Tempted By my Evil Lycan Stepbrother novel Chapter 97

When Lady Cressida finally looked up, her expression had gone from careful curiosity to cold certainty

“These are fake,” she turned around and confined.

The words hit the room like a bomb. Gasps burst out everywher”.

“What?” a lady cried.

“No freaking way!” echoed another lady.

“Are you serious?”

Lady Cressida set the necklace down with a cold face. “Not one or two pieces. Nearly everything on these tables is imitation work.”

The ballroom exploded with anger. These rich people could not stand being lied to.

“There must be a mistake,” Yilia raised her voice above the noise, her face red with panic. “My family is very well off. They have been rich for centuries. Everybody knows it! Why would I bring fake jewelries to this auction to humiliate myself?”

The waves of anger ceased for a second.

I could see confusion on people’s face. Yes, fake jewelry was one thing. But why would an entire noble family risk this in front of half the city? Just for some money that they already had? It didn’t make any sense.

I was still trying to understand it myself when Ezra spoke up icily, “Why? Well, let me tell you why.”

He gave a short nod toward the doors. “Bring them in.”

The grand doors opened.

Two men entered under the guard’s watch.

One I recognized vaguely as an older legal advisor who had been around Leon’s family. The other carried a stack of ledgers and papers pressed so tightly to his chest he looked like he wanted to disappear into them.

They were introduced quickly enough for the room to understand: Yilia’s family lawyer and accountant.

The lawyer was sweating like hell. The accountant looked even worse.

Ezra didn’t give either of them much room to breathe. “Go ahead. Tell them what you told me.”

The lawyer swallowed, glanced once at Yilia, and then seemed to decide his survival mattered more than lovity.

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“Lady Yilia’s family is…bankrupt,” he said shakily. “For a long time actually. They had been doing a very good job to hide it Until today.”

Fresh shock tore through the room.

He went on in a rush, like he had been waiting too long to unload it.

Apparently, Yilia’s “heirlooms” had been sold years ago. The estate had collapsed under debt. Yilia’s taste tot luxury had gutte what was left, and Leon had not helped matters since he was so crazy for parties, women and expensive gifts.

Once the family’s fortune was gone, they hadn’t stepped back from high society.

They had turned it into a hunting ground.

They traveled from city to city, still using their old noble name, still dressing beautifully, still charming the right people, still hosting little events and collecting deposits and promises and “investments” before things turned sour

Once they were found lying, they would quickly disappear and move to the next place before the damage caught up with them

And then started another round of fraud.

+15 Bonus

The accountant opened the ledgers and strewed pages of figures, unpaid debts, borrowed money, false valuations, and accounts that did not match any of the charity statements Villa had been boasting about

“You filthy old bastard!” Yilia charged forward and screamed at him. “How dare you betray the like this!”

Her rage proved that every single word of what the accountant just said was true.

And then the women in the room lost their minds. They all surged up to Yilia and started attacking her

“You took my deposit!”

“You lying witch-My daughter was going to bid on that necklace!”

“Refund us now!”

The elegant charity crowd turned into a mob in less than ten seconds.

Women in silk stormed toward Yilia and her husband. Someone shoved. Someone else knocked over a chair. Yilia tried to speak over them, but nobody wanted excuses anymore.

It was total chaos.

I didn’t go near that mess. I stood very still, my hands curled into fists, and looked across the room at my mother.

She was near the far wall now, half-hidden behind a cluster of noblewomen who had surged past her. Her face had gone chalk-

white. She looked stunned…and afraid.

And all I could think was:

Did she know?

My mom chose this husband and this family for me. She told me that she had done a thorough background check and promised me that Leon was the right man to get married with.

Did she really do those background check?

Or had she really been so blinded by status that she never looked twice? And she just threw me to the first noble family that

would take me.

Before I could reach a conclusion, Leon shoved his way through the crowd.

He looked wrecked.

His hair was messed up, his face drained of color, and all that practiced elegance had talles apart. For the first time since i met him, he didn’t look polished. He looked desperate.

“Riley,” he cried, voice breaking. “Riley, please-”

He came straight to me and dropped to his knees. The crowd noticed instantly. A fresh murmur swept through the ballroom

Leon grabbed the hem of my dress in both hands, looking up at me with begging us.

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