A Slap to the Face

All eyes turned to Camden as he arrived. After understanding the situation, Camden pulled me aside and lowered his voice to say, "Magnolia, what are you trying to do here? Don't you realize how embarrassing this is for Nev?"

Seeing the disdain in his expression, I couldn't help but laugh. In my past life, Nevaeh's ability to effortlessly replace me in everyone's eyes couldn't have happened without Camden's help.

Years ago, Camden's grandfather, Jeremiah Scott, had done my grandfather a favor. The Scott family then used that to pressure the Saccone family into arranging my engagement to Camden.

While Camden was my fiancé in name, he secretly brought Nevaeh to every social event in the capital, openly declaring his love for her. As a result, most people believed Nevaeh was his real fiancée.

In my previous life, he indulged Nevaeh as she slandered me endlessly. And now, here he was, eager to intervene once again.

I yanked my hand out of his grasp and demanded, "Why did you repeatedly let her pretend to be the Saccone family's heiress?

"Without your tacit approval, how could she have dared to call me the adopted daughter in front of all these people? You're worried about her getting embarrassed, but did you ever care about me being the subject of such slander?

"Camden Scott, I suggest you think this over carefully. Either you clarify both my identity and Nevaeh's right now, or our engagement is over!"

Seeing Camden hesitate to respond, Mrs. Scott Senior impatiently urged, "Cam, why are you still talking to her?

"You two have been engaged since childhood. How can you not recognize your own fiancée?"

Just then, Nevaeh stepped forward. She gently took Camden's arm, and spoke in a considerate tone, "It's fine, Cam.

"Maybe Mag is causing a scene today because she's just upset about her father being released from prison. Let her have her way. A few insults directed at me don't matter."

A flicker of distress appeared in Camden's eyes. He held Nevaeh's hand tightly without hesitation, and said, "Nev, what are you talking about? You're the one I care about. How could I ever help anyone else over you?"

Then he turned to me, his voice laced with frustration as he said, "Magnolia, I know you're afraid of your birth father finding you and selling you off for some cash.

"But if you just tell us the truth, Nev and I will help you. What you shouldn't do is make a scene at my grandmother's birthday banquet and falsely accuse Nev.

"Nev is gracious enough not to hold it against you. I suggest you stop while you can."

Hearing this, the crowd's gazes toward me turned even harsher.

"An adopted daughter is just an adopted daughter. Even after being loved for so many years, she's still so petty."

"With a father who'd sell his own daughter for cash, how decent could she be?"

"If you ask me, she deserves to be sold off to some old man. At least they'd get rid of this troublemaker."

Mrs. Scott Senior slammed her cane heavily on the ground and scoffed in contempt. "Now that Cam himself has said you're not the Saccone heiress, what more do you have to explain?

"Cam visited the Saccone family estate even before you were adopted. All these years, he's only ever brought Nev to the Scott family events.

"Do you think being adopted and taking the Saccone name makes you a real Saccone?"

I almost laughed out loud at Camden's shamelessness and Mrs. Scott Senior's ignorance.

"Now you're saying having the Saccone name doesn't make me a Saccone? Then how does having the Lacey name make Nevaeh a Saccone heiress?" I retorted without hesitation.

"If any of you had even a shred of sense, you'd know that my father was nothing more than a man who joined the Saccone family through marriage. A man in his position could never dictate the last name of the Saccone family's sole heiress.

"You keep claiming my father was so magnanimous in letting me take the Saccone name, but do you honestly believe the Saccone surname is something an outsider like him could decide?"

It had long been an unspoken rule in the capital: men who married into a more influential family—no matter what happened later—had no right to pass on their surname to their children. They would always follow the mother's family name.

This fact had been deliberately concealed for years, but the crowd began to recall it as soon as I brought it up.

Sensing the tide turning, Nevaeh spoke up in a soft, trembling voice, "Mag, I know you're upset that Cam and I exposed the truth.

"But Mom went against the family's wishes to marry Dad back then. It's just a last name—what does it matter?

"Even if I don't have the Saccone name, I still carry the Saccone bloodline. You can't deny my identity over something so trivial, can you?"

As she spoke, Nevaeh began to cry, looking as though she was utterly wronged.