The True Lady Strikes Back novel (Cecilia and Christopher)

Chapter 4

Although the photo was very blurry, Juliana was too familiar with William, so she recognized him at one glance.

Seeing him embrace another woman so affectionately, she instantly exploded with rage.

As such, she forgot she was supposed to be weak now and that the Yancey family were all paying attention to her.

With a fierce expression, she vigorously tapped the screen and sent a message: [Who are you? Where was the photo taken?] Never in Juliana's wildest dream did she imagine William, who had always been so caring toward her, would secretly fool around with other women.

His action was undoubtedly humiliating her.

If the photos were to be exposed, she would become the laughingstock of the aristocratic circle.

At the thought of that, her expression became increasingly twisted, gloomy, and terrifying.

This instantly caught the attention of the Yancey family, who were all shocked.

They wondered how could the gentle, kind Juliana, who was like a delicate little white rabbit that needed their protection, have such a terrifying expression.

Their piercing gazes instantly made Juliana snap back to reality, and her heart skipped a beat as her fingers, holding her phone, stiffened.

Shortly after, her ferocious expression was replaced by a look of aggrievement, and tears rolled down her face before she even spoke. Seeing Juliana in tears, the Yancey family naturally no longer cared about their astoundment and rushed to comfort her one

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after another.

"Julia, please don't cry. What happened? Tell me quickly. You're not in the best health. We don't want your eyes to get worse

from crying," urged Sophia.

However, Juliana remained silent, and her tears poured even more as if she had experienced an immense injustice.

"Julia, did Cecilia send you a message to scold you? Quick, show it to me. I'll teach her a lesson for you!" After Jonathan finished speaking, he took Juliana's phone from her.

Looking at the blurry photo on the phone screen, he, too, recognized the man in the photo to be William. At once, he was so furious that he almost smashed the phone.

"William has gone overboard! He merely came for a bit while Julia was in the hospital, claiming he had business to attend to. Turns out, he's at the bar fooling around with another woman!" he informed the

rest.

Once that statement was made, the Yancey family immediately saw red.

Without delay, Gordon sent the photo to William and called the latter on the phone.

Meanwhile, the bar was extremely noisy, and William was deeply engrossed in the companionship of beautiful women, so he did not even hear the relentless calls from the Yancey family.

It was not until he grew dissatisfied with the kissing and touching and wanted to head upstairs to the private room for a more intimate interaction that he realized his phone was ringing. Feeling irritated, he took out his phone and wanted to turn it off.

To his shock, he discovered it was Gordon calling, and there were dozens of missed calls, all from the Yancey family.

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He hurriedly made his way to a well-insulated restroom to answer the call.

"Mr. Yancey, I was in a meeting just now. My phone was silent, so I didn't hear your call. Is there something urgent you need from me?"

Gordon sneered. "A meeting? I suppose you haven't seen the photo I sent you, have you?"

"Photo? What photo?" William asked while exiting the call interface and opening the message sent by Gordon.

When he saw that blurry photo, all colors drained from his face. For a moment, he did not even know how to explain himself.

Upon receiving no response from William, Gordon shouted angrily, "How could you treat Julia like this? I need to reconsider your marriage to her now." With that, he hung up the phone.

Panicked, William immediately tried to call back but realized he could not get through.

After all, everyone from the Yancey family, including Juliana, had blocked William's phone number.

William looked at the photo and roared furiously, "Who's the one who has nothing better to do than to take photos of me secretly?"

After his outburst, he left the restroom and prepared to go to the hospital to visit Juliana.

Seeing the woman waiting for him, he grabbed her hair hotly and shoved the phone to her face.

"You despicable wench! Were you the one who hired someone to take pictures of me and you to send to Julia? How dare you try to harm me! Believe it or not, I'll destroy you!" Tears streamed down the woman's face as she felt like her scalp

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was being torn off, so she could not see the phone screen clearly at all.

However, William's words made her understand what had happened.

She quickly denied her involvement. "Mr. Forte, I didn't do anything. You have to believe me."

The man did not bother to argue with her and pushed her away in disgust.

"Remember! If anyone asks about tonight, you must say that you seduced me, or else..."

The woman knew she could not afford to provoke him, so she repeatedly assured him, "Don't worry, Mr. Forte! I'll never betray you."

William then strode away.

He thought, "I absolutely can't let this marriage fall through! Without the support of the Yancey family, I won't be able to take over Forte Group!"

When passing by the bar, he suddenly stopped and looked at where he previously sat.

A sudden realization struck him, and he looked at Cecilia, who was drinking a cocktail. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Of course, he did not recognize Cecilia.

He merely assumed she was Juliana's friend who discovered his infidelity and exposed him to Juliana.

Cecilia ignored William and continued to drink as if he was invisible.

She pondered, "This jerk has been helping Juliana in harming me since long ago. I'm purely collecting some interest today; the real deal is yet to come!" Seeing her ignore him, William became infuriated and

reached out to push her.

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Yet, Cecilia swiftly evaded him, causing him to push nothing but air. This made him lose his balance and fall to the ground, ending up on his knees beside her.

She pretended to be startled and immediately stood up, then "accidentally" stepped on William's hand, even crushing it hard with force.

"Aah!" William cried in pain. "Get lost!"

Cecilia continued to step on it for a bit before finally moving her foot away.

She deliberately said loudly, "Oh my, fancy seeing you here, Mr. Forte. I'm not royalty, so why are you greeting me on your knees? I'm afraid I don't deserve such a grand gesture!" That remark caught the attention of many people, and they began to gesture and point at William.

"Geez, Mr. Forte is truly getting more ingenious with his flirting these days. How did he come up with such a unique pickup approach?"

"I know, right? Everyone, let's quickly learn from him. With such sincerity, which woman can possibly resist?"

"Well, it seems that beauty is doing a good job resisting. Not only is she not touched, but she's even mocking Mr. Forte."

Several others continued chiming in as well.

Nonetheless, after making a few jokes, everyone quickly shut up, as no one dared to really make fun of William.

"Mr. Forte, hurry and get up! It seems the beauty isn't falling for this."

Hearing that, William was practically foaming at the mouth. He thought, "Do you think I don't want to get up? I would have if it weren't for my knees hurting so bad!" Seeing the man not moving, the crowd assumed he was too embarrassed.

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Hence, someone said to Cecilia, "Gorgeous, considering Mr. Forte's sincerity, why not lend him a hand and help him up? Making a scene won't benefit you in any way."

She chuckled softly. "Mr. Forte has a fiancée, for crying out loud. How would I dare?"

William, not wanting to become a laughingstock, slowly stood up while holding onto the bar counter.

After steadying himself, he raised his hand and wanted to slap Cecilia's face. "You despicable wench! You're totally asking for trouble!"

To his dismay, she grabbed his wrist and swung it right back, following his momentum.

Smack!

William's hand landed heavily on his own face.

His handsome face instantly swelled, and the imprints of his fingers were clear as day. It was evident how immense the force behind the blow was.

Cecilia approached him, who was in a daze from the hit, and asked, "Mr. Forte, how much are you willing to offer to buy the photos that I have? What I sent Juliana was a blurry image, but I can absolutely provide the journalists with high-resolution

ones."

Those words snapped William out of his reverie.

He stared at the smugly grinning woman and snickered as his tongue touched the inside of his sore cheek. "You're plotting against me on the Forte family's territory? Do you have a death wish or something?"

With that, he yelled, "Someone, come and capture this despicable wench!"

He pondered, "Ha! So what if you send the photos to the

journalists? In Quilton, no journalist dares to risk their life by exposing the Forte family's scandal!"

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The bodyguards of Skyhaven Club, upon hearing the commotion, swiftly surrounded Cecilia.

At last, the onlookers realized the situation was getting complicated, and the timid ones began to step back, fearing they might get caught up in the mess.

The manager of the establishment immediately ran over and asked reverentially, "Mr. Forte, what happened?"

Even though Skyhaven Club was established by the Forte family, William was not the owner.

Besides, running a proper business meant they could not just publicly apprehend people without good reason, as it could harm their reputation.

William, of course, would not reveal that his scandal had been photographed.

With a stern expression, he ordered, "Mr. Xanders, this woman was thieving. Quickly apprehend her for investigation."

"As long as she's arrested, it's up to me to decide what to do with her!" he mused.

Anthony Xanders, the manager of Skyhaven Club, naturally would not arrest someone solely based on William's words.

He looked at Cecilia, who appeared to be keeping herself out of the matter, and queried, "Miss, do you have anything to say about that?"

"Sure! Could you help me call the cops, Mr. Xanders? Mr. Forte is already an adult yet still seems unaware of what a false accusation charge is. We need to get the cops here to enlighten him about it." Upon hearing that, everyone felt that Cecilia had gone insane. After all, what good would it do to win this momentary battle? If she pissed William off, it would undoubtedly lead to her gruesome end! Anthony was a diplomatic person. He smiled and replied, "You

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must be joking, Miss. At Skyhaven Club, we handle all matters internally. There's no need to involve the cops."

That statement made William extremely smug as he believed Anthony was siding with him.

He thought, "This woman must have lost her mind to dare to scheme against me in Skyhaven Club. Just wait and see how I deal with her later! Hmm, she does have a pretty face." Cecilia did not miss the sinister glint in William's eyes. Seeing the jerk foolishly heading down the path of no return, she picked up her unfinished glass of cocktail and took a sip. Without any concern for her situation, she asked with a beam, "Tell me, then, Mr. Xanders. How do you intend to handle this?"

Anthony did not answer Cecilia but gazed at William instead.

"Mr. Forte, are you certain this lady was thieving? If you're certain, I can arrange for a body search, but if nothing is found, you'll have to bear the consequences."

He would not favor anyone but strictly follow Skyhaven Club's protocols in handling the issue.

The rules set by Christopher Forte applied to everyone. Even Fabian Forte, Christopher's father, must adhere to them, let alone William.

Those stirring trouble at Skyhaven Club could face

consequences ranging from losing a finger to missing limbs, depending on the severity of the matter.

William's eyes widened in shock. Feeling humiliated, he lowered his voice and berated, "Are you out of your mind, Mr. Xanders?"

He pondered, "I'm a member of the Forte family, for Pete's sake! Does this Anthony Xanders not want to make a living anymore?"

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However, Anthony ignored William's words and continued, "If your previous statements are false accusations, kindly apologize to this lady and provide compensation."

Cecilia had already anticipated this outcome, so she watched coolly as William seethed with rage.

"Mr. Forte, I'm a pretty generous person. You not only falsely accused me but also attempted to assault me. At the very least, you should compensate me with 1 million dollars. However, out of respect for Mr. Christopher Forte, I'll give you an 80% discount and settle for just 200 thousand dollars."

Anyone could tell she was ridiculing William, but they had no idea where she got her confidence.

Seeing Cecilia not only slap his face but also humiliate him, William was so incensed that his veins were bulging on the side of his face.

He sized her up, noting her plain attire that did not seem to be worth more than 200 dollars altogether, and his gaze turned scornful.

"Your life is not even worth 200 thousand dollars, and you dare to ask for 1 million dollars? Are you playing me for a fool? Dream on!"

His words also served as a reminder to Anthony to control this irrational, insane woman.

Anthony turned to Cecilia and said in a businesslike manner, "Miss, Skyhaven Club has a set compensation standard. It's not a matter of simply naming your price."

"I know. Compensation depends on the membership level, right?"

She retrieved her membership card from her bag and placed it on the black bar counter.

"Well then, Mr. Xanders, how much should Mr. Forte

compensate me now?" she questioned.