Chapter 1295:


    Anti jerked backward as though struck, her high heels scraping sharply against the floor.


    “Do you intend to spend your entire existence wrapped in deception?” Maia’s voice remained soft, yet every word rang clear as crystal. “Living perpetually in someone else’s shadow?” She paused, and something gentle flickered across her expression. “You’re only seventeen. Time still exists for you to correct this. Don’tpound your mistakes.”


    “Enough!” Anti’s shoulders convulsed violently, her voice climbing toward a scream. “What gives you the authority to say that? To stand there and lecture me? You have no right whatsoever!”


    Her eyes burned red with the raw humiliation and desperation of someone whose carefully constructed facade had just shattered. “Who do you think you are? You’re not my mother.”


    Then a voice sliced through the chaos like a de through silk—deep, unwavering, resolute. “Maia certainly possesses that right!”


    The room plunged into absolute silence.


    Richie moved forward to stand beside Maia, his gaze sharp enough to draw blood. “She is the founder of Annie Crystal.”


    The silence deepened, became something tangible.


    Kiley’s eyes narrowed to slits. Was Richie actually serious?


    Just moments earlier, he’d clearly championed Anti. Now he’d suddenly reversed his allegiance? All because of Maia’s brief critique?


    Kiley’s fingers curled into a tight fist as her attention slid toward Raegan somewhere in the crowd.


    Right then, Aurielle—the illustrious president of the International Jewelry Design Association—charged toward Richie like a woman possessed. She jabbed a finger in his direction. “Richie Ford! How dare you make such a preposterous deration? Maia couldn’t possibly be Anti!”


    Richie responded with a subtle shake of his head, his voice deliberately calm. “Ms. Margaret, I can stake my honor on this truth—Maia is ourpany’s founder and the authentic Anti.”


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    He moved to retrieve his phone, ready to dispatch an email to Anti on the spot—proof that would be undeniable the instant Maia’s device lit up with the message.


    But Aurielle intercepted him, consumed by her fury and her irond determination to shield her idol from disgrace. “I’m profoundly disappointed in you!” she hissed.


    Aurielle had no intention of entertaining whatever justification Richie nned to offer, because she’d already dismissed it as borate fiction.


    This wasn’t simply the Radiant Jewelsunch—it was one of the year’s most anticipated charity gs. Standing before this constetion of celebrities and society’s upper echelon, serving as the current president of the International Jewelry Design Association, she absolutely could not publicly confess to an error of such catastrophic proportions.


    If Maia proved to be the legitimate Anti, it would detonate her reputation like a bomb and strip away everything she’d spent decades building. She had to prevent that nightmare from materializing.


    Aurielle angled the microphone away, dropping her voice to a venomous whisper as she leaned into Richie’s space, speaking words meant for his ears alone. “Has this brazen woman purchased your loyalty? Or perhaps Maia is your mistress? Are you scheming to swap Anti out for her? I recognize ambition when I see it, but…”


    She raised one eyebrow, her tone brooking absolutely zero resistance. “If you’d prefer Annie Crystal not be permanently exiled by the International Jewelry Design Association, I suggest you shut your mouth this instant!”


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