The door opened with a loud groan. Savannah was about to turn around but Ansel immediately grabbed her wrist tightly.
"Let go of me!" Savannah gasped, caught off guard.
"Have you no shame?" Ansel shouted. "Calling me here? Begging me again?"
Savannah stared at him in disbelief.
Is he officially mad now?
Then she felt the gaze of a few men on her back and connected it to Leo’s urgent message. Although she hadn’t heard the message, but she understood.
He is acting.
"I already told you at my estate, and I’m telling you again I would never marry you even if you were the last woman alive."
Savannah tried to pull her arm back, playing along.
"You don’t have to be so arrogant! I just wanted to talk to you."
"My time is precious. It is reserved for people who have value," Ansel said. "Not for a leech."
Savannah froze. She could no longer feel the chilling air. The whole world seemed to stop around her.
I don’t help leeches.
His words echoed in her ears. Her face burned with humiliation as tears filled her eyes. She knew he was acting to fool those men but it was exactly the same word he had called her in her last life, right before she died.
Ansel noticed the tears in her eyes.
Is she crying for real? No. She is a phenomenal actor.
He released her wrist and slightly pushed her away in disgust. Then he finally looked at those men, pretending as if he had just noticed them standing by the door.
"Who are you?" Ansel asked coldly.
The two men exchanged a quick glance before answering.
"We’re the building’s security guards, sir," one of them answered. "We heard voices and came to check."
Ansel knew they were lying. This building had been abandoned for a long time. No security guards were stationed here. But he also knew exposing them right now meant alarming Victor. So, he played along.
"Then do your jobs," Ansel ordered them, adjusting his collar. "Escort this woman out of the building immediately."
Savannah swallowed the lump in her throat and glared at Ansel.
"I can leave on my own," she said and turned to walk towards the stairs but the two men blocked her path immediately.
"It’s our job to escort trespassers off the premises, miss," the taller man said, reaching out to grab her arm.
"Don’t touch her," Ansel’s voice stopped him immediately.
The men turned and looked back at him in surprise.
"I don’t need another viral scandal with her," Ansel explained. "Escort her but do not lay a single finger on her."
Both of them looked furious but they couldn’t argue with him. They nodded and stepped aside, gesturing for Savannah to walk ahead of them.
Half an hour later, one of Victor’s men sat inside the parked sedan and looked at the edited video on his phone. Satisfied, he sent it to Victor.
By the next morning, Savannah’s phone was flooded with notifications. She was mentioned in every gossip site’s headlines.
Gold Digger Begs Locke Heir Again, Thrown Out By Him.
Meanwhile, in the Locke Tower, Ansel sat in his office looking at a video on his tablet. The video
showed him shouting at Savannah, followed by the two security guards escorting her out of the building while she looked humiliated.
Ansel rubbed his temples. In one way, this news helped him maintain his cover. It proved to Victor and everyone in the city that Ansel hated Savannah Quinn and wanted nothing to do with her.
But as he watched Savannah freeze at the word leech, he felt something strange in his chest. He was used to seeing Savannah destroyed by the media. Earlier, he didn’t care.
But this time, he knew the news was wrong.
"Leo."
The office door opened immediately.
"Yes, sir?"
"Contact our tech division. I want this video removed from the internet," Ansel said, tossing the tablet towards him. "And do it anonymously. No one should know it’s done by the Locke Group."
Leo stared at him in surprise.
"Sir? But the PR team said that the video was in your favour."
"I don’t care what the PR team said," Ansel replied firmly. "Remove it."
"Right away, sir."
Just as Leo turned to leave, a loud noise came from outside. Someone was shouting and the sound of something heavy crashing to the floor echoed through the entire hallway.
Before they could understand what was happening outside, Ansel’s office door suddenly flew open.
Ethan stormed into Ansel’s office, breathing heavily. He was a mess. Two security guards followed him, trying to hold him.
"Get your hands off me!" Ethan yelled, pushed the guards away and walked towards Ansel’s desk.
"Sir, we tried to stop him at reception but he forced his way into the executive elevator," one of the guards said.
Ansel waved his hand and the guards left immediately. Then he leaned back in his chair and stared at Ethan with amusement.
"Mr. Moore," Ansel said. "To what do I owe this dramatic intrusion?"
"Leave her alone," Ethan’s voice shook with anger as he put his hands on the desk. "Stay away from Savannah. She has been through enough already."
Ansel smiled.
"Are you lost, Mr. Moore?" Ansel asked, his voice dripping with disdain. "I didn’t chase your ex-girlfriend. She came to me."
Ethan gritted his teeth in anger.
"And as far as I can remember, she was the one who dumped you. So I’d suggest you save whatever dignity you have left and stop fighting battles for a woman who clearly doesn’t want you."
"You don’t know her. You don’t know anything about her. She is hurting, and you’re using her for publicity," Ethan shouted.
"I don’t need a gold digger for publicity," Ansel smiled and called the guards back inside. "Escort Mr. Moore out. If he resists, call the police."
The guards immediately grabbed his arms and dragged him out of the office.
That night, the Quinn mansion was unusually quiet.
After the scandal, her father had again humiliated her for trying to snatch her sister’s husband. Savannah hadn’t said anything in her defense. She remained quiet throughout.
But this time Richard didn’t kick her out as they needed to pretend to be a happy family at Eleanor’s birthday banquet. So he had only warned her.
Meanwhile, in Richard’s study, Victor Locke sat on a chair opposite Richard, who looked nervous.
"You’ve outdone yourself, Richard," Victor smiled.
Then he picked up a black folder from the table and handed it to Celeste, who was also present in the study.
Celeste smiled and opened it immediately. There was a single document inside.
"What is this?" Celeste asked, reading the complex words.
"A small correction to history, my dear," Victor replied. "A new and legal birth record."
"Victor... the document is perfect but what if Madame Eleanor orders a DNA test?" Richard asked, nervously.
"She won’t," Victor smiled. "If we show her the document publicly."
Then he looked at Celeste.
"That document officially lists you as Rosalind Quinn’s only biological granddaughter. The hospital records have been altered. The witnesses have been paid. There is no loophole."
Celeste blinked in surprise. She traced the official seal at the bottom of the document. No matter how much they favoured her, everyone still saw her as the Quinns’ adopted daughter. But now, she wasn’t just a charity case anymore. She was officially the Quinn heir. A victorious smile appeared on her lips.
"We will present this document to Madame Eleanor at her birthday banquet," Victor explained. "Then she will have no choice but to name you as Ansel’s bride. And Savannah will finally be irrelevant."