Sunlight warmed my back as I gardened, then a news alert flashed: "Crestwood’s Golden Boy Humiliates Gatecrasher to Please Fiancée." Lucas Vance—my best friend Lily’s fiancé. Dread coiled in my gut. A month ago, Lily left to plan their wedding in Linwood… then vanished. My contacts swore she was fine. I tapped the video. The "gatecrasher" being thrown out was Lily. Hair tangled, she begged as Lucas coldly held another woman. Guests sneered: "Claiming to be Sophia Song’s best friend? Pathetic." "Look at her rags—another delusional Cinderella." Blood streaked the floor where guards dragged her. Lucas never moved. White-knuckling my phone, I booked the next flight to Linwood. Time to meet this realbest friend. 1 Just before I boarded, a new headline hit the top of every newsfeed: Lucas Vance was throwing a lavish engagement party for his fiancée, and the entire high society of Crestwood was invited. The title was splashed in bold, impossible to miss. Seething, I forwarded the article to Lucas with a single, sharp question. “Which one of your little whores is this?” He didn’t reply until after I’d landed. “Watch your mouth, Sophia! I know the Vance family owes a lot to the Songs for our success, but that doesn’t give you the right to question my love for Bianca!” I scoffed at the message. At least he remembered who put his family on the map. If I hadn’t seen that video, seen Lily being dragged away like trash, I might have actually believed his performance of undying love. Bianca. My partner, the woman I’d built our design studio with from the ground up. We’d struggled together through the hardest of times, and I had never, ever seen anyone break her like this. How could this have happened? A month. In just one month, she had been reduced to this. Suppressing the inferno inside me, I dialed Julian Ford. He was the man my mother had arranged for me to marry, and, coincidentally, one of Lucas’s closest friends. It took eighteen calls before he finally picked up. “Who the hell is this? Are you insane?” he snarled into the phone. “It’s me. Sophia Song.” His tone flipped in an instant. All the irritation vanished, replaced by a smooth, honeyed voice. “Sophia! Is everything okay?” “I need an invitation to Lucas Vance’s engagement party.” He sounded practically giddy on the other end. “Sophia, you’re coming to Lucas’s party? I can pick you up, escort you myself…” “No need,” I cut him off, my voice flat and cold. “Just have the invitation sent over. I’m out of town doing research, so I won’t have time to see you.” I hung up before he could say another word and waited for the courier. I’d made a point of hiding my identity, telling him it was for a friend, to avoid raising any suspicion. Invitation in hand, I hailed a cab and headed for the party. The taxi had just pulled up to the curb when another car slammed into our rear bumper. My body jolted forward, and my head cracked against the back of the passenger seat. Before I could even register the pain, the other driver was out of his car, stomping towards us, his face a mask of aggression. “Are you blind? What are you doing stopped here?” he yelled. “This is Mr. White’s private spot! You think you can just take it?” My driver, just an honest man trying to make a living, wanted no trouble. “I’m so sorry, sir, we’ll move right away.” He apologized profusely and pulled the car away from the curb. “Sorry about that, Miss,” he said to me. “You’ll have to walk the rest of the way.” I shook my head, telling him it was fine. Rubbing the new lump on my forehead, I winced as I made my way to the entrance, only to be blocked. It was the driver from the other car. Standing behind him was a man whose custom-tailored suit couldn't hide his cheap, new-money vibe. The driver gave me a hard shove. “You’re the one who tried to steal Mr. White’s parking spot?” he sneered. I gave them a deadpan look. A private spot? It was just a regular drop-off lane in front of the venue. My silence only seemed to fuel the driver’s arrogance. “Do you have any idea whose party this is tonight? It belongs to Mr. White! He’s Lucas Vance’s future brother-in-law! Who the hell are you? You think you have the right to be here?” The man in the suit, apparently Mr. White, patted his driver’s shoulder. “Hey, hey, tone it down. Let’s be discreet.” Then he turned to me, his eyes raking over my appearance with blatant disdain. “Where did this hick come from? Mud caked on your clothes and shoes, and is that… a carton of eggs in that shabby bag? If you step inside, you might just…” He leaned in, his voice dripping with contempt as he finished, word by word, “...dirty the floor.” The driver chimed in, his eyes full of scorn. “Look at her, Mr. White. Just a country bumpkin. I know! She’s just like that other tramp from yesterday, trying to seduce Mr. Vance!” “Another one with a Cinderella fantasy!” he jeered. “The one who tried that yesterday got thrown out on her ass! There’s a pack of homeless guys out back…” He didn’t get to finish. My hand flew, the crack of my palm against his cheek echoing in the night air. A bright red handprint instantly blossomed on his skin. I glared at him. A mouth that filthy didn't deserve to speak. “You… you…” he stammered, raising a hand to strike back, but Mr. White stopped him. “Don’t make a scene today, you idiot,” he hissed, then called for security. “This country mouse doesn’t have an invitation. Get her out of here!” As the guards moved towards me, I reached into my bag, pulled out the invitation, and slapped it against Mr. White’s chest. “No need.” 2 Inside the grand ballroom, clusters of guests chatted animatedly. “Did you hear? Sophia Song designed a special necklace for the wedding. She used that thirty-million-dollar pink diamond from the international auction!” “Thirty million? Incredible. I’d kill to see a necklace like that.” “They say Mr. Vance’s fiancée will be wearing it tonight. You came to the right place.” They even stole the necklace I designed specifically for Lily? Fury simmered beneath my skin. I wanted to storm over to Lucas and demand an explanation right then and there, but I forced myself to wait. I had to choose the right moment. Halfway through the evening, Lucas and his so-called “fiancée” finally made their grand entrance. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate my engagement to Bianca,” Lucas announced from the stage. A chorus of congratulations rose from the crowd below. My eyes were locked on Lucas. Bianca was clinging to his arm, looking smug. As he was about to continue, I rushed the stage and snatched the microphone from his hand. The ballroom fell into a stunned silence, followed by a wave of murmurs. “Who let this stray in?” “Another one trying to cash in on the drama.” I turned the microphone on Lucas, my voice ringing out clear and sharp. “Where is Lily?” “Lily? What Lily?” Bianca snapped. “Security! Get this person off the stage!” “I’ll ask you one more time,” I repeated, my voice dangerously low. “Where. Is. Lily?” Bianca flinched, shrinking back into Lucas’s arms with a shriek. I didn’t miss the flicker of panic in his eyes. “Get this crazy woman out of here!” he yelled. I took a step toward Bianca, and they both stumbled back. “You said you were my best friend, didn’t you?” I asked her, my voice laced with ice. “Why are you hiding from me?” “Bullshit!” Bianca shot back immediately. “How could you be my best friend? I don't even know you!” A few people in the crowd started to connect the dots. “Lucas Vance’s fiancée’s best friend? Isn’t that… Sophia Song?” The moment the name was spoken, the room erupted in laughter. “Her? Don’t be ridiculous! Does she look like a world-renowned designer? She looks like she just crawled out of a barn!” “Dream on, lady.” Lucas’s panic was now palpable. He’d never met me in person, so he had no idea what Sophia Song actually looked like. “Security! Where is security? Get her out of here! Are you all asleep on the job?” His voice trembled slightly. He knew that if I really was Sophia Song, the Vance family was finished. “Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of,” Bianca sneered, emboldened by her position in Lucas’s embrace. “You’re not my best friend.” Someone from the crowd called out with a lewd laugh, “The woman yesterday claimed to be Lucas's fiancée. You two must be best friends, right?” “Everyone knows what happened to her,” another voice added with a smirk. “And I just saw her getting dragged into the room next door by some guy…” My heart seized in my chest. I spun around, ready to bolt for the next room, but Lucas suddenly grabbed my arm. “Let go of me!” I struggled, but his grip was like iron. “Get the hell out of here!” he hissed. Bianca joined in, pulling at my other arm. “Don’t you know what’s good for you? We’re giving you a chance to leave with your dignity. If you keep making a scene, you’ll be lucky to only spend three to five years in a cell.” A cold, humorless laugh escaped my lips. I reached for a glass of red wine from a nearby table and flung its contents all over Bianca’s pristine white gown. A piercing shriek echoed through the ballroom as the dark liquid stained her dress. Lucas’s grip loosened for a split second. It was all I needed. I broke free and sprinted toward the room next door. I threw the door open, and my world shattered. The image that greeted me will be burned into my memory forever. Lily was on the sofa, a man pinning her down, her legs kicking in a desperate, futile struggle. The man stopped when he heard the door open and looked up. A primal scream tore from my throat as I launched myself across the room and kicked him off of her. I rushed to Lily’s side. Her clothes were half-torn from her body, her skin a canvas of angry bruises and fresh scratches. My hands trembled as I pulled her dress back into place. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I’m so sorry I’m late.” 3 “You again. The hick from the sticks.” The man I’d kicked to the floor was the same arrogant pig I’d met at the entrance. He scrambled to his feet, fury contorting his features, and swung his open palm at my face. I caught his wrist mid-air and twisted. Hard. I stared him down, my eyes burning with a murderous rage. He started shouting. “Let go! Let go of me, you bitch! Did you hear me? Let go!” His shouts turned into a scream of pure agony, completely oblivious to the crowd of guests now watching from the doorway. “Please, I’m begging you, let go! My arm, it’s going to break!” I held on until I heard the sickening crack of bone, then released him. His face went pale. “You fucking psycho! You’re dead! I’ll kill you! Somebody get over here!” I reached into my bag—the one he’d mocked—and pulled out an egg, smashing it against his chest. He howled. “Are you crazy? I swear to God, I’m going to end you today!” The man, Ben White, was practically vibrating with rage. “Go ahead and try,” I said, my voice dripping with venom. “If you don’t kill me today, I promise you, I will destroy you.” My glare was a promise. Everything he had done, I would make him pay for, tenfold. “That’s enough!” Lucas strode into the room. The moment he appeared, Lily’s body began to tremble violently. “Sophia, let’s go,” she whispered, her voice thin and reedy. “Please, let’s just go.” I pulled her into a tight embrace, whispering into her hair. “It’s okay. I’m here now. Don’t be afraid.” Seeing her so broken, so timid, was like a knife to the heart. This wasn’t the Lily I knew. She was the one who always stood in front of me, fierce and unafraid, with a temper hotter than mine. Now, all her sharp edges had been worn down, replaced by fear. I took her hand, ready to lead her out of this nightmare. “You think you can just ruin my engagement party and walk away?” A hand shot out, blocking our path. “Do you have any idea who I am?” Lucas demanded. “What proof do you have that you’re Sophia Song?” Ben White, still clutching his arm and dripping with egg yolk, chimed in, “You? Sophia Song? That’s hilarious. My sister is her best friend, you idiot. Don’t you even bother to do your research before you lie?” With Lucas there to back him up, his arrogance returned full force. “You just wait. The second I walk out of here, Ben White is going to have you dealt with permanently!” “I’m waiting,” I said dismissively. Just then, Julian Ford pushed through the crowd. Lucas grabbed him. “Is this Sophia Song?” The guests watched eagerly. “Julian Ford is engaged to the Song heiress. He would definitely know what she looks like.” What they didn’t know was that Julian had never met me in person. He’d only seen a single photograph of me, three years ago. Julian looked me up and down, his lip curling in disgust. “Her? No way. Look at her, dressed in those rags. She’s nothing like Sophia Song. Besides, Sophia called me herself and said she wasn’t coming.” He glanced at me again. “I think I’d puke for the rest of my life if I had to marry someone like that.” The contempt on his face was unmistakable. “And Sophia is out of town for work. There’s no way she’d be here. And she definitely wouldn’t be standing here holding a carton of eggs. She probably crawled out of some backwater town trying to pull a scam.” Hearing this, Lucas visibly relaxed. I shot them a look of pure disdain, took out my phone, and opened my photo album to a picture of me with my mother. Plenty of people in this room knew her. “Wait… that looks like Mrs. Song.” “It is her! That picture was taken in her home! And she’s wearing the ring her daughter designed for her.” “The Song heiress has never shown her face publicly, very few people have ever seen her. Could she… could she really be her?” The color drained from Lucas’s face. Ben snatched the phone from my hand. “This is obviously AI-generated! The technology is so advanced now, you can create any photo you want. She even faked the photos in advance! She planned this whole thing, waiting for today to cause trouble!” With that, he hurled my phone to the ground. The screen shattered. A wave of pure fury washed over me. I swung my hand and slapped him across the face, hard. Ben roared in anger, but Lucas held him back. Suddenly, a sharp female voice cut through the chaos. “She can’t be Sophia Song!” Bianca, now in a fresh change of clothes, had reappeared. At the same time, my assistant, Marco, appeared at the doorway. I was about to call his name when Lily lunged forward and clamped a hand over my mouth. She stepped in front of me, then dropped to her knees before Lucas, her voice choked with sobs. “We’re so sorry. We were ignorant. We didn’t know our place. Please, I’m begging you, just let us go.”
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