Rejected Heiress, Reigning Queen novel Chapter 90

Julian's icy voice echoed through the room, leaving the entire banquet hall in stunned silence.

Gillian and Charles stared at him in utter shock, entirely convinced they had misheard.

"Mr. Vance, what exactly do you mean by that?"

Charles was absolutely dumbfounded. Had his ears stopped working?

Julian sneered, casually straightening his tie. "So this is how the Lockwood family treats my protégé the moment I leave the country.

"I have treated this girl like absolute royalty, terrified she would so much as scrape her knee, and you people dare treat her like trash. The Lockwood family really has a death wish."

As his words settled over the room, Charles was too paralyzed by shock to speak.

Gillian stared at him in horrified disbelief. "No... that's impossible... How could Emma possibly be your protégé? She majored in finance!"

Julian didn't even bother acknowledging her. He walked past them to Emma and looked at Carter. "Take her to the VIP lounge."

Emma stood up. As she walked past Charles, she gave him a single, indifferent glance.

"Emma..." Violet whispered, suddenly realizing that no apology in the world could fix this.

Emma ignored her completely, stopping only to look back at Julian.

"The entire shipment of medical equipment you brought into the country—except for the batch reserved for CFT—donate all of it to domestic medical universities. I'll cover the cost."

Julian nodded without a second's hesitation. "Whatever you say. Let me handle the garbage out here. Go rest, and I'll take you out to eat later."

With a heavy heart, Emma walked out with Carter, leaving the banquet hall in a state of absolute chaos.

"Mr. Vance, what is the meaning of this?"

Guests were whispering frantically, some demanding answers outright. Julian remained entirely unfazed.

"I am a businessman, that is true. But first and foremost, I am Emma's mentor, which makes me her family."

Logan felt a sudden, sharp twist of discomfort in his chest at the word 'family.'

Beside him, Sebastian let out a cold scoff. "You didn't want to be her family, and now she doesn't need you anyway. Have fun, I'm out of here."

Dropping the sarcastic remark, Sebastian walked out. He needed to figure out another way to get his hands on the equipment for the Jennings family's latest medical research.

Logan sat in awkward, tense silence, staring at Julian.

Julian wasn't finished.

"Everyone here has a family. I'm sure you can all understand my anger today. If you came for the equipment contracts, you'll have to wait for the next batch. As my protégé requested, every single piece of tech here today will be donated directly to medical universities."

With a perfunctory nod of apology, Julian handed the stage over to Levi to deal with the fallout.

He had a much more urgent priority: checking on Emma. The business deals were completely irrelevant compared to her well-being.

Which meant the baby swap wasn't a simple coincidence. Whatever Pamela was desperately trying to hide likely held the truth behind the swap—and the truth of Emma's own birth.

"Carter, I'm not going to lie to you. I need to investigate your uncle's wife."

Emma laid her cards on the table. To dig into the Harrington family, she needed Carter's help.

But the man who usually gave her everything she asked for before she even finished the sentence was suddenly hesitant, looking genuinely apologetic.

"I would help you investigate absolutely anyone else in the Harrington family... but my uncle's wife..." Carter paused, struggling to find the words. "At the very least, I can't be the one running the investigation."

Emma immediately understood the implication.

He was bound by family politics.

"Then let's get married."

The moment the words left her mouth, Carter's head snapped up. He stared at her, completely paralyzed by shock, though his eyes were instantly ablaze with pure joy and his lips were already curving into an unstoppable smile.

"Really?!"

Two voices yelled the exact same word in unison.

Emma looked toward the door and felt her blood run cold. Julian had just pushed the door open and was now frozen in the entryway, looking like he'd been struck by lightning.

She was doomed. There was absolutely no way she was explaining her way out of this one.