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Sadie always said, “Know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll never lose a battle.”
To keep Natasha from getting bullied, she went to great lengths to dig up all the dirty secrets on the most devoted simps around Olivia.
The whole Lawson family drama was prime material for one of theirte–night gossip
sessions.
Natasha remembered it clearly, since Sadie had spent half the night roasting Don’s grandpa, Bryant Lawson, with extra enthusiasm.
The current head of the Lawson family, Bryant Lawson, married the Snider family’s only daughter, Rachel Snider.
While Rachel was alive, Bryant was widely praised as a devoted husband, always managing the household and supporting her in every way.
Rachel, grateful for his dedication, went out of her way to support the entire Lawson family.
It was a ssic case of one person making it big and taking their whole family along for the
ride.
But when Rachel hit her forties, she got cancer, and left the family business in Bryant’s
hands.
As Bryant started calling the shots, word got out that he already had a bunch of illegitimate kids.
Luckily, the Snider family wasn’t totally out of the picture. There were still some old–timers in thepany keeping a close eye on Bryant, making sure he didn’t get too wild.
Both sides kept each other in check, holding onto a fragile bnce. The bottom line was that no matter what, the Snider Group would never be the Lawson Group,
Back in the day, it was Rachel and her father who built up the Snider family’s business empire.
Bryant was just the caretaker who maintained what was already there. Even so, the fortune Rachel left behind was still substantial.
In Scrushire, it was always the Snider name that truly carried weight.
Even after Bryant made it to the top, he could never shake off the stigma of being
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overshadowed by his wife’s aplishment, nor his reputation for being ungrateful and opportunistic.
The respectable families in Scrushire preferred to keep their distance from him.
In order to get more shares, Don started reading the room and suggested changing his surname back to Snider.
Instead of fighting Bryant’s illegitimate kids to protect the Snider family legacy his grandmother left behind, he chose to suck up and change his surname.
This move caused an uproar in Scrushire.
Bryant acted like he was trying to talk him out of it, but deep down, he was secretly delighted.
He had his own ns. With so many people watching, having Don, who was the real Snider family heir, voluntarily change his surname was the best thing that could’ve happened to him.
To avoid the judgmental looks from those in the know, Bryant even decided to move thepany’s headquarters to Andphis City, starting over in a new ce.
It was only after the move that the Snider family was officially renamed the Lawson family.
In Andphis City, most people met Don when he was already going by Don Lawson. Nobody cared enough to ask if he’d ever changed hisst name.
All traces of the past had been wiped clean.
If it hadn’t been for Sadie, who used to dream of being an investigative journalist and never let anything slide, they probably would’ve pulled it off.
“Holy shit. That’s just shameless!” the girl with the baby face blurted out.
The other girls all looked disgusted. After all, any one of them could’ve been in Rachel’s shoes.
Bryant was the ultimate backstabbing social climber, but Don was just an absolute scumbag.
Natasha smiled as she watched the girls cursing up a storm, each one furious on Rachel’s
behalf.
Sure enough, by the end of tonight’s party, Don’s original surname would be the hottest topic among the city’s elite.
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Don looked as pale as a ghost.
He was finished.
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His grandfather had brought him here today just to show him off and hopefully scope out a potential marriage match.
Before, he’d always found ways to dodge proposals because of Olivia, but after tonight, it’d be the women who wanted nothing to do with him.
No respectable family that cared about their daughter would ever let her marry into a family this shameless and disloyal.
Don’s shameless move to change his surname was a total red g.
In some ways, the upper crust of Andphis City cared even more about saving face and keeping their reputations spotless.
But the worst part was, the past Bryant had tried so desperately to keep hidden got dragged out into the open because of him.
All those years of hard work were down the drain.
Don ran off in disgrace.
Through the crowd of girls gathered around Natasha, gossiping, Olivia locked eyes with her from across the room.
They both knew that Olivia’s second de was now ruined.
Olivia took a deep breath, knowing she wasn’t exactly wee here.
She kept herposure, gave a polite nod, and turned to walk away in the opposite direction.
She thought, ‘It’s no big deal.
‘Some knives are just handy, easy to use, but not really that sharp. The sharpest ones are always saved forst!
*****
Meanwhile, Noel was upstairs, holding an ice pack to his face.
Madeline couldn’t stay with him forever, so once she was sure he was okay, she headed back to the garden to help Andrew entertain the guests.
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She even made a point to tell Natasha that she’d already taken the bracelet out and given it to
the butler.
But Andrew had moved the cake–cutting and gift–giving part of the evening to after the engagement announcement.
He also made it clear to Natasha that she and Lucas would have to <i>go </i>up on stage together to
cut the cake. <fn33aa> For original chapters go to find?novel</fn33aa>
He told her to behave herself.
Natasha just kept nodding, acting so obedient it actually unnerved the rk family.
For some reason, her eerily quiet attitude was even more unsettling than when she’d pped Noel at the start of the night.
Andrew had figured she’d kick up a fuss about this whole process, but she didn’t.
Of course, he wasn’t prepared to back down.
Even though he didn’t really believe Natasha was over Lucas, with all the mess she’s stirred uptely, he was worried she’d cause a scene at the party.
He shot her a suspicious look, then called over a servant to keep an eye on her.
Natasha’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “If you’re so worried about the marriage falling through, you should be watching Olivia and Lucas, not me.”
Andrew red at her, clearly annoyed. “What are you saying now? Do you think it’s honorable to drag your fiancé and your sister into this mess?”
Natasha pursed her lips and thought, “They had no problem using the excuse of “medical treatment” to ship my boyfriend and Olivia together.
‘But now they want to act all righteous? Please,’
She didn’t care. She was just looking forward to the show.
Seeing that Natasha had <i>gone </i>quiet, Andrew kept ncing back at her as he reminded her, “The big moment’sing up. Don’t go running off now, alright?”
But what Andrew never sawing was that, after all his careful nning, Natasha didn’t stir
up any trouble at all.
Instead, at the veryst moment, the groom–to–be was nowhere to be found.
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He was up there with the microphone, going through the usual formalities and just about to announce some big news.
He tried to signal for Natasha and Lucas toe over, but he only found Natasha blinking her big eyes with her arms crossed.
She was watching him with a look that said she was enjoying the drama and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
Madeline stood beside Thomas, both of them frowning in confusion.
On the other side, the Wright family looked worried and upset, while a servant was anxiously talking <i>to </i>them.
The star of the night<i>, </i>Lucas, who’d been right there just moments ago, had vanished.
Andrew’s heart skipped a beat.
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