The True Veda

Vivienne’s cheek still stung from the vicious slap, but as she slowly turned around to face the source of that commanding baritone, the pain evaporated. She was struck dumb.

The man stepping into the lobby possessed an aura of crushing dominance, but it was his exquisite facial features that stole her breath. He had pale skin, sharply contoured jawlines, and profound amber eyes that concealed an unfathomable pool of coldness. His lips formed a tight, ruthless line.

It was not just his undeniable magnetism that made Vivienne's heart hammer against her ribs. It was the startling, undeniable reflection staring back at her.

*Jaxon. Maddox.*

This stranger was a perfect mirror image of her triplets. Even those piercing amber eyes were an exact, uncanny match. When she went into labor in Dravenia, her first two boys had not inherited her looks at all. Her youngest had taken after her slightly, but possessed ink-black hair—the exact same jet-black shade as the man standing right in front of her.

Vivienne’s eyes darkened. An internal barrage of questions flooded her mind, crashing over her in a chaotic wave. Who was this man? Why did he look exactly like her children? And what exact relationship did he hold with Camilla to make her run to him like a whimpering dog?

Simultaneously, Gideon Rothwell paused in his tracks. His thick brows knit together as he studied Vivienne’s face intently. Beneath his sharp, calculating gaze, a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity washed over him. He could not pinpoint its origin, but something about the defiance in her posture tugged at a buried memory.

Catching his deep scrutiny of her stepsister, Camilla gnashed her teeth. A spike of panic pierced her chest. Terrified that Gideon might somehow recognize Vivienne and connect the dots to that fateful night in the snow six years ago, she moved frantically.

She threw her weight against Gideon's arm, clinging to him like a desperate lifeline. Adopting a pitiful and fragile demeanor, she tilted her head up.

"Gideon, please," she pleaded, her voice quivering with manufactured distress. "I know I shouldn't have acted so impulsively. I'm sorry. But my father poured his heart into Lumina Jewelry. I only slapped her out of a desperate desire to protect his company from her vicious curses."

Gideon’s amber eyes turned as cold as ice. He ignored Camilla’s flimsy excuses. Shaking off her grip, he marched forward, closing the distance between himself and Vivienne. The oppressive weight of his presence bore down on her, directly challenging her.

"Lumina Jewelry will go bankrupt, was it?" Gideon asked, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "What gives you the right to make such a claim?"

Vivienne scoffed internally at Camilla's false narrative. Her father pouring his heart into the company? Please. Richard Kensington had merely basked in the shade of a tree planted by someone else. Camilla was a master at spinning her own twisted reality.

Refusing to be intimidated by his suffocating aura, Vivienne met his gaze head-on. She tilted her chin up. "So what if I said it?"

Several employees gasped. The entire room inhaled sharply at her sheer audacity. Did this woman have a death wish, talking back to Gideon Rothwell like that?

Instead of cowering, Vivienne crossed her arms. A defiant smirk touched her lips. "How does my opinion concern you anyway? Are you just sticking up for her because you're her man?"

Internally, she sneered. What a perfect pair of hypocrites. Any man who could fall for someone as venomous and manipulative as Camilla could hardly be a decent person himself. He was probably just another arrogant fool blinded by a pretty face.

"Do you know what you’re talking about?" Gideon warned. His tone dropped to a lethal coldness, freezing the air between them.

Vivienne arched a delicate brow. Her voice dripped with thick sarcasm as she held his stare. "Oh, I know exactly what I'm talking about. I find it amusing that this company poached me, only to deliberately make things difficult the second I step through the doors. The hospitality here is just fantastic."

Camilla staggered back, visible confusion warring with her panic. "Poached you? What nonsense are you spouting? When did Lumina ever approach you?"

Was this bitch crazy?

Vivienne shifted her focus away from Camilla and addressed Gideon directly, her voice ringing out clearly in the silent lobby. "Your memory seems a bit foggy. Didn't you willingly offer one hundred and fifty million dollars just last month to have me poached from Glitzara? Let me make this clear. If Lumina Jewelry has no intention of respecting me, you can forget about our collaboration."

The declaration dropped like a bomb. The lobby was rendered stupefied. The arrogant woman standing before them was none other than the internationally-renowned jewelry designer, Veda!

Camilla sucked in a breath, looking shell-shocked. "That's impossible! How could you be Veda?"

Before Camilla could spew another insult, Gideon shot her a sweeping, icy glare. The sheer dominance in his gaze forced Camilla to swallow the rest of her words instantly, her cheeks flushing a deep, humiliated red.

Ignoring her panicking stepsister, Vivienne quickly deduced the situation. Gideon must be the wealthy backer who secretly footed the exorbitant bill. Richard certainly could not afford that price tag, and neither could Camilla.

Gideon continued to stare at Vivienne, unable to shake that lingering, haunting feeling that their paths had crossed before. Catching that intense look again, Camilla rushed to his side in a frantic bid to sever any potential connection between them.

"Gideon, she must be lying!" Camilla declared wildly, grabbing his sleeve again. "I lived with her for years! I know her! There is no way she possesses the talent to be a world-class designer. She's a fraud!"

Desperate to expose her stepsister and salvage her own pride, Camilla turned to the room, issuing a public challenge.

"If you truly claim to be Veda, then show us the proof!" Camilla demanded, her voice shrill and accusatory. "Everyone knows Miss Veda received an exclusive commemorative badge from the royal family of Dravenia. That isn't something an ordinary person can fake."

Smugness flashed in Camilla's eyes. She was certain Vivienne was bluffing. Her failure to produce the badge would expose her as a pathetic impersonator, ensuring Gideon Rothwell permanently banned her from the country.