CHAPTER 279: CHAPTER 279

At that moment, upon hearing what Victoria just said, Robert was completely taken aback. He blinked, leaned back slightly, and stared at her, trying to process what she had just done. The topic had been squarely focused on her her behavior, her past tendencies, her potential to create a scandal that could sink the family during a politically sensitive time and yet, just like that, she had flipped it around. Typical Victoria.

Then Robert let out a small scoff and shook his head, his voice tight with irritation.

"Seriously, Victoria? You’re really doing this? You’re trying to twist the conversation like you always do shift the blame, draw attention away from your mess, and pretend you’re the victim? Everything happening right now is because of you. Because of your attitude. Because of how you treat people. Because of how you never learn."

He pointed toward their father without even looking at him.

"I just said someone came to my office to threaten me, because of you. That’s not normal, Victoria. That’s not a small misunderstanding. That’s not something we brush under the carpet like before. And yet you sit here smirking like it’s all a joke, like we’re all stupid."

Victoria didn’t even flinch. In fact, her lips curled into an amused smile as she turned calmly toward their father.

"You see, Dad?" she said slowly, her tone casual yet mocking. "You see how Robert’s trying to spin everything now? He didn’t deny it. Not one bit. He just exploded in defense. That’s what guilty people do."

Then she raised an eyebrow. "You seriously haven’t heard what happened between him and Abigail today? Wow. I thought the whole family would be buzzing by now. I mean, that’s the kind of juicy drama this house lives for."

Their father, who had been listening in frustrated silence, suddenly narrowed his eyes. The weight of everything hung heavily in the room. Robert’s accusations. Victoria’s calculated misdirection. And now this unexpected bomb.

He slowly turned to Robert and asked in a firm voice,

"Robert. What is she talking about? What exactly is going on between you and Abigail?"

"What the hell is going on here?" he barked, his voice rising like thunder. "Why are you dragging Abigail into all of this when we are talking about you?" His eyes, sharp and unrelenting, pinned Victoria to her seat.

Victoria, however, only tilted her head slightly and allowed a slow smile to spread across her lips, her calm demeanor contrasting sharply with the storm in her father’s voice. "Well," she said smoothly, "that’s exactly the issue, isn’t it? You all keep focusing on something that isn’t important at all—me—and you’re leaving the real issue untouched." She leaned back slightly in her chair, crossing her legs as her eyes flicked from her father to Robert. "Robert is deceiving you, Father. He’s making you waste your breath and your time grilling me while you conveniently leave him alone."

Again Robert’s brows furrowed, but Victoria kept speaking, her tone sharper now. "It seems you’re not informed... you’re not even aware of the recent developments. You’re sitting here questioning me while you don’t even know what’s been going on under your own roof." She gave a small, mirthless laugh and shook her head. "So let me educate you a little for moral clarity, for my own findings, for what I know."

Her eyes locked on Robert’s, her smirk cutting deeper as she dropped her next words like a blade. "It seems Robert and Abigail are no longer a thing again."

At that moment, upon hearing what Victoria just said, her father’s eyes narrowed with disbelief. He slowly shook his head, voice low but firm as he said, "No. That is not possible. That can never be possible, Victoria." He leaned back in his seat, exhaling heavily as the weight of her words sank in. "Why would you say something like that? Why would Abigail suddenly call things off, when just two days ago, I personally spoke with her father? He was cheerful, confident, and very clear about their family’s willingness and determination to move forward with the marriage. Everyone was in agreement, Victoria. So where." he paused, glaring at her, "Where exactly are you getting all this nonsense from?"

But Victoria didn’t flinch. She didn’t even blink. A soft smile stretched across her lips as she calmly crossed her legs. "That’s the issue, Father," she said coolly, her tone biting with quiet confidence. "You keep relying on old news and formalities while the world moves ahead without you. It’s obvious now you’re not as informed as you think you are."

She let that statement hang in the air for a second before continuing. "I saw Abigail today. Yes, today, with my own two eyes. And let me tell you something, the way she acted, the way she spoke... Father, there is no future between her and Robert. It’s over. I could feel it in every single word she said."

Her father’s jaw clenched. He wanted to push back, to call her bluff, but there was something unsettling about how composed Victoria looked like someone holding a royal flush at a poker table.

"If you think I’m lying," she said, lifting her chin slightly, "then go ahead. Call Abigail’s father again. See what he tells you. I’ll wait."

At that moment, upon hearing what Victoria just said, and seeing the calm yet confident expression on her face, her father’s brows slowly furrowed in concern. He had known his daughter for far too long not to recognize when she was bluffing, and this time, she wasn’t. There was no jest in her tone, no sarcasm hidden in her smirk. It was all too real. That truth hit him like a silent alarm. Something wasn’t right.

He leaned back slightly in his chair, his mind racing. If Vitoria was speaking this firmly about Robert and Abigail’s relationship, then she must have seen or heard something serious. He didn’t like where this was going. Not now. Not with everything the family had worked so hard to build being on the line, especially with the election drawing closer.

Before he could say anything else, Robert spoke up with evident irritation. "Dad," he said sharply, his tone clipped, "this is exactly what she does. You know this." He gestured in Vitoria’s direction without looking at her. "She’s twisting things again, like she always does. Every time she’s under pressure, she brings someone else into it just to derail the entire conversation."