Chapter 1285:


    Anti’s face turned ashen in an instant. She stumbled half a step back, her voice trembling as she stammered, “What… What nonsense are you talking about?”


    Aurielle’s expression darkened the moment Maia’s words struck. Fury overtook herposure. She shot to her feet, pointing at Maia with all the authority of her title as President of the International Jewelry Design Association, and snapped, “You’d better have evidence for such an usation!”


    Laughter rippled through the audience.


    “Guests like her surely went through a background check. Doesn’t she understand that?”


    “She’s acting like she knows it all, daring to question a top designer?”


    “Does she think she’s someone special? On what grounds does she speak like that?”


    From her seat, Rosanna leaned back, her eyes narrowing with sharp disapproval. Her fists clenched tightly. She could not believe that Maia dared to question her idol.


    For years, Rosanna had admired Anti—and onlyst night, at Kiley’s private cocktail party, she had shared an engaging conversation with her.


    Though Anti was just seventeen, Rosanna was utterly certain that the girl on stage was the real Anti.


    “Maia, you’ve really walked yourself into a corner this time,” she muttered under her breath. “Didn’t think I’d see your downfall this soon.”


    The livestream chat zed withments.


    “Maia’s done for—she just offended a world-famous designer.”


    “Those who stick their fingers in every pie always end up embarrassing themselves.”


    “Anti’s a prodigy. Who does Maia think she is?”


    Mockery, suspicion, and glee came crashing down like waves.


    I@?e$t ￠н@???я$ ?η ???и?vε??.c?m


    Maia had held back all along—she hadn’t wanted to cause a scene, nor humiliate a young girl caught in deceit. But now, the dam had broken.


    Lifting her gaze, Maia swept the room with an icy calm. Her tone was measured yet carried the weight of thunder. “I dare to question because I know…”


    She paused, letting her words sink into the silence. “She is not Anti at all. I co-founded Annie Crystal with a friend of mine.”


    The hall froze in absolute silence.


    Then, like a snapped string, the room burst into wildughter.


    “Hahaha… has Maia lost her mind? Does she even hear herself?”


    “So by her logic, she’s Anti—the founder of Annie Crystal? What a joke!”


    “Is she delusional now, thinking she can be everything at once?”


    The chat flooded with disbelief and scorn.


    “Never seen anyone so shameless!”


    “She already has so many titles, and now she’s iming Anti’s identity too!”


    “Get off the stage, Maia. You don’t deserve to be here!”


    The hall descended into chaos. The host stood at the edge of the stage, desperately calling for order, but his pleas were swallowed by the roaring crowd.


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