Isabella jerked her head up, staring blankly, her mind completely short-circuiting.
Blood was gushing from her nose, but she was too shocked to notice.
"H-How is this possible..."
What the hell was going on? Weren't these Agnes's mercenaries? Wasn't this her moment of glory?
Why had they completely abandoned the script? Why were they on the floor?
And more importantly... why were they terrified of Serena?! Did these idiots even know who was paying them?
Furious, Isabella blinked through the blood and glared at Kane, who was still trembling violently.
But Kane couldn't care less about her. He was hyperventilating, desperately trying to figure out how to survive the next five minutes.
"I'm sorry, Boss... I'm so sorry!"
"We were blind! We didn't know who you were!"
"If we knew it was you, we wouldn't have come within a hundred miles of this place, even if you paid us a billion dollars!"
"Please, let us live! Mercy!"
The raw, unfiltered terror in Kane's voice was undeniable. His men echoed his pleas, some of them genuinely sobbing.
Serena stood perfectly still, looking down at the groveling men with the cold, effortless grace of a queen accepting tribute.
Her silence was deafening. Her gaze alone was enough to make the mercenaries sweat through their tactical gear.
After agonizing minutes of silence, Serena finally spoke, her tone chillingly casual. "Who sent you?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it commanded the room.
Kane opened his mouth, stammering to confess.
Isabella's face drained of color. She
lunged forward, grabbing Kane
her eyes
a frantic unhinged
look in
don't you dare liel
If they exposed her... she was dead!
Ignoring her agonizing pain, she scrambled up, looking at her family with tear-filled, desperate eyes. "Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Silas, Uncle Douglas They're just thugs! They came to attack Serena and now they're just making up lies to frame-"
Crash!
Nicholas casually kicked a wooden chair. It shattered against the floor, a jagged splinter of wood flying right past isabella's face, missing her eye by an inch.
Isabella froze, the rest of her lie dying in her throat.
"Get off me, you psycho!"
Kane had absolutely zero patience for Isabella's act anymore. He viciously shoved her away, sending her sprawling back to the floor.
He wanted to murder this woman. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't be begging the Demon for his life!
"We... we just took a contract. We were hired to crash a party and humiliate a girl from Elyndor..."
"They paid us a massive sum just to put on a show."
"The client said..... we just had to storm the venue, pretend to be out for revenge, and make Miss Serena look bad..."
"We swear, we had no idea it was you..."
Kane spilled every single detail, his voice shaking with terror.
A show?
The terrified guests stared in stunned disbelief. Slowly, every single pair of eyes in
the ballroom turned to lock onto Isabella.