Chapter 287 It's Time to Go Bankrupt
Kimberly grinned and acted like she was gonna stop her. "Chill, Saskia. Don't underestimate her. Maybe she's got a sugar daddy, and someone might show up to back her later."
The socialite, Saskia Parker, replied, "Kimberly, you're a Harris! Seriously, you're scared of her? You said she's an orphan. Even if she's got a rich boyfriend, you think he'd marry her?"
Saskia sneered. "Anyone Ms. Ortiz invites to this shindig cares about family background! He's just toying with her. You think her boyfriend would really go against us for a side chick?"
The celeb who'd been chatting with me couldn't take it anymore and jumped in, "No, she just came from Ms. Ortiz..."
But no matter how famous regular celebs were, these high-society folks didn't give a damn. They had the final say.
Kimberly cut him off, "Enough. I know you wanna say she knows Ms. Ortiz."
"What?" Saskia suddenly freaked out. "She knows Ms. Ortiz? Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"Relax." Kimberly pretended to explain but was really just stirring the pot. "She just designed clothes for Ms. Ortiz. She's probably here today to drop off some outfits. She's divorced. Now she's all dolled up, probably looking for husband number two! Ms. Ortiz wouldn't stick her neck out for a small-time designer. No biggie."
Saskia, spoiled rotten by her family, quickly got her swagger back and sneered, "A divorced woman; who do you think you can snag? Keep dreaming!"
The celeb frowned. "How can you talk like that?"
"It's cool." I smiled at the celeb, looked Saskia calmly, and said, "How about matching with Jerry?"
"Jerry?" Saskia looked like she'd heard the funniest joke ever and laughed out loud, catching the attention of a bunch of guests. She asked the crowd, "Did you hear that? This divorced chick is aiming for the Hammer family's heir! Hilarious! Before going after Jerry, you should know how loyal he is!"
Saskia's face twisted with jealousy and disgust as she explained to me, "He's been pining for his lost childhood love for over twenty years, never getting close to anyone else. Otherwise, with all the socialites in Maple Valley, you think you'd have a shot?"
Some guests nearby, probably Jerry fans too, chimed in, "Yeah, we've never seen you at any parties before. How'd you even get in here?"
"If that's the case, just kick her out! We don't wanna piss off any big shots and get caught in the crossfire!"
"Right!"
People who hadn't said a word before now jumped on the bandwagon.
Kimberly's smug smile was almost too much to hide.
I smirked, ignored them, and walked straight to a security guard, pointing at Kimberly and Saskia. "Those two are being too loud. Can you show them the door?"
"Yes, Ms. Royston!" The security guard snapped to it.
When Madison and I rolled in earlier, we were tight, and we hung out in Madison's lounge for a while. The security team knew exactly who the VIPs were. They knew who to mess with and who not to.
Kimberly wasn't even on the guest list, and the Parker family? They got in last minute because they had a business partner with some ties to Juniper. The partner owed the Parker family a favor, which allowed them to obtain an invitation.
After I gave my orders, I didn't waste any more time on them and headed straight to find Elissa.
"Why should I leave?" Saskia, hearing the security guard's blunt eviction order, looked at me like I had three heads. "Who does she think she is?"
Kimberly shot me a hateful glare and then sneered at the security guard, "Oh! Now I get why a designer can stay here. You must be her boyfriend, huh?"
"Watch your mouth!" The security guard frowned. "Ms. Royston is a VIP. Insulting her like that..."
"VIP?" Saskia's face got even more nervous. "Whose VIP? Ms. Ortiz's?"
But she still looked doubtful.
Kimberly didn't buy it either. Feeling humiliated by the eviction and hearing the guests whispering, she turned beet red with anger, took a few steps toward me, and hissed, "Hope, what game are you playing now! It's one thing for Claire to back you, but Madison has her own daughter. How do you justify being at such an important event?"
"What do you think?" A chilling voice, familiar to my ears, echoed from behind.
I turned around and saw Christopher's stone-cold face.
Why was he standing up for me? This was gonna be hard to explain to Jerry. But his words carried a lot of weight.
Even though Christopher was in Jacquar, his influence was massive. A lot of folks in Maple Valley wanted to be in his good graces. A little favor from him could keep these so-called rich families, like the Parkers, afloat.
Saskia was stunned and whispered to Kimberly, "Why didn't you say she knew Mr. Valence!"
Others who had agreed to kick me out suddenly looked away, guilty as sin, afraid of getting caught up in this mess.
I looked at Christopher. "Thanks for the help, Mr. Valence, but I can handle this myself."
Christopher was taken aback by my cold tone, his lips pressed into a thin line. "You are my ex-wife after all. If they're messing with you, isn't that like they're slapping me, too?"
His voice was low, but it was like a bomb going off, shocking everyone around. We had never publicly announced our marriage in three years, but our divorce was public knowledge.
Saskia's face darkened. She realized Kimberly had used her to target me and immediately said softly, "Mr. Valence, I'm sorry..."
"It's fine." Christopher said coldly, then turned to Donald behind him. "Spread the word: any company still working with the Parker Group from tomorrow onwards will never work with the RF Group or the Valence Group again!"
His words were calm but hit like a thunderclap.
Everyone around was stunned. They were probably thinking that Christopher's previous image of a doting husband was true, even after the divorce, he still had my back.
Saskia's face went pale, and her legs wobbled. "Mr. Valence!"
Jerry walked over from the lounge, a faint smile on his chiseled face. "Mr. Valence. Thanks for standing up for my fiancée, but just cutting ties with the Parker Group isn't enough."
He pulled me into his arms and said casually, "In my opinion, they should just go bankrupt."
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