The cocktail party continued, and Caitlin was having pleasant conversations with several notable individuals. Some even asked about her background, and once they learned she was from the Lewis family, they began to pay even more attention to her.
One of the guests, Jonathan, was approached by some people. “Mr. Lewis, you’ve raised an extraordinary daughter!”
“Ah, you’re too kind,” Jonathan replied awkwardly. He could do nothing but offer a forced smile, his mind filled with frustration.
Meanwhile, Jasmine was simmering with anger. She couldn’t stand the sight of Caitlin standing there so confidently. If it weren’t for her connection to both the Lewis and Vanderbilt families, what right did she have to be there? Jasmine was fuming, and she wasn’t going to let this go easily. She secretly contacted the driver of the Lewis family to help her out.
“You’ll wait in the bathroom. When Caitlin comes by, you’ll… I don’t need to tell you how, right?” she instructed him.
The driver nodded and quickly went to hide in the bathroom. Jasmine then paid off a waiter. “Take these two glasses of wine. Give the one with the added substance to Caitlin, and the plain one to me. Don’t mix them up!”
With her plans set, Jasmine returned to the party, her eyes glinting with malicious intent. She wanted to publicly humiliate Caitlin, to ruin her reputation!
However, Jasmine had no idea that Tyler and Xavi were pushing Sebastian toward the venue and overheard her instructions to the waiter. The men’s eyes darkened, and their expressions turned icy.
Someone was trying to sabotage Caitlin?
“Tyler, handle it. I want that woman to suffer the consequences of her actions!” Sebastian’s voice was cold, his anger barely contained.
“Understood!” Tyler responded with firm resolve. He trusted Tyler to handle things much more than Xavi, who often made mistakes.
Before Sebastian even entered the venue, two men from a rival company spotted him and began discussing him under their breath.
“Isn’t that Sebastian from Vanderbilt Enterprises? He’s alive? Still in a wheelchair, too?”
“His eyes are even blind now. He’s essentially useless. He’ll never be able to lead the company again.”
“Useless?”
Tyler’s face darkened upon hearing this. His fists clenched in fury. They couldn’t stand anyone speaking ill of their boss.
Before the men could say anything further, there was a gust of wind. They didn’t even have time to react before each of them received a heavy kick to the chest, sending them flying out the door and rolling down the stairs.
“Aah!”
“Aah!”
They rolled down the steps, landing in a heap at the bottom. Tyler followed them down, stepped on their backs, and barked, “You idiots better listen up! If you ever talk bad about Mr. Vanderbilt again, I’ll make sure you’re gone without a trace!”
The two men, now frightened out of their minds, scrambled to get up and fled, begging for mercy.
—
Back at the cocktail party, Jasmine, still holding a grudge, decided to approach Caitlin with the false guise of friendship.
“Caitlin, you were incredible today. We all should learn from you,” she said, grinning sweetly.
Caitlin eyed her with suspicion. A woman who was usually venomous suddenly trying to flatter her-this was clearly an attempt at ingratiation.
“That fake O’Brien artist really fooled us all, didn’t he? If it weren’t for your sharp eyes, we all would’ve been deceived,” Jasmine continued, forcing out some compliments.
Several people around nodded in agreement.
At that moment, the waiter approached with the two glasses of wine. Jasmine took one and raised it toward Caitlin.
“Caitlin, I know I’ve wronged you in the past. I’ll make amends. Here’s to you-today, you’re my role model!”
She then took a sip from her glass.
Caitlin, who wasn’t holding a drink herself (she rarely did at such events), noticed Jasmine’s overly eager gesture. Could it be that Jasmine had an agenda?
It seemed like a simple trap, but since Jasmine dared to cause trouble, Caitlin figured she might as well play along.
Caitlin picked up the second glass and sniffed it lightly before taking a sip. There was no unusual smell, so the wine seemed fine. Jasmine’s plan was clear, but Caitlin had already figured it out.
Just as she swallowed, Jasmine’s smirk widened. She had already been in contact with Yasmin. Yasmin, noticing Caitlin had drunk the wine, rushed over to deliberately bump into Jasmine.
“Jasmine! You’re here!” Yasmin said loudly.
“Aah-”
Jasmine, caught off guard, “accidentally” lost her balance, and the wine spilled right in front of Caitlin.
The two women played their parts so convincingly that no one in the room suspected anything.
But Caitlin wasn’t going to let it slide. As the wine approached, Caitlin didn’t dodge. Instead, she moved with a speed that no one could see and struck the wine glass with a quick motion. The wine spilled all over Jasmine instead.
“Aah-”
Jasmine looked down in shock, her white dress now covered in dark red stains. What happened? Why was the wine on her, not Caitlin?
“Oops, Jasmine, your dress… I’m so sorry,” Caitlin said innocently, as if she had nothing to do with it.
Yasmin, seeing what had happened, realized her plan had backfired. She quickly apologized. “Sorry, Jasmine. It was me. Let me buy you a new dress.”
“No need, I’ll just wash it myself,” Jasmine replied bitterly, her voice tight. She was humiliated and quickly hurried out of the venue, rushing to the bathroom.
Benjamin and Nolan, sitting nearby and observing the whole scene, exchanged looks.
“We underestimated Caitlin! She didn’t need anyone to come to her rescue!”
“She’s no pushover! Anyone who crosses her will regret it,” Nolan said, giving Caitlin a new, much more formidable reputation. He even thought of her as a dangerous woman-beautiful and deadly.
At that moment, a stir spread through the crowd.
“Mr. Vanderbilt is here!”
Everyone turned toward the door.
Sebastian was being pushed into the room by Xavi in his wheelchair. He wore dark sunglasses, a rare public appearance since his car accident. The news of his accident had been a huge sensation, with reports claiming he wouldn’t survive. But here he was, appearing like a miracle.
“Is it really Mr. Vanderbilt?”
“His recovery is incredible! He’s back so quickly!”
People whispered excitedly as Sebastian entered the venue. Jonathan immediately stepped forward, eager to flatter him.
“Sebastian, I’m so glad to see you’re recovering well.”
Jonathan was all smiles, eager to show off his connection to Sebastian.
But Sebastian, with a sneer, retorted coldly, “The world is full of shameless people these days.”
He didn’t even give Jonathan the decency of a polite response.
Xavi pushed Sebastian past Jonathan, who stood there stunned and humiliated.
But even more embarrassment awaited Jonathan-before he could recover, a scream pierced the air from the entrance.