The Stand-In Who Burned the Script novel Chapter 263

Chapter 263

Vivian’s gaze grew sharper, as if piercing straight through her soul. That predatory stare made Grace too afraid to even meet her eyes.

“You… you’re making this up. My dad went abroad for business. He doesn’t have an illegitimate child.”

Her voice carried zero conviction.

It was pale, fragile, and utterly powerless.

Vivian continued to look at her with that half-smile. “Then why don’t you call your father right now and

ask him?”

Grace would never make that call.

Her reaction just now had already proven that she knew everything.

Just as expected.

Pressing her bloodless lips together, Grace took a subconscious half-step back. The overwhelming dizziness she felt was a direct warning sign from her own body.

In this battle, she had lost again.

Her father had indeed done some unspeakable things. She had overheard pieces of it.

The events had happened entirely overseas. Just as this woman claimed, unless she held concrete evidence, there was no way she could know the details so intimately.

Vivian rubbed her fingertips together, her voice dropping several degrees. “Astra Media will open for business as usual tomorrow. The regulatory suspension notices and the online smear campaign-you are going to clean all of it up. Otherwise, that evidence goes straight to the police station.”

She gave the terrified woman one last, profound look, got into her car, and drove off.

Grace stood frozen in place for a very long time, her hands clenched tightly at her sides, her knuckles completely white.

How did Vivian… how did she know?

Even if the Fairchilds had a bit of money, they didn’t have the reach to uncover a murder cover-up overseas so easily.

Could it be…

Did Silas help her?

Grace’s expression twisted into something thoroughly ugly.

Vivian had originally planned to head home, but she received a call from Scarlett Sinclair on the way, inviting her for a drink at Lounge One.

Since she had nothing else to do, she spun the steering wheel and agreed.

1/2

10:35

Chapter 263

Lively bars usually didn’t open until the evening.

But Scarlett was the exception. She frequented the place so often she had become friends with the owner, meaning she could easily sit there knocking back drinks at three or four in the afternoon.

“I thought you wouldn’t show. Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?”

Scarlett waved at the bartender, gesturing for him to mix a drink.

Vivian sat down beside her. “We’re closed.”

“What?”

“Haven’t you seen the news?”

Seeing her surprised look, Vivian patiently elaborated. “Astra is caught in a massive PR nightmare right now. They’re calling me a madam.”

Scarlett nearly spat out her drink in a fit of laughter.

“You? A madam? They’d have a better case calling me that. If anything, you’d be the star escort working under a madam.”

Her smile grew wider as she spoke, her striking features seemingly brightening the dim lighting of the bar. “Give me the details. I’ve got nothing but time anyway.”

Vivian shot her a sidelong glance and summarized the situation in a few brief sentences. “But it should be resolved by now. Grace isn’t stupid enough to gamble her father’s reputation.”

The bartender slid a nearly transparent Mojito toward her.

It was crisp and refreshing.

Scarlett was still digesting the explosive gossip she’d just heard, shaking her head in awe. “I always knew Grace was a massive phony, and her dad was way too self-righteous to be real. I never expected there to be such a juicy scandal hiding in the closet. They covered it up pretty well.”

In their social circle, everyone looked glamorous on the surface, but in reality, they were all just waiting to watch someone else’s downfall.

Geoffrey Gifford held a prestigious position in the city.

If this got out, it would be the show of the century.

“Props to him for managing to spawn a kid at his ancient age. What an absolute legend.”

She kept rambling to herself. Vivian didn’t bother replying, taking small sips of her drink while lost in her own thoughts.

“You said the Fowlers and the Giffords teamed up to retaliate against you, and Grace is the mastermind. So why didn’t you just ask Silas Sterling for help?”