공유

Chapter 176

작가: Warm Cocoa
“!!!”

The bystanders exchanged looks of admiration.

Was this what they called the confidence of the one who held the real power?

Even Keith twitched at the corners of his mouth.

What a pretentious act.

Seriously, did he think playing the bigger man makes him look impressive?

He knew Stephen was just putting on a show, deliberately making himself seem refined and unbothered.

And yet, despite knowing that, Stellar couldn’t help but find it amusing, and, in a way, unexpectedly moving.

Meanwhile, Percy’s face had turned an alarming shade of red, on the verge of exploding.

Either these two men had lost their minds, or the entire world had gone insane.

Was Stellar really that irresistible?

Enough to make two powerful men swallow their pride and step aside for her?

The thought burned through him like acid.

She was once devoted to him, belonged to him.

Now, she was the one being fought over.

The mix of regret and fury twisted deep in his gut.

Before he could say another word, Stellar reached
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  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 177

    Dawn smirked to herself but kept her expression warm. "Absolutely! A man as generous and thoughtful as you, Percy, is hard to come by. I can't help but envy Miss Rivers!" Percy’s lips curved into a slow smile. He genuinely thought Dawn was a remarkable woman. His impression of her improved significantly. He just couldn't understand—why couldn't Stellar be as understanding as Dawn? Turning to Dawn, he said, "Dawn, I'm really glad to have met you. To show my appreciation, how about I take you shopping and buy you a piece of jewelry?" Dawn chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, please, I have no interest in jewelry. It’s all just decoration—pretty but useless. You can’t eat it, can you? If you really want to thank me, just transfer me the money for dinner." She appeared cheerful and straightforward, completely unfazed by the idea of jewelry. Instead, she cared about something as simple as the cost of a meal—frank and adorable. Percy couldn’t help but admire her, feeling even m

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 178

    "Alright, time to head back."Bother Stephen and Keith were speechless.An awkward silence stretched between them as Lilian and the others struggled to hold back their laughter, following Stellar outside.Initially, Stellar planned to leave with Lilian, but before she could, Lilian waved her off dramatically, raising her voice on purpose."Oh no, sorry, Stellar! I have something else to take care of, so I can’t go with you. Why don’t you let Stephen or Keith give you a ride home instead?"Stellar was speechless.Watching Lilian wink at her before walking away, Stellar instantly understood—this girl was just here for the drama, happily stirring the pot.The next second, her phone buzzed with a new message.She tapped the screen and saw a text from Lilian:“Go for it, heartthrob! Wishing you success in winning over both of them and expanding your royal court!”Followed by a grinning emoji that made it all the more infuriating.Stellar's mouth twitched as she snapped her phone shut."Uh…

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 179

    "It’s probably because, as a kid, I was always fascinated by the sky. I wanted to fly like a bird. “Then, when I saw spacecraft landing in space, I was completely in awe—it was inspiring and moving. “I started imagining that one day, I could build something even better, something that could make history. “Of course, that sounds like a wild dream, but I believe having dreams is what makes us passionate and drives us to achieve them." As Stellar spoke about her field, her eyes sparkled with excitement, just like the girl Stephen had seen in that old photograph—bright, full of ambition, and completely devoted to her passion. "What about you? Why did you choose this major?" "I…" Stephen hesitated for a moment before answering in a low voice. "There was a time when I felt trapped, like I was suffocating in a cage. I wanted to escape, to see a bigger world. “I didn’t have many hobbies back then, but my family bought a lot of model planes. I kept assembling and disassembling th

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 180

    Stellar jumped, caught off guard, as a sudden wave of guilt washed over her."Uncle Claude, don’t misunderstand. It was just a team dinner, and Stephen happened to be heading in the same direction, so he gave me a ride home," she quickly explained with a smile.Claude’s eyes narrowed. "Why did you need a ride from him? What happened to the Ferrari I gave you? Why aren’t you driving it?"Stellar felt a bit flustered. That flashy convertible was way too eye-catching—driving it around didn’t scream student; it screamed heiress on a joyride.Forcing an awkward laugh, she made up an excuse. "I just haven’t driven in a while, so I’m not used to it. I’ll take it out once I feel more comfortable."Claude wasn’t buying it. "That’s easy to fix. I’ll assign a driver to take you everywhere.""Uncle Claude…" Stellar clung to his sleeve, putting on her best pleading expression. "Please don’t do that. Just let me keep a low profile, okay?"The moment she pulled the sweet niece act, Claude sighed in

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 181

    Stephen hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "Are you free tonight? A friend of mine is hosting a birthday party for his fiancée, and I need a partner to attend with me. I’d like to take you as my date." Stellar's breath hitched slightly. "Your… friend?" A birthday party for a friend’s fiancée, yet he specifically invited her—was there some kind of hidden meaning behind this? "He’s Gavin Lockwood. He has a good relationship with the Rivers family," Stephen explained. Understanding dawned on her. So that was it. This was just about strengthening ties between their families. Nothing more. For some reason, that realization left a strange sense of disappointment in her chest. But she quickly pushed it aside and smiled. "Alright, I’ll go with you. Just give me a moment to change into a dress." But Stephen had already anticipated this. He reached into the back seat of his car and pulled out several gift boxes. "I’ve already prepared everything—gowns, jewelry

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 182

    The murmurs weren’t exactly quiet. Stellar naturally heard them and instinctively glanced over. "The one in the white dress in the center is the birthday girl, Serena Thompson," Stephen introduced. "I’ll go say hello and give her the gift," Stellar said, letting go of Stephen’s arm before making her way over. The socialites surrounding Serena covered their mouths in curiosity, instinctively stepping aside to clear a path for her. Once Stellar reached Serena, she extended a beautifully wrapped gift box. "Miss Thompson, happy birthday! This is a little gift from me—I hope you like it." Even though she was here as Stephen’s date, she had prepared a present herself. Serena accepted it with a polite smile. "And you are…?" "I’m Stellar Rivers. I suppose you could say I’m here as your fiancé’s friend’s partner," Stellar introduced herself with easy confidence. Serena’s lips curved slightly, and her first impression of Stellar was quite favorable. "Can I open it?" "Of cours

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 183

    The moment those words left Stellar’s lips, every gaze in the room shifted to Annie’s hairpin. "Wait… it’s a fake? No wonder I thought something about it looked off." "Pfft, parading around with a fake—remind me, who's the real embarrassment here?"Annie’s face flushed bright red as she snapped back furiously. "Who do you think you are to say it’s fake? This is from the Floral Whisper Collection, a limited-edition piece—there’s only one of its kind." Stellar simply shook her head and replied calmly, "Unfortunately, it’s not. Because the real one is with me." With that, she pulled out her phone and brought up a picture of the genuine piece, displaying it for everyone to see. The socialites leaned in, examining the details closely. It didn’t take long for them to spot the differences. Within moments, all the scornful gazes turned to Annie. "Miss Yates, you might want to check your jewelry a little more carefully before stepping out next time. Wouldn’t want to embarrass y

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 184

    "The swan earrings look so elegant on Serena—absolutely stunning." Janet's eyes flickered with a trace of calculation. She suddenly chimed in, her voice deliberately light. "That’s nothing special. My cousin designs jewelry too, and her handcrafted hairpins are far more exquisite and valuable!" At her words, the conversation stilled, and heads instinctively turned toward her. Most of the guests didn’t recognize the person she was referring to. But Stellar’s eyelid twitched. Janet shot her a sweet, innocent smile. "Cousin, why don’t you show everyone your own jewelry? Those pieces of yours are practically priceless! Compared to them, everything else is hardly worth mentioning." Her tone sounded full of praise, as if she were lifting Stellar onto a pedestal. But to the crowd, the whole thing felt off. Suspicious even.Their gazes flickered between the two women, curiosity growing. "Pfft, I knew it—she’s just here to sell her designs!" A familiar sneer cut through the

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  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 398

    Stellar found the whole thing baffling. She didn’t even know why the other party hated her so much.Still, after this incident, she realized she'd been far too nice to Joy.After retrieving the blueprint, she knocked on the team leader’s office door.Lucien wasn’t surprised to see her and even invited her to sit.But Stellar stood straight and got straight to the point. "Mr. Song, I want to report Joy."She stole my blueprint and, along with Christopher Sung, forcibly occupied Lab 1. They refused to let me in to use the equipment, which seriously disrupted my research. I hope you'll look into this."Lucien raised an eyebrow as he listened. The light in his blue eyes flickered, and he spoke lazily, "Oh? And why would you think I’d offend Mr. Shaw’s granddaughter and his favorite student just for you?""Because to me, this is a place for research. Everyone came here with a dream, hoping to contribute to the country. Who someone is doesn’t matter."Stellar's tone was calm and firm. "If y

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 397

    Joy was quietly reveling in her triumph.With the tide so clearly turned in her favor, Stellar’s team was seething with frustration.But Stellar simply let out a soft laugh, then spoke with calm poise. "I may not have signed my name on the blueprint, but unfortunately for you, Miss Joy, while I was drawing it, my fountain pen accidentally left a blot of ink on the back."She flipped the original blueprint over. Sure enough, there was a dark ink stain on the back.A flicker of panic flashed across Joy’s face, but she quickly recovered and snapped, "That blot came from my pen. You probably saw it earlier and decided to claim it as yours."That seemed plausible enough, and the crowd began to murmur in agreement.But Stellar let out a sharp chuckle. "Ah, I forgot to mention that this isn’t just any ink. The one I used has a distinct scent of lavender. You’re welcome to smell it yourselves."A few people stepped closer out of curiosity, leaned in, and took a sniff."It really does smell

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 396

    Did she have no idea just how powerful his background was?Or maybe she knew and still didn’t care.The thought only piqued Evan’s interest. He leaned in, smirking, and kept pushing. "And what makes you so sure I took your blueprint? Got any proof?"Stellar’s expression darkened.Just then, Joy walked over, arms full of documents. "Stellar, can you stop making a scene? You couldn’t come up with a proper design, so now you're blaming others? Aren’t you embarrassed?"Having been outshone by Stellar time and again, Joy had been quietly stewing in resentment. Now that the tables seemed to turn, she seized the chance to mock her, eager to see her humiliated in front of everyone.Sure enough, the commotion drew a small crowd from the institute, curious to watch the drama unfold.But those sneering and skeptical glances didn’t faze Stellar one bit.She turned to Joy with a cold stare.Then something on the back of the blueprint Joy was holding caught her eye. Her gaze sharpened instantl

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 395

    The very next second…“Pfft…”Someone couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.A ripple of muffled chuckles spread through the room.Stellar froze, bewildered, and turned to look at the projector screen, only to see an enormous turtle displayed across it.She stood there, stunned."Miss Rivers, if you're having trouble with the design, no one’s going to mock you," Joy seized the moment to attack. "But what’s with the turtle? Are you trying to be funny, or do you just not take the project seriously?"Stellar quickly snapped out of it and responded, "This isn’t my drawing."Joy arched a brow, sarcasm dripping from her tone. "Oh? Then what? Did I draw it?""Yeah, Miss Rivers, are we supposed to believe you’re playing some elaborate prank on all of us?""Is this what genius arrogance looks like?"Just when people had finally begun warming up to her, it all crumbled in an instant. Voices chimed in one after another, mocking and skeptical.Stellar’s expression darkened. She knew someone

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 394

    She denied it three times, but Stellar still looked suspicious. That man's voice on the phone sounded oddly familiar.But seeing she clearly didn’t want to talk about it, Stellar didn’t pry. She wasn’t the type to dig into other people’s business. "Alright then, I won’t ask about yours, so you better not ask about mine."Lilian quickly nodded. A mutual understanding was reached.That afternoon, they resumed work on the new project, which involved the latest aerospace technology design and development.After two solid hours of work, Stellar finally took a short break and headed to the break room with the team for some water.They had just stepped out when a figure entered from outside.Evan walked in, his expression dark, clearly in a foul mood.These days, he’d finally managed to be in the same research institute as Joy. He’d gone out of his way to shower her with kindness, offering her everything he thought was good. But she didn’t appreciate it at all.In fact, she told him to

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 393

    There was still no reply from the other side, so Stellar set her phone aside and headed to the bathroom to wash up. When she came back, she watched a movie for a while.Only then did she pick up her phone again and unlock the screen.But there was still no reply from Stephen.A faint sense of disappointment crept in. She turned off the light, lay down, and placed her phone on the nightstand, ready to sleep.Just then, the screen lit up.A flicker of joy surged in her chest. She quickly grabbed the phone and tapped to check it, only to find it was a spam advertisement.Stellar’s forehead twitched. She nearly swore out loud. "They keep sending me this junk. I'm filing a complaint tomorrow!"The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. But just then, another message popped up.“I just finished work. Still up?”“I just got back my phone. Sorry, I’ll keep it on me next time.”“Did you eat, rest, and take care of yourself properly?”Stephen’s message came like rain in a drought.I

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 392

    It took Stellar a moment before she finally spoke, disbelief lacing her voice. “Wait, doesn’t that mean she basically admitted to covering up crimes? Isn’t that illegal too?”“Exactly, but I guess she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. She kept insisting it was all Tori’s doing—that she and her son were innocent.”Suzy let out a snort. “I’ve never seen anyone exposing their own son’s crimes on camera and dragging themselves down with him. “No wonder Eddie turned out the way he did. With a mom like that cheering him on, it’s no surprise he grew up thinking he could do whatever he wanted. “The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.”Stellar felt a wave of complicated emotion. The woman she remembered to be gentle, kind, and full of warmth suddenly appeared like a total stranger.Had it all been an act?She let out a soft sigh.Suzy must have picked up on her silence, because her voice turned more soothing. “Stellar, don’t let this weigh on you. That mother and son duo were hid

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 391

    “I just came back to grab a file,” Claude said, his tone laced with suspicion. “I thought I heard you talking to someone just now?”“Nope!” Stellar answered quickly, not daring to admit the truth.Claude studied her for a moment, then his expression eased. “Stellar, I’m not against you dating, Just remember, men are mostly just entertainment. Don't get too serious. If it starts going south, cut your losses and move on. The Rivers family will always have your back.”Stellar twitched at the corner of her mouth and thought, “Uncle Claude, are you seriously telling me to be a heartbreaker?”“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” she said hesitantly.“Why not? Your happiness is what matters most. If anyone makes you uncomfortable, kick them to the curb. Simple as that. “Of course, we’ll also keep an eye on things and make sure no one messes with you.”There was a sharp glint of calculation in Claude’s eyes.Stellar could only offer a wry smile.She hadn’t even started dating yet, and even

  • As the Fake Heiress Rose to Power, the CEO Falls Apart   Chapter 390

    Stephen let out a quiet sigh and turned, ready to leave.“Do you like Stellar?” A sweet voice chimed in beside him.Xavier turned in surprise, puzzled as he looked at the young woman. “You are…?”“I’m Stellar’s friend, Lilian Yates.”She was supposed to be in the gallery that day, but a last-minute delay with her project caused her to arrive just in time to catch the end of the scene.And what she saw in Xavier’s eyes that were filled with admiration, reluctance, and a trace of sorrow, she knew Xavier had feelings for Stellar.“I…” Xavier was caught off guard, unsure how to respond.Lilian cut him off with a grin. “You’re the legendary attorney she always talks about, right? Perfect. I was wondering if I can ask you for a favor?”“What kind of favor?” he asked, instinctively curious.She leaned in and whispered something in his ear, her voice barely audible. When she pulled back, she added softly, “But you have to promise to keep it between us.”Xavier paused, considered it, then nod

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