Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 169

Chapter 169

Elara

The crowd went silent. I watched their faces change as they listened-

shock, disapproval, uncomfortable shifting. Even the people who’d

been on Victoria’s side a moment ago were looking at her differently

now. Because there was no denying the evidence. No spinning it or

explaining it away. She’d admitted everything, and everyone had

heard it.

Mr. Vane Senior appeared at the back of the crowd, supported by his

butler. His face was thunderous, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Victoria saw him and went even paler, if that was possible.

Charlotte and the other girls were already melting into the crowd,

trying to disappear. Sloane’s perfect composure had cracked slightly,

a flash of annoyance crossing her face before she smoothed it away.

This was supposed to be her night, her moment in the spotlight, and

now it was being ruined by a scandal involving the girl she’d spent

years trying to erase.

Julian was looking at Victoria with an expression I’d never seen before–disappointment mixed with anger, and maybe something like

shame. But he didn’t move toward me. He didn’t defend me or ask if I

was okay. He just stood there, frozen between his family and…

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Chapter 169

whatever I was to him.

Victoria tried one last desperate gambit. “You–you recorded me

illegally!” she said, her voice shaking. “That’s against the law! You

violated my privacy!”

I met her gaze steadily. “I was in a semi–public space,” I said. “And you

were threatening me. In New York, one–party consent laws apply to

recordings. I had every right to record our conversation to protect

myself.”

It was a half–truth–the law was more complicated than that—but

Victoria didn’t know that, and neither did most of the people in the

crowd. What they did know was that I had evidence, and that evidence

made me look like the victim and Victoria like the villain.

“And anyway,” I continued, my voice growing stronger, “I’m not the

one who broke the law. You sent someone to harass me, to waste my

time, and to extort money from me. That’s harassment and

potentially fraud. So if anyone should be worried about legal

consequences, it’s you.”

Mr. Vane Senior’s voice cut through the murmurs like a knife. “Enough.”

Everyone fell silent. The old man moved forward slowly, leaning

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heavily on his cane, his eyes fixed on Victoria. “Is this true?” he asked,

his voice cold and clipped. “Did you do what she’s accusing you of?”

Victoria’s mouth opened and closed. She looked at Julian, at Sloane,

at Charlotte, searching for someone to save her. But no one moved.

No one spoke.

“Answer me, Victoria,” Mr. Vane said.

“I… I was just…” Victoria’s voice broke. “She was embarrassing the

family, Grandfather. She was out there selling art like some street

vendor, making us look cheap. I just wanted her to stop-”

“By sending someone to harass her?” Mr. Vane’s voice was like ice. “By

humiliating her in public? Is that how a Vane behaves?”

Victoria burst into tears, but this time they didn’t move anyone. The

crowd was watching with the kind of fascinated horror people reserve

for watching someone’s downfall in real time.

I should have felt vindicated. I should have felt triumphant. But all I

felt was tired. Tired of fighting, tired of being the one who always had

to prove she deserved basic human decency, tired of being in this house with these people who would never see me as anything more

than a charity case.

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