Fake Heiress Real Fall Chapter 04
The next day, Sophia hold a welcome banquet specifically to announce my return to the entire military compound.
Five or six large round tables were set up in the courtyard, and almost all the prominent family members of the leaders from the Military Command Base had arrived.
Stella had changed into a brand-new vintage Breton striped shirt paired with a blue pleated skirt, her hair braided into two sleek, glossy pigtails, looking like a haughty peacock.
Holding a retro tin camp mug, she wove through the tables, greeting everyone with a smile. Her sweet, well-mannered demeanor won praise from the elder women around her.
In contrast, I was wearing a well-worn olive drab surplus army jacket that Sophia had stayed up late finding for me yesterday.
Though clean, the clothes were far too big, hanging loosely on my frame, and my complexion was sallow.
When Stella saw me, her eyes lit up, and she walked over to me in her leather shoes.
“Oh my, Evelyn, today is your welcome banquet, and so many senior officers and elders are watching. Why are you dressed so shabbily? Was Aunt Harris too busy and forgot to prepare new clothes for you? If you don’t mind, how about I go fetch one of my old vintage tea dresses to lend you?”
The surrounding family members all turned to look, and some began to whisper among themselves.
“Oh my, the biological daughter looks like a wild country girl, while the orphan of their comrade-in-arms is raised to be so delicate and pretty.”
“After all, she stayed in the countryside for over a decade. No wonder she doesn’t know how to present herself properly.”
Daniel strode over with a dark scowl and glared at me fiercely.
“Evelyn, what on earth are you wearing! Are you trying to embarrass me on purpose? Go! Go change into that red velvet evening gown your mother put in the Antique Rosewood Armoire on the first floor yesterday! Stop making a fool of yourself here!”
Hearing “Antique Rosewood Armoire,” a flash of fanatical excitement crossed Stella’s eyes.
“That’s right, Evelyn, that evening gown is so beautiful. Hurry up and change into it so everyone can see!”
I quietly watched her eager, drama-craving face, sneering inwardly.
Just then, Sophia walked out of the hall, her face terrifyingly livid, holding a black plastic bag in her hand.
She walked to the exact center of the courtyard, raised the bag high, and gave it a hard shake.
A pile of bright red shredded fabric strips fell onto the table.
Every single piece of fabric had been snipped to shreds by scissors.
The courtyard instantly fell dead silent.
Daniel stared at the pile of shredded fabric, his eyes widening sharply as the color completely drained from his face.
“What… what happened to this dress! Where in the military compound could a rat come from to chew it up like this!”
Stella immediately jumped out, pointing at my nose and yelling:
“Uncle Brooks! This wasn’t chewed by a rat at all! When I got up in the middle of the night, I saw with my own eyes Evelyn holding large iron shears, crouching in front of the Antique Rosewood Armoire on the first floor, viciously cutting up this dress!”
“She’s taking revenge on you!
She felt you were too strict with her yesterday, so she deliberately destroyed the expensive clothes you bought!”
The way the family members looked at me instantly changed.
“This girl is so young, yet her mind is so venomous?”
“How terrifying. Even if she wasn’t raised by their side since childhood, she shouldn’t do such a home-wrecking thing!”
Daniel was trembling all over with rage. He stormed over, raising his hand to grab my collar.
“Evelyn! You animal! How dare you cut up such an expensive dress?! I’m going to skin you alive today!”
Jasper was just about to step forward and strike.
I took a step forward, staring straight into Daniel’s furious eyes, and spoke coldly.
“Which eye of yours saw me cut it?”
Stella stomped her feet nearby:
“I saw it with my own eyes! I swear, it was you who opened the armoire on the first floor and cut it to pieces!”
Sophia let out a cold sneer.
She pulled a rusted, broken padlock from her pocket.
“Stella, the lock on the Antique Rosewood Armoire on the first floor was completely jammed and wouldn’t open since yesterday afternoon. I never put the evening gown in there at all!
This dress was placed in my bedroom closet yesterday.”
“Why don’t you tell everyone how Evelyn managed to shred the dress in the living room out of thin air while facing a locked, empty armoire last night?”
Stella’s face instantly lost all its color.
Her lips trembled, and a fine layer of cold sweat broke out across her forehead.
“I… w-well, maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me when I got up in the night, I mixed up the rooms… Maybe she cut it in the living room—”
“Do you think I’m dead?”
Jasper’s icy voice exploded in the courtyard.
“I sat on the living room sofa all night long yesterday, debugging a discarded radio from the Military Command Base! No one came downstairs!”
“But you, on the other hand.” Jasper stared at her, “You were in the north guest room, snipping fabric like a rat for half the night. Did you think the thunderstorm was loud enough to cover the sound of your scissors?”
