The room felt like a tense boardroom meeting as Xenia walked in, not expecting to find three people


    waiting for her.


    The atmosphere was thick with a strange tension that made her nerves tingle.


    "Leanne?" she asked, slightly surprised.


    Leanne was perched on the couch, examining Xenia with a calm scrutiny. "Disappointed?" she asked,


    her voice soft yet piercing.


    Xenia was stunned. She had always thought of Leanne as gentle and unthreatening, but the sharpness


    in her gaze made her feel transparent, and she felt Leanne could see right through her.


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    "Why would you ask that, Leanne?" Xenia feigned ignorance.


    "The room is thick with pretense," Joy couldn''t hold back her irritation. "Can we talk straight for once?


    Or do I need to knock some sense into you?" While Leanne''s kindness might have been a facade,


    Joy''s bluntness was undeniably true.


    Xenia nced nervously at Curtis, seeking his reaction. He leaned against the couch with a casual


    elegance that seemed innate, his aristocratic demeanor as untouchable as a distant snowy peak. His


    hand rested on Leanne''s shoulder, the other draped over the armrest, revealing a sliver of his crisp


    white shirt cuff under a tinum watch with a sapphire crystal face that shimmered like a starlit sky.


    She suddenly felt out of her depth. How could such a lofty figure have an interest in someone like her?


    At that moment, the door knocked twice before Caleb entered, handing Curtis a stack of documents.


    Curtis flipped through them with a cold and sarcastic smirk.


    "So predictable," he murmured.


    Leanne picked up the documents with a measured calm, while Joy, who was always curious, leaned in


    close to get a better look.


    "What the hell?" Joy''s voice sounded with shock. "You tried to model yourself after Anne?"


    The documents disyed Xenia''s hospital records for cosmetic surgery and before-and-after photos.


    Initially, her resemnce to Leanne was slight, but she bore a closer likeness post-surgery.


    Xenia''s face flushed with embarrassment.


    The documents also detailed her bank transactions over the years, including deposits and the financial


    details of various acquaintances, allid out with unsettling rity.


    "What''s all this supposed to mean?" Joy asked, puzzled.


    Mindful of thedies present, Caleb exined delicately, "It appears she had rtionships with these


    gentlemen, some more fleeting than others. We couldn''tpile everything given the time constraints."


    Joy caught on instantly. "Ah, so you''re ying the field."


    "Why are you investigating me?" Xenia''s face turned red, and she moved as if to confront them, but


    Caleb stepped in her way. Holding the documents between her thumb and forefinger, Joy tossed them


    at Xenia''s feet. "Here, you seem eager to have them." With her cover blown, Xenia just crumpled to the


    floor, no longer able to keep up the act.


    "What was your purpose?" Leanne asked, genuinely confused. "Why go through all this to look like


    someone you didn''t know?"


    Xenia looked up at her, tears brimming in her eyes. The first time she saw Leanne''s photo, envy had


    surged through her. Raised onpliments, Xenia had always treasured her beauty. Next to Leanne,


    however, she felt like a pale imitation.


    She had endured the pain of jawline surgery to mimic Leanne''s facial structure more closely. But


    capturing Leanne''s unique blend of aloofness and warmth was another challenge.


    "I had no purpose," she confessed, her voice breaking. "I loved your face and wanted to be as


    beautiful. Is that so wrong?"


    "How did you meet Grace?" Curtis suddenly asked.


    "I met Grace at a theater group. She came to see me perform, and afterward, we became close


    friends..." Xenia''s rehearsed story was abruptly cut off by Curtis'' icy tone.