Her Teeth Were Almost Crushed from Clenching

She said softly, "I've never said I was a daughter of the Sterling family. You all misunderstood. You never gave me a chance to explain."

This was Kelsey Lee's cleverness: when people had called her Miss Sterling just now, she had neither admitted it nor denied it.

All the socialites present felt as disgusted as if they'd swallowed flies.

They had all been played!

The one most upset was Holly Hart, who had been trying to suck up to Kelsey Lee just now. She had never expected not only to mistake the person, but to humiliate herself along with her.

Now the other socialites would probably look at her differently too.

The more she thought about it, the angrier Holly Hart became, and she shouted unhappily, "What the hell is this? If you're not Miss Sterling, why were you putting on an act? When we asked you just now, why didn't you say anything?"

Faced with Holly Hart's questioning, although Kelsey Lee's face burned hot with embarrassment, she didn't dare argue back.

She stood there in sullen silence.

If she slunk away now, it would be even more humiliating. It was better to insist that they had mistaken her on their own. Maybe then she could still stay here.

Under everyone's contemptuous stares, Kelsey Lee struggled to hold herself together, but she felt like those disdainful looks were slowly cutting her to death.

Some people felt it was deeply embarrassing to stand with a woman like Kelsey Lee, who wore knockoff clothes and impersonated someone else, and one of them couldn't help saying, "Throw her out. I don't want to stay with her."

"Yeah, throw her out!"

At that moment, Hazel Lewis stepped forward and tactfully smoothed things over. "Stop arguing, everyone. It looks like this was a misunderstanding. This lady came with an invitation, so we can't just throw her out. Do me a favor and treat it like a little incident, okay?"

Under her mediation, the matter was suppressed.

Ruby Sterling no longer hid herself after that. She took off her wig, removed the exaggerated false eyelashes, and used a makeup-remover wipe to clean off the heavy makeup on her face, restoring her stunning beauty.

Kelsey Lee wasn't thrown out, but no one associated with her anymore. They all found her bad luck and beneath them.

Now that the real Ruby Sterling had appeared, everyone naturally went to fawn over Ruby Sterling. Who would spare Kelsey Lee another glance?

In the end, Kelsey Lee could only sit in a corner, watching Claire Bennett and Ruby Sterling among the group of socialites, surrounded like stars around the moon, while she herself was miserable and desolate.

Hatred surfaced in her eyes, and she was clenching her teeth so hard they were almost breaking.

Damn it!

Claire Bennett had deliberately not come yesterday, then brought Ruby Sterling to expose her and make her lose all face, hadn't she!

That woman was far too vicious. Not only had she stolen her brother Julian, she had also ruined her prospects. An opportunity like today's had originally been her perfect chance to break into high society.

Now everything was gone. How could she possibly accept that!

Was she really supposed to just watch Claire Bennett be this arrogant?

A trace of crazed resolve flashed through Kelsey Lee's eyes, as though she had come up with some plan. She let out a cold laugh, stood up, and walked outside.

At this moment, in a room on the top floor of the estate.

Julian Sterling was sitting at the bar. His handsome face was hidden in the dimness, making him seem mysteriously noble.

Julian Sterling was the owner behind Kinley Estate. Quite a few fine aged liquors were kept here. The banquet hall below was open for business to the public, but the private area upstairs belonged to him.

When Julian Sterling had nothing to do, he would come here with good friends to have a few drinks and relax.

Today, Julian Sterling just happened to be drinking here with Cameron Quinn.

On the sofa beside him, Cameron Quinn was lounging lazily against it.

He glanced at Julian Sterling and asked, "So you just confessed like that? How did Miss Bennett react? Did she say yes?"

Julian Sterling lifted his eyes faintly. "No."

Cameron Quinn let out a snort of laughter and said with a bit of schadenfreude, "It's really hard to imagine. The dignified president of Sterling International confessing to a girl, and she actually doesn't agree."

"If it were some other woman, she probably would've screamed and thrown herself at you. Looks like Miss Bennett really isn't an ordinary woman."

Julian Sterling picked up his glass and took a sip. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

He knew that Sean Shaw still stood between him and Claire Bennett. Perhaps it was because of Sean Shaw that she was hesitating.

He had already decided to give himself another half year to keep trying.

This time, he would not give up so easily.

As if thinking of something, Cameron Quinn reminded him, "There's a private gathering downstairs right now. I heard quite a few socialites from Chicago came. Why don't you give up on Miss Bennett and go downstairs to pick one?"

Julian Sterling said in a low voice, "Mind your own business. If you like them, go pick one yourself. But as for my sister, don't even think about laying another finger on her."

Cameron Quinn had just been running his mouth, trying to tease Julian Sterling.

Now that he heard that, he immediately didn't dare make another sound and behaved himself.

He quickly changed the subject. "You may not be interested in other women, but your nephew is different. He's downstairs hitting on women right now."

Although Ethan Sterling was going to marry Naomi Pierce, a leopard can't change its spots.

He had come to the estate behind Naomi Pierce's back and was fooling around with another woman. When Cameron Quinn came in earlier, he had seen Ethan Sterling holding a woman and flirting with her.