Robert reacted first. Fury flashed across his face as he stepped forward, clearly taking Gemma's words as a deliberate challenge.

"Gemma, do you even understand what we are saying to you?" he snapped. "Without an invitation, you won't even get through the entrance. If you have any sense left, stop embarrassing yourself."

Gemma remained unmoved. "Step aside," she said calmly.

Robert's patience finally ran out. "You've completely lost it." He raised his voice sharply. "Guards! Don't let Gemma leave. Keep her here."

Six large bodyguards moved forward immediately. They lined up in front of her and blocked the doorway.

Jeremy's brows tightened in annoyance. "That's enough. We're already running late for the party." He waved dismissively. "Let's go. Leave her here."

The rest of the Elliotts followed him out in a hurry, leaving Gemma standing inside with the bodyguards.

The door closed behind them.

Gemma slowly looked across the six men surrounding her. Her expression stayed calm, almost unsettlingly calm.

The man in front spoke in a low warning. "Miss Elliott, please return upstairs."

Gemma's lips curved slightly. "You think you can stop me?"

Before the final word finished leaving her mouth, she had already moved.

Her figure disappeared from where she stood, leaving only a blur behind.

Shock ran through the bodyguards.

Only then did they understand something. The woman standing in front of them was nothing like the weak target they once believed Gemma to be.

...

Outside, the night wind stirred the hem of her dress.

She got into a car and drove toward Prime Tower, Olnstead's most prestigious address.

By that time, luxury vehicles had already filled the entrance of the city's largest seven-star hotel. Hundreds of security personnel stood outside to control the crowd.

Anyone without an invitation would be stopped at the door.

When the Elliotts arrived and stepped out of their car, Brendan was already waiting in the parking area. He wore a perfectly fitted black suit.

Tonight, he looked every bit the polished heir people expected him to be.

"Brendan."

Sallie hurried toward him and slipped her arm through his, her manner gentle and reserved. Brendan turned toward her with clear indulgence in his eyes.

Standing side by side, Brendan and Sallie looked far more like a married pair than he had ever looked with Gemma.

"Let's head inside," Brendan said.

He led the Elliotts toward the hotel entrance.

At the doorway, staff carefully checked invitations and confirmed guest identities to ensure that only those authorized were allowed inside.

Brendan and Jeremy had just started taking out their invitations when a sharp screech of brakes rang out behind them.

A luxury car had pulled up. From the vehicle stepped a woman wearing a red evening gown. Her presence carried a cool elegance that drew attention the moment she appeared.

It was none other than Gemma. She handed her keys to the valet and walked forward.

The instant Brendan saw her, his expression shifted.

Only one night had passed. Since when had she looked like this?

The woman approaching him looked nothing like the Gemma he remembered. The difference struck him so strongly that his chest tightened.

For a brief moment, he simply stared.

Then he forced himself to recover. As she approached, Brendan spoke with open irritation. "Why are you here? Didn't your family already tell you to stay home instead of coming out and embarrassing yourself again? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

After the way she behaved the day before, he had almost believed she finally gained some courage.

And now? Not even twenty four hours had passed before she returned to chasing after him again.

So everything yesterday had been nothing more than a performance.

The thought only deepened his impatience. "Don't imagine that showing up dressed like that and begging me will change anything. You are not entering this party with me tonight."

Sallie slipped her hand gently around Brendan's arm, her voice soft. "Brendan, maybe Gemma only came because she cares about you so much. But tonight's event matters a lot. Gemma, if you truly care about him, it would be better for you to go home."

Gemma looked at the people who called themselves her family. Every single one of them stared back with the same contempt and disgust.

The situation felt almost laughable.

"What makes you think I needed to enter with you, huh?"

Her tone remained calm, yet the atmosphere around them shifted.

Then she sneered, "Move."

The force in her voice struck them so abruptly that, for a moment, no one reacted.

By the time they regained their senses, Gemma had already lifted the hem of her dress and walked straight toward the entrance.

"What is wrong with her?" Robert snapped as he nearly rushed after her.

Brendan's hands tightened into fists. "Leave her alone," he said through clenched teeth. "Without an invitation, she won't get past the door. Let her keep pretending. We'll see how long it lasts."

At the entrance, a security guard raised his hand and blocked her path. "Ma'am, may I see your invitation?"

Gemma stopped and answered without hesitation, "I don't have one."

An invitation?

Other people might need one. She didn't.

A laugh came from behind her.

Sallie and the others had arrived just in time to hear the exchange.

Guests entering the hotel began turning their heads in Gemma's direction. Their expressions carried open ridicule.

"Who is that woman? This is Death's welcome back party. Does she seriously think she can walk in without an invitation?"

"Wait, I recognize her. That's Sallie Elliott's sister, right? Or rather, Mrs. Edwards."

"What? She actually dared to show up here?"

The whispers spread through the crowd.

"Gemma!" Brendan's face darkened instantly. He spoke her name like he was biting it off. "Go home. Right now."

He stepped forward and reached toward her.

Gemma didn't move aside. "Don't touch me. You disgust me."

She then turned toward the guard again.

"Tell whoever is responsible for this event," she said calmly. "If I'm not allowed inside tonight, this party will not begin."

She stood there with her back straight and her posture firm.

"Tell them to come out and greet me themselves."

Silence fell the instant Gemma finished speaking. For three whole seconds, no one said a word.

Then laughter broke out.

The hotel entrance quickly filled with mocking voices.

"Did everyone hear that? She seriously claimed the party can't begin without her. Who does she think she is? Death? That's ridiculous!"

"Is something wrong with her?"

"Now I see why the Elliotts and the Edwardses didn't want her here. She didn't come for the party. She came here to embarrass them."

The laughter and ridicule poured in from every side, leaving the Elliott family and Brendan with barely any dignity.

Rage overtook Brendan, yet his anger tangled his words.

Back then, Sallie had left the country. Frustrated, he had rushed into marriage with Gemma. Now, he bitterly regretted binding himself to someone so foolish.

"Gemma!" he shouted with open threat. "Leave this place right now, or this marriage ends today!"

Instead of reacting with fear, Gemma responded with a cold smile, "That's fine with me. We'll file the divorce tomorrow."

Brendan went completely still. "What did you just say?"

"I said we're getting divorced."

Shock held him in place as he stared at her. Was she bluffing?

Why had she actually agreed to divorce him?

Before Brendan could recover from his stunned silence, a deep and commanding voice came from behind them.

"What exactly is happening here?"

A man dressed in a black suit appeared, and the air around him carried a quiet authority that caused people nearby to step aside without thinking.

"Mr. Patterson!" Sallie brightened the moment she saw him. She quickly moved toward him, then turned to the others. "Dad, Mom, Darwin, Robert, Brendan. This is Mr. Raphael Patterson. He was the one who helped me obtain the invitation. He works under Death."

Rumors had always said that even the most low-key people who worked around Death often came from powerful families.

The moment those words were spoken, Jeremy and Brendan both grew tense.

"So you are the one who arranged the invitation for us," Jeremy said as he hurried forward with a smile. "I'm Sallie's father. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mr. Patterson," Brendan said with respectful politeness.

Whispers spread through the surrounding crowd. "So that's Raphael Patterson from Eighwell? I've heard his name before. Isn't he supposed to be an important figure there? I also heard he used to work under Death."

"He actually knows Sallie Elliott? That's hard to believe."

"Sallie really knows how to get ahead. Meanwhile, her sister behaves like a fool. Pretending to be Death? She must want trouble."

As the quiet chatter spread around him, Raphael drew his brows together and repeated his question. "Someone explain what just happened."

"Mr. Patterson, please forgive her!" Sallie quickly spoke before anyone else could answer. "My sister just claimed to be Death herself. She's been unstable lately, and she said those things just to slip into the party. Please don't blame her for it."

Her words sounded like a defense.

Yet at the same time, she had fixed the accusation firmly in place. Gemma had impersonated Death and disturbed the party.

Raphael's face darkened immediately.

"Outrageous. This party marks Death's return," he said in a sharp voice. "An event like this would draw attention anywhere. And someone still dared to impersonate her?"

He turned abruptly and instructed sharply, "Take her away. Immediately."

The bodyguards reacted without hesitation.

Hostile looks settled on Gemma from every direction.

In the eyes of the crowd, her fate was already sealed.

Just as the bodyguards stepped closer and reached out toward her, Gemma's voice rang out. It sliced through the entrance.

"And who exactly gave you the right to lay a hand on me?"

Raphael froze.

That voice...

His head turned before he could stop himself, and his gaze locked onto Gemma. Until that moment, he had barely paid attention to her presence.

When his eyes finally met her face, the color vanished from his own. In front of everyone, he staggered back several steps.

His hand lifted as it trembled, and he pointed toward her. Even his voice shook with shock.

"You... you're..."

The moment that shocked expression crossed Raphael's face, the crowd fell quiet. Conversations stopped at once as every gaze shifted toward him.

Brendan looked at Gemma again, but this time his eyes held a different kind of scrutiny.

He murmured under his breath, "What... exactly is happening here?"

Did Raphael actually know Gemma?

Jeremy and Averie nearly collapsed where they stood. If Darwin and Robert had not supported them, they would have fallen right there in front of everyone.

"Sallie," Jeremy said in a shaky voice, "you said Mr. Patterson works under Death. The way he looked at Gemma just now... Could it be that—"

Sallie cut him off before he could finish. She hid her damp palms and forced her voice to remain steady. "Dad, Gemma grew up in the countryside. She hasn't seen much of the world. How could someone like her know a person like Mr. Patterson?"

Her voice stayed low, yet it was enough to remind everyone of the life Gemma had lived before returning to this family.

Raphael heard those words clearly. The confusion that had clouded his mind began to settle.

He looked at Gemma once more.

She had just shouted at him, and her voice had sounded oddly familiar. Her appearance also carried a faint resemblance. That was what had startled him at first.

In truth, even though he claimed to work under Death, he had never truly seen her face. The closest he had ever come was a distant glimpse of her profile through a crowd.

Just now, Gemma had carried herself in a way that reminded him of Death, and that moment had shaken him enough to lose his composure.

The realization left him feeling embarrassed.

Sallie, eager to confirm her assumption, turned toward Raphael with a polite smile. "Mr. Patterson, you've seen Death before, haven't you?"

She then glanced at Gemma and spoke again in a softer tone. "My sister spent most of her life in the countryside. Could it be that she simply happens to look a little like Death?"

Raphael paused.

There was no way he could reveal the truth. He had never come close to Death's inner circle. The connection he claimed to have was nothing more than distant links he had exaggerated to gain status.

If Death herself appeared in front of him, he might not even recognize her.

His silence made Sallie's chest tighten. Anxiety pushed her to speak again. "Mr. Patterson, please enlighten us. Everyone is waiting."

Now that the crowd watched him like he held the answer, his confidence slowly returned.

Someone like Death would never fall so low as to become an unloved daughter in a family like the Elliotts.

Raphael cleared his throat and steadied his voice. "Your sister does resemble Death a little. But that resemblance doesn't give her permission to impersonate her."

The answer she'd hoped for came, and Sallie relaxed at once. "Gemma," she said with a troubled expression, "why would you do something like this? Everyone respects Death so much, and yet you still chose to pretend to be her."

Robert lost his temper immediately. "Gemma, are you trying to drag the whole family down with you?" he snapped. "Apologize right now. Or do you want Death to hear about this and destroy the entire Elliott family?"

Jeremy, no longer held back by fear, pointed straight at Gemma and raised his voice. "You shameless woman! Apologize right now and beg for forgiveness. If this causes trouble for our family, you will take responsibility for it!"

Darwin straightened his tie before speaking calmly. "Mom, Dad, Gemma is already married. She belongs to the Edwards family now. If Death truly decides to pursue this matter, the Edwards family would be the first to suffer." He then looked at Brendan. "Isn't that right, Brendan?"

The moment those words were spoken, Brendan's expression darkened.

He snapped his head toward Gemma, and anger broke loose in his voice. "Gemma, say you're sorry. Do it now."

A low laugh slipped from Gemma. Her calm was a sharp contrast to the accusations raining down around her. "Pathetic," she said. "Every one of you is pathetic."

Her eyes shifted to Raphael, and contempt filled her expression. "And you," she added with open mockery. "You've never even seen Death's face, yet you still went around claiming you're one of her people. Unbelievable!"

She had no intention of standing there any longer.

Just as she prepared to walk away, Sallie hurried forward as though she had anticipated the move. Wearing the expression of a concerned sister, she reached toward Gemma as if to stop her.

"Gemma, I know what happened to you last night has affected you," Sallie said gently. "But I can't allow this situation, where you pretended to be Death, to bring trouble upon you. If someone has to be the bad person and make you apologize, then I'll take that role."

While speaking, Sallie attempted to push Gemma down in front of everyone.

Her hand had not even reached Gemma yet when Gemma's lips curved into a cold smile.

Then she moved.