Chapter <b>247 </b>The Shattered Illusion


    Sophia raised an eyebrow, her tone still sharp and mocking–but a flicker of <b>caution </b><b>passed </b>through her


    gaze.


    She could feel it—that creeping chill spiraling up her spine, like an ice pick pressing against her <b>most </b><b>vital </b>point.


    Reba’s lips curved into a cold, sharp smile. A faint bluish glow shimmered along the edge of the <bpass </b>in her hand.


    “You said Madam Susan blesses the Lane family, but if you ask me…”


    She stabbed a finger toward the center of herpass.


    “The fortune of the Lane family’s main branch… is on the verge of being destroyed.”


    Even before the words faded-


    A delicate cracking sound broke through the air.


    The peace talisman hanging at Sophia’s chest–personally blessed by the matriarch–split cleanly down the middle.


    Gasps rippled through the room.


    Guests looked at Reba with a new level of awe–and fear.


    “What a spectacr performance.”


    Scarlett finally stepped out of the crowd. She’d been silently observing the entire time, analyzing Reba’s hand gestures and the way thepass moved.


    Now, her eyes gleamed with rity.


    “Reba, you always get so close–then fall just short. Same story this time.”


    The moment Reba saw her, a murderous haze crept into her eyes.


    Leo, standing at her side, quickly ced a hand on her arm, holding her back just in time.


    Scarlett scoffed.


    Jasper had been right all along.


    Only by staying calm could you spot the cracks.


    She studied medicine. And in medicine, there were oveps with metaphysics.


    Maybe she couldn’t truly read the stars, but dismantling a half–baked act like Reba’s? That, she could handle.


    She stepped forward and pointed directly at Reba’s right hand.


    “Too bad you’re sloppy. You forgot that ‘borrowing bad luck‘ requires a sacrifice from the caster–<b>usually </b><b>a </b>drop of real blood. The fake stuff on your fingertip might foolymen, but not someone who knows what


    Chapter 247 The Slittered Rigaton


    <b>they’re </b><b>looking </b><b>at</b>.


    Reba’s expression twitched.


    She had, in fact, used a special dye to simte a blood offering.


    Scarlett moved closer, eyes locking onto thepass.


    “And thatpass–engraving of the Northern Dipper is smudged and uneven. Cheap replica


    “You reversed the pointer by nting a ma in the base–ssic parlor trick. As for the sparks from the chandelier,” she paused, turning toward a nearby server who looked visibly shaken, someone tampered with the fixture beforehand.”


    The server flinched and instinctively stepped back.


    Sophia gave a wave.


    Hudson immediately stepped forward and restrained the man.


    He tried to resist–only to be pped twice, hard.


    “You’d better stay honest,” Hudson growled. If not for wanting to expose the truth, she’d have knocked him into next week already.


    Seeing this, Reba’s confidence wavered.


    If Leo hadn’t been anchoring her, she might’ve bolted then and there.


    Damn it<i>! </i>


    Why was Scarlett always like a ghost–refusing to go away?


    Why couldn’t she just disappear?


    Back then, Reba had nearly secured her ce in the Joyner family–until a mysterious person exposed her deception, iming she had “kidney disease,” which led to Scarlett’s adoption instead.


    For years, Scarlett had existed as little more than a backup kidney.


    And yet in the end, she had stolen the Joyner heiress title.


    Reba even believed Scarlett had somehow stolen her luck too–how else could she have found her way into the powerful Lane family?


    Meanwhile, she–once the beloved Joyner daughter–had be a convict.


    If not for the mercy of that mysterious benefactor, her life would’ve been ruinedpletely.


    Now, she had fought her way back with the persona of a “little astronomer,” carving a path toward Beijing high society.


    But just as she set foot through the door-


    Scarlett was already there waiting.


    Chapter <b>247 </b>The Shattered filusion


    She <b>hated </b>her.


    She hated Scarlett so deeply, she wanted to y her alive.


    But all that venom in her gaze didn’t even faze Scarlett.


    “And about that reverse alignment‘ reading?” Scarlett’s voice suddenly dropped into an icy edge


    “My mother is fire–aligned. And today is a day of fire. Yet you deliberately twisted the Five Element rtions to sow discord between my aunt and my mother? Is that how an astronomer works<i>? </i>Anyone who hires <b>you </b>would be signing up for betrayal and family ruin.”


    Each sentence struck like a hammer, pounding the illusion Reba had constructed with such care.


    Whispers began rippling through the room again–but this time, they weren’t full of awe.


    They were filled with doubt.


    The reverence was gone, reced with second–guessing.


    Reba’s hand around thepass trembled violently. Sweat beaded at her temples.


    “You… you’re ndering me! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”


    “If I don’t, then prove me wrong.”


    Scarlett extended <i>a </i>hand.


    “If you’re truly capable, perform the ‘star reversal‘ again. No mas. No fake blood. Show us something real. Dare you?”


    The room fell silent.


    Reba’s teeth clenched hard. The dye on her fingertips had begun to smear, revealing her pale skin beneath.


    She knew-


    If she agreed, she’d <i>be </i>exposed on the spot.


    Just then-


    Leo, who had been standing silently at her back, took a step forward.


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