Chapter 270

No.1

Harrison Browning stopped his wheelchair at the head of the table. His face was a mask of terrifying,ancient fury.

The string quartet abruptly stopped playing. The silence in the grand ballroom became absolute and suffocating. Every guest froze in place.

"Mr. Browning, I..." Allena stammered, taking a terrified step backward.

Harrison's eyes cut her off like a physical blade.

"You stand at my table, point your finger at the woman who saved my life, and call her a stalker wearing fake jewelry?" Harrison's voice was low,but it carried a lethal weight.

The crowd erupted into shocked whispers. The woman in the blue dress was the real savior?

No.2

August's head snapped toward Elisa. His eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock. His brain violently scrambled to process the information.

"She is lying to you!" Allena screamed, completely losing her mind. "I saved you! I did the CPR!"

"Silence!" Harrison roared. He lifted his heavy wooden cane and slammed it down onto the marble floor. The sharp crack made Allena flinch violently.

"I may be old, but my mind is sharp," Harrison spat.

"You are a pathological liar and a thief. You do not belong in the same room as civilized people."

Harrison turned his head and locked eyes with his massive head of security standing by the wall.

No.3

"Throw this woman out of my house. Now,"Harrison ordered.

Two giant men in black suits immediatey marched forward. They grabbed Allena by both arms, their thick fingers digging painfully into her biceps.①

"August! Help me! Make them stop!" Allena shrieked, kicking her stiletto heels wildly against the carpet.

August instinctively took a half-step forward.

Harrison shifted his gaze to August. The oldman's eyes were filled with deadly warning.

"Are you prepared to declare war on the Browning family over a lying mistress, August?" Harrison asked coldly.

No.4

August froze. His foot stopped mid-air. His analytical brain instantly calculated the catastrophic financial damage of losing the Browning accounts.Rationality crushed his emotional impulse.

He clamped his jaw shut. He slowly pulled his foot back. He chose his empire, leaving Allena to her fate.

Allena saw him retreat. Absolute despair shattered her face. Desperate to save a shred of dignity, she screamed at the crowd.

"Let me go! I have a family emergency! I have to leave!" she wailed, using a pathetic, transparent excuse.

No one believed her. The wealthy guests physically stepped back,clearing a path, their faces twisted in disgust as they watched her get dragged away.

The heavy oak doors slammed shut behind her,sealing her humiliation.

No.5

Harrison turned back to Elisa. His anger vanished,replaced by deep respect. "I apologize for the disturbance, child.Please,sit."

Elisa nodded calmly. She sat back down in the mahogany chair, her posture flawless, entirely unaffected by the chaos.

August stood awkwardly near the table. He was completely strippedof his power, looking like a foolish child who had backed the wrong horse.

Harrison did not even look at August. He stared straight ahead and issued a final, humiliating command.

"When this dinner concludes, August, you will personally escort Elisa back to her residence,"Harrison ordered. "If a single hair on her head is out of place, I will hold your company responsible."

August swallowed the bitter taste of total defeat.He bowed his head. "Yes, Mr. Browning."

No.6

Outside the estate, the cold night wind whipped across the concrete driveway.

Allena was thrown roughly onto the hard pavement.

She scraped her knees, tearing her expensive red dress. She sat on the freezing ground, shivering violently.

A toxic, burning hatred consumed her chest. Elisa had stolen her spotlight, her dignity, and August's protection.2

Allena pulled her phone from her clutch with trembling fingers. She dialed Germaine Chambers 'private number.

"Madam," Allena hissed into the receiver, her voice distorted by pure malice. "The plan has failed. We must use the extreme option to destroy her." 2

No.7

Meanwhile, in the back of the sleek Chambers Town Car, Elisa sat as far away from August as physically possible. The silence between them was toxic.Elisa leaned her head against the cool glass of the window, closing her eyes. She took three slow, deliberate breaths, consciously boxing away the emotional residue of the gala, locking it behind the iron wall in her mind. When her phone vibrated in her clutch, she opened her eyes again. The vulnerability was gone, replaced by the cool,analytical focus of Faye. She swiped the screen to answer,ignoring August's sharp sideways glance.

"Faye," Alastai's crisp voice came through the speaker. "The schedule for the global corporate retreat in Geneva next week is fully locked in."

Elisa watched the city lights blur past, the exhaustion of the night finally catching up to her."Good. That summit is the optimal environment to

launch the Chiron project to the European sector."Alastair paused for a fraction of a second. "I received the guest manifest. The Chambers Group executive board is attending. You need to mentally prepare for the collision."

Elisa let out a short, humorless laugh, her eyes briefly meeting August's dark, questioning stare in the reflection of the window. "Geneva is my territory, Alastair. I will gladly let them watch me take the market."