Thalia in front of everyone!


    Thalia stood stunned.


    When those whisperedments had reached her ears, she had felt genuinely anxious.


    She had feared that Asher might indeed, as they suggested, favour Grace and position himself against her.


    In this moment, Thalia felt an overwhelming sense of security.


    Warmth radiated from Asher’s hand as it enveloped hers, providing her with reassuring strength.


    Thalia’s heart gradually settled, her emotions calming.


    Lady ckwood, however, was far from calm.


    Wasn’t Asher publicly humiliating her with such a deration?


    The elderly woman was so furious that her voice trembled as she spoke. “Asher, I absolutely forbid you to-”


    “Miss Winters, I’ve brought the security footage,” the attendant interrupted Lady ckwood, holding out a USB drive to Thalia.


    All eyes turned to the small device in the attendant’s hand, everyone eager to see its contents.


    Thalia took the USB drive and addressed the gathering: “If you’d all be so kind as to join me in the screening room on the fifth floor, we can settle this matter once and for all.”


    Grace felt ayer of perspiration forming on her palms from sheer anxiety.


    She bit her lip, feigningposure as she said: “Thalia, I’ve already said I’m sorry. Must you really drag this out?”


    “You call that a sincere apology?” Thalia shot her a cold nce. “I’m not having it.”


    Grace continued to deflect: “Even if you’re cross with me, think about the other guests. The hall’s absolutely packed–surely the screening room can’t fit everyone?”


    Thalia smiled sardonically. “No need to fret on that ount, Miss Bet. The screening room upstairs seats a thousand quitefortably.”


    Grace’s expression froze momentarily as she desperately tried to formte another excuse.


    91.3%


    Victoria folded her arms, watching Grace with evident amusement. “Getting rather jittery, aren’t we? Worried about


    something, perhaps?”


    Grace gritted her teeth. “Don’t be ridiculous. I simply think it’s awfully petty to make a mountain out of a molehill. It was just a misunderstanding.”


    Victoriaughed heartily. “Funny, I don’t recall mentioning your name just now. Guilty conscience ying up, is it?”


    “Right then, anyone who’d like to see the footage, please make your way to the fifth floor,” Thalia announced calmly.


    Lady ckwood spoke up again: “Just look at yourself–this behavior is hardly bing of a youngdy from a good family. It was merely a spot on your dress, for heaven’s sake, and you’re carrying on as if it were a capital offense. I’ll have the wretched thing reced if it means so much to you. There’s absolutely no need for this theatrical production. We’re family, after all–let’s not create an unnecessary spectacle.”


    Victoria rolled her eyes, thinking to herself: What an absolute hypocrite. She’s been horrid to Thalia from day one, and now she’s ying the ‘we’re family‘ card. Typical.


    Thalia and her friends shared everything, and she had immediately vented to Charlotte and Victoria about the mistreatment she’d suffered at the ckwood family dinner.


    Victoria harboured intense dislike for both Lady ckwood and her adopted daughter.


    Randolph wasn’t in the banquet hall at that moment; he was in the garden outside discussing business with several important clients,pletely unaware of themotion.


    Lucy had contracted influenza a few days prior and was receiving IV treatment at the hospital, with Lady Victoria apanying her, making it impossible for them to attend the banquet.


    Thus, no one from the Winters family was immediately avable to support Thalia.


    Thalia had expected to face Grace’s bullying alone, never anticipating that Victoria and Asher would stand up so firmly in her defence.


    “What exactly does Grandmother believe a youngdy from a respectable family should be like?” Asher asked, his tone frigid. “Someone who quietly epts being walked all over?”


    Lady ckwood looked utterly incredulous. “Asher, what on earth are you on about? ‘Walked all over‘? Are you actually suggesting that Grace and I are bullying her?”


    “If the shoe fits,” Asher’s eyes were cold as steel. “The stained gown itself was a minor issue, but Grace immediately med Thalia for not watching where she was going. Thalia’s request to check the security footage is perfectly reasonable, yet you use her of making a fuss over nothing. I absolutely insist on viewing this footage now. I won’t stand by while you bully my wife in my presence.”


    Grace’s heart lurched at the word “wife,” which pierced her painfully.


    How could Asher defend Thalia so fiercely!


    12-11


    Your Gold Digger is Actually A True ‘s


    91.6%


    They weren’t even officially engaged yet, and he was already calling her his wife! How could he?


    Lady ckwood’s chest heaved with fury, “Asher, you are a ckwood. How dare you take an outsider’s side against your own family?”


    Asher tightened his grip on Thalia’s hand, meeting Lady ckwood’s gaze unflinchingly, his tone utterly sincere “My loyalty lies only with my wife. That’s not going to change–not for anyone.”


    “You, you, you…” Lady ckwood clutched at her chest, too enraged to form coherent sentences.


    “Brother<b>, </b>please, mind what you’re saying,” Grace implored Asher. “You know Grandmother’s heart isn’t strong–you really shouldn’t upset her like this.”


    Asher gave a derisiveugh, cutting straight to the point: “She wouldn’t be in this state if you hadn’t stirred up trouble in the first ce.”


    Grace was left speechless, her heart seething with rage and embarrassment.


    “That’s quite enough from everyone. Let’s go to the screening room,” Thalia said coldly.


    At the far end of the banquet hall stood six lifts, three on each side. Each lift could transport fifteen people at once, allowing ny people to be moved upstairs in a single trip.


    Thalia announced: “I absolutely will not be falsely used. Anyone interested may take the lift with me to the screening room to view the security footage.”


    Many guests promptly followed Thalia toward the lifts.


    The murmuring among them started again.


    “It seems Miss Winters has truly been wronged. The Winters heiress can have anything she desires–why would she make such a fuss over a mere gown?”


    “I agreepletely. This adopted ckwood daughter seems dodgy. If she has nothing to hide, why oppose viewing the footage?”


    “When they were criticising Thalia earlier, I was biting my tongue. Grace is obviously putting on the waterworks. Haven’t you noticed the way she looks at the ckwood heir? It’s quite inappropriate.”


    “Yes, I’ve spotted that too. Her feelings for the ckwood heir clearly go beyond sibling affection.”


    “Oh my, pseudo–incest? How deliciously scandalous. The lives of the wealthy never disappoint, do they?”


    “Darling, I’m an expert at spotting these butter–wouldn’t–melt types. Grace is undoubtedly ying the innocent while scheming behind everyone’s backs. Fortunately, the ckwood heir isn’t blind–he can see through her act, which puts him leagues ahead of most men.”


    91.8%


    “Absolutely. I simply can’t stand the way Grace speaks–so affected and contrived, always ying the perfect innocent!”


    “Come on, let’s go see the footage. I can’t wait to see her caught out.”


    Though deliberately hushed, thesements still reached Asher’s ears.


    He squeezed Thalia’s hand reassuringly. “Lia, I’ve only ever had brotherly feelings for Grace, nothing more.”


    After a pause, he added: “And after today, even those are gone.”


    Thalia responded with a soft “Mmm,” offering no furtherment.


    Among the guests, the young aristocrats and socialites who loved drama almost all followed to the screening room, while the older generation, considering this merely youthful theatrics, remained in the ground floor hall–someworking, others discussing business.


    Therge group of drama–hungry young people arrived on the fifth floor and entered the screening room.


    Several eximed in awe.


    “Bloody hell, the Winters family truly deserves their reputation as the premier family in the city. This screening room is enormous, and look at that starlit ceiling! I’m properly jealous.”


    “Why don’t you ask your father to build one for you?”


    “Not a chance. This screening room alone must have cost tens of millions. Our family can’t possiblypare with


    the Winters.”


    “I’ve heard this entire estate was purchased by Randolph Winters as part of Thalia’s dowry. We simply can’tpete–this is genuine old money.”


    “My father has a meltdown when I spend a hundred thousand a month<b>, </b>calling me wasteful. There truly are different levels of wealth, aren’t there?”


    “Indeed. As they say, some are born with silver spoons–others with the entire canteen.”


    After all the guests were seated, Thalia personally approached theputer at the front to operate it.


    She inserted the USB drive, opened the folder, located the corresponding security footage, and activated the projector.


    (3)