?Chapter 657:


    Educated among the elite from a young age, Ste prided herself on not conforming to traditional expectations of just marriage and motherhood. She was resolute in her decision to go after what she desired. She was ready to take the initiative, rather than wait for Wesley to make the first move.


    Ste’s smile was one of self-assurance, anticipating Wesley’s recognition and admiration.


    Yet, as time passed, Wesley did not reciprocate the handshake.


    Ste’s hand hovered awkwardly in the air, and her smile slowly faded.


    Lively chatter filled the banquet hall, and all eyes were drawn to Ste, Liam’s one and only daughter. Her effort to cozy up to Wesley fell t, and the entire room caught the awkward moment.


    The derisive stares from the crowd caused Ste’s cheeks to flush with indignation. She furrowed her brow, her features stiffening into a look of haughty disdain as resentment bubbled within her toward Wesley for his apparent disregard for her politeness and outstretched hand.


    Ste brimmed with pride. She was, after all, the mayor’s daughter, graciously lowering herself to acknowledge Wesley, and yet he met her with nothing but indifference. In the, countless people vied for her attention. Wesley ought to have felt privileged.


    Ste’s eyes then shifted to Elena, and her face contorted into a sneer of contempt. It had to be this ignorant woman who had bewitched Wesley, clouding his judgment.


    Ste’s lips twisted into a scornful curl as she remarked, “This gathering is reserved for the’s elite, and yet here lurks an uninvited guest. It’s no wonder the air is thick with a cheap, overpowering stench.” Her scathing words flew straight at Elena, apanied by a theatrical gesture of covering her nose, as if Elena was the source of some foul odor.


    At that moment, Dora Owens, the city treasurer’s daughter whom Ste had snubbed earlier, saw an opportunity and approached.


    Observing Ste’s open disdain for Elena, Dora was quick to align herself, hoping to gain Ste’s favor. “Precisely,” she chimed in eagerly. “I noticed that unpleasant odor the moment she approached. What are the guards even doing? How did they permit someone of her sort to enter?”


    Dora’s upbringing was steeped in high-society gatherings alongside her family. She had encountered every child born to the high-ranking dignitaries of the.


    Thus, when Elena, a stranger to her circles, crossed her path, Dora saw no reason to extend the courtesy of politeness.


    The assembled crowd watched as both Ste and Dora conspicuously pinched their noses in revulsion. Their dramatic disy seemed to influence the crowd’s senses, as others began to im they detected an unpleasant odor as well.


    “Look at her, just another outsider dragging down the quality of our event!”


    “Seriously, why would Wesley bring that low woman to an event like this?”


    “How dare she mingle as if she’s one of us?”


    Their eyes filled with scorn, casting Elena as nothing less than a noxious anomaly in their midst.


    Elena, who had arrived for Graham, found herself the center of scrutiny. Her expression cooled into an icy stare as she responded with detached irony, “Did you just touch a grater?”


    Caught off guard, Dora’s face registered sheer confusion. She couldn’t make sense of what Elena was rambling about, but the sarcasm in her voice was loud and clear.


    “What exactly are you implying?” Dora faltered.


    .


    .


    .