Gold Digger's True Love
At the elite gala, crystal chandeliers shimmering above champagne towers, Juliet Hayes stepped into the ballroom in a crimson gown, a silver small-caliber pistol aimed at Victor Astorâs chest.
âYou owe me,â she sneered, eyes sharp as blades. âDid you think I wouldnât come backâwhen you left me on that Venetian bridge three years ago?â
Silence gripped the room. Victor only smiled, lifting his wine glass with deliberate grace. âOh? Then tell meâexactly who are you?â
The livestream chat exploded:
[No way! This Juliet is fake! The real Miss Hayes has been locked away in a sanatorium by Victor for five years!]
[Plot twist incoming! Every move she makes is part of his script!]
[Even her name was given by him⊠oh god, sheâs just a doll he createdâŠ]
Juliet froze. She remembered the night she fled the slumsâhe gave her the name "Juliet," taught her aristocratic diction, sent her into Parisian high society. She thought it was love. It was training.
âYou think youâre here for revenge?â Victor set down his glass, stepping closer. âBut you donât even realize itâyour dress, your words, even the way you hold that gunâall written by my brother, Jasper, just for you.â
She pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang out.
But it wasnât Victor who fellâit was the bodyguard rushing in behind her, blood blooming across his chest, the Hayes family crest pinned to his jacket.
âHeâs the real one.â Victorâs voice turned icy. âAnd you? You wouldnât pass a DNA test.â
Staggering backward, Juliet crashed into the champagne tower. Glass shattered. On the grand screen at the far end of the hall, surveillance footage flickered to lifeâa pale woman in a wheelchair, smiling quietly at the camera.
*That* is Juliet Hayes.â Victor said. âIâve killed seven impostors before you. Youâre the eighth.â
She finally understoodâno one ever intended for her to walk out alive the moment she stepped onto that red carpet.
In the next breath, she dropped to her kneesânot in surrender, but raised the gun to her own temple.
âIf Iâm not her⊠then who am I?â
Victor looked down, whispering like a loverâs kiss: âYou were my most perfect forgery. Pityâeven the finest counterfeit must burn.â
Flames crept from the hem of her dress.
Music swelled once more.
At the center of the dance floor, only a pair of bloodstained red dancing shoes remained, slowly spinning.