Natalie''s cool voice snapped everyone back to reality.


    Joanna looked at her with a wounded expression. "Natalie, what are you talking about? I was just asking Mr. Spencer to forgive you."


    "No need," Natalie said calmly. "It''s quite a coincidence that Mrs. Spencer Sr.''s bodyguard got into a car ident right after she had her ''ident.'' Funny how some so-called tech whizzes couldn''t tell the difference between what was real and what was fake."


    Joanna froze.


    Sebastian frowned. "Natalie, are you still going to cause a scene at a time like this?"


    Natalie shot him a look of pure ice. "What gives you the right to say I''m causing a scene?"


    "Natalie, you..." Sebastian faltered, caught off guard by the unfamiliar coldness in her eyes. The irritation simmering inside him grew harder to control.


    Natalie''s gaze shifted to Marshall, then swept over the elegantly dressed crowd. Hmm, where''s Grandpa? she wondered. Where is that old man hiding? He probably couldn''t bear to see me get bullied and is hiding somewhere. Beforeing in, she had asked Queena to find him and keep himpany. She could handle this alone.


    "Marshall," she said, her voice steady. "Let''s begin."


    Marshall''s sharp eyes narrowed as he stared at her defiant face. He had a strange feeling, a phantom pain in his hand. "Natalie," he said, his voiceced with venom, "today, I''m going to teach you the meaning of a fate worse than death."


    Natalie offered him a dazzling smile, her pearly white teeth a stark contrast to her crimson lips. "Mr. Spencer, do you remember what I said yesterday? For that one p, I''ll be paying you back tenfold today."


    The guests gasped at her audacity.


    "Natalie, you''re not only vicious, you''re delusional! Do you have any idea what''s going to happen to you here tonight?"


    "You''re a monster! You went after an old woman. People like you should be drawn and quartered and cast into the deepest pits of hell!"


    A few young women standing near Natalie, hearing her bold words, stepped forward to defend Marshall''s honor, hoping to get on his good side.


    Natalie gave them a cold, dismissive nce and said nothing. Go on, curse me out, she thought. The more you do now, the more pathetic you''ll lookter.


    "How absurd," Marshall scoffed. He then turned to Joanna and gestured gracefully. “Our beautiful Ms. Scott, please join me on stage.”


    Joanna took a deep breath. This moment of glory would make her the star of high society and bring a flood of support and partnerships for her father. Even Sebastian''s status would rise with hers, and he would treat her better than ever.


    Natalie watched Joanna walk away


    with a faint smile on her lips. Sebastian caught the expression, and his heart jolted. It wasn''t just any smile; it was the smile of a stranger. This Natalie was stunning, butpletely alien to him The old Natalie, the one whose eyes were always glued to him whenever he was in the room, was gone. It seemed the girl who once saw only him no longer wanted to look at him at all.


    An overwhelming sense of frustration washed over him. He took a step toward her, about to speak, but she turned and walked away Sebastian froze catching the


    her


    her


    look of disdain she threw over the


    shoulder. It was a look that screamed, Stay away from me.


    On stage, Marshall was beaming. "Thank you all for attending this evening''s banquet. The beautiful woman beside me, Ms. Scott, saved my grandmother, and in doing so, she saved the entire Spencer family. Everyone knew that the matriarch held the controlling shares in the familypany.


    Marshall then fixed his gaze on Natalie. “Natalie, kneel and apologize. After you''re done, I will break both of your hands so you can never harm anyone again."


    Natalie simply raised an eyebrow, unmoving. Sebastian frowned. Wasn''t this going too far?


    Joanna quickly interjected, "Mr. Spencer, my sister didn''t mean it. Please, let her go." She pleaded loudly, earning nods of approval from the crowd.


    "Joanna, stay out of this. My decision is final." He red at Natalie. "Natalie, kneel down now! Stop wasting time."


    Joanna shot Natalie a look of feigned worry. Just as she was about to speak again, a frail but icy voice echoed from the entrance.


    "Who said Joanna was the one who saved me?"