The courtyard plunged into a heavy silence for a full second.
The next instant, a blur dropped from the top of the tree, hitting the ground with practiced grace. With lightning speed, she righted the overturned table and chairs.
Vivienne smoothed out her slightly messy bangs, plastering on a bright, professional smile.
"Why don't we sit down and talk this out?"
Julian looked up at the towering oak tree, then back down at the delicate, fragile-looking girl standing in front of him. He was completely speechless.
Seeing the three of them frozen in place, Vivienne quickly shot Marissa a desperate look. "Marissa, didn't you make dessert? Hurry up and bring it out for the boys to try!"
"Oh... right!" Marissa, still reeling from the chaos, eyed Cyril nervously as she backed toward the kitchen.
Had Miss Lexton committed treason against the heavens? Why was even the gentle Cyril advocating for her murder?
The three men remained entirely unresponsive, simply staring coldly as she put on her little show.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
But as long as she didn't feel awkward, the awkwardness belonged to them.
Pretending everything was perfectly normal, Vivienne cheerfully barked orders at Wesley and Lennox. "What are you two standing around for? Mr. Bodyguard, hurry up and pull out a chair for your boss! And Mr. Raynor, why are you standing so far away? Push your boss to the table!"
Wesley and Lennox simultaneously shivered.
Seeing them refuse to budge, Vivienne smoothly pulled Little Stray from her pocket and set the turtle on the table, her fingernail lightly and threateningly tapping against its shell.
Without another word, Wesley marched forward and fixed a chair. When Alaric didn't move, he leaned in and whispered frantically, "Sir, please, just take the out while she's offering it. If you don't, she's going to throw another fit and flip the table again."
"..." Alaric shot Wesley a withering look before finally pulling the chair out and sitting down.
Seeing this, Lennox immediately pushed Cyril into the center position.
Cyril spoke up smoothly. "It seems our words hold no weight with her. Let's just invite Grandpa over."
"Don't!" Vivienne immediately stopped rolling her eyes.
Strike where it hurts most. If there was one thing Vivienne feared in this situation, it was Caspian Ravenshire finding out.
Previously, when she had laid bare all the secrets surrounding Studio Three, Grandpa Caspian had explicitly forbidden her from participating in any more dangerous investigations. She had agreed.
But later, the plot had been forcibly corrected by the system. The girl Grandpa Caspian had saved was dragged back into the abyss, and the narrative had issued a new, terrifying update.
-[World Narrative Rule Four: The plot of this world cannot be altered by any force outside the Gate of Narrative.]
Left with no other options, she could only rely on herself to slowly dig for the truth.
Her "boy toy" operation had been running in the shadows for three years, and right now, she was finally closing the net. If this scandal reached Grandpa Caspian, given the old patriarch's terrifying intellect, he would absolutely follow the clues and uncover the real culprit. And that was exactly what Vivienne was terrified of.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Chaos Girl Rewrites the Script