Chapter 970

"How can she be so unreasonable? She's completely twisting the truth!"

"She's just throwing her weight around. Look at Hannah and Miranda—they're not even stopping her from bullying Sheryl."

"It's bizarre. What kind of spell did she cast on this family?"

"Well, the truth will come out. Anyone with eyes can tell which one is the fake."

"Once Sheryl proves hers is authentic, Juniper is going to look like an absolute fool."

The guests whispered among themselves, shaking their heads. Their initial curiosity had quickly morphed into blatant distaste. The thought that a girl with such a lowly background and terrible attitude would soon outrank all of them was a bitter pill to swallow.

"Ms. Payne..." Sheryl let out a breathy, incredulous laugh, maintaining her aristocratic posture as she fired back. "You can't just hide behind Shanley's influence to invert reality and maliciously slander me."

"Do you have any proof that my chocolates are fake?"

*Shanley?*

There it was again. Hearing his name slip from another woman's lips was incredibly grating.

"Proof?"

Juniper kept her hands shoved deep in her pockets, lifting her chin with a dangerously dark expression. "CR stopped using that specific packaging two years ago. Did you not know that?"

Sheryl's throat went completely dry. She was genuinely stunned.

Was that true?

She honestly had no idea. She had pulled strings with multiple connections and spent a small fortune just to secure these three boxes over several days.

When she received them, she had compared them to photos online. They looked identical.

Juniper had to be making things up to confuse everyone and drag her down!

"Ms. Payne, even if my packaging is outdated, does that magically make your unbranded box authentic?" Sheryl shot back, going on the offensive. "If you're going

to throw accusations, maybe you should cover your own tracks first."

*What on earth was Shanley thinking, marrying a braindead trophy wife?*

"Of course my box doesn't have that packaging," Juniper drawled, her tone slow and dripping with condescension. "Because this is a private, custom order made personally by CR's head chocolatier."

"It was finished yesterday and rushed to me on a private flight."

"As for why there's no fancy wrapping paper..." Juniper arched an eyebrow lazily.

"He ran out of the good stuff. That's all."

"A private custom order?"

Sheryl stared at her for a second before letting out a mocking scoff. "CR's head chocolatier hasn't personally crafted a batch in five years, let alone adjusted his sacred recipe for a custom order."

*If you're going to lie, at least make it believable.*

The surrounding guests nodded in agreement. Even those who didn't eat chocolate

knew about CR's legendary exclusivity.

A few years ago, a literal head of state had personally requested the head

chocolatier to make the favors for a royal wedding.

The man had flat-out refused.

If a president couldn't get him to lift a finger, who the hell did Juniper think she was?

"Want me to FaceTime him?"

Juniper's casual offer instantly plunged the massive hall into dead silence.

Even Hannah and Miranda stiffened slightly.

Was she serious?

From what they knew, the head chocolatier of CR was nearly eighty years old. Did

he actually make those chocolates with his own hands for her?

"Please do."

Sheryl maintained her tight smile, refusing to believe Juniper actually knew the man. Talk was cheap. Anyone could bluff.

"Fine."

Juniper casually pulled out her phone and hit the video call button.

Less than five seconds later, the call

connected. The screen lit up,

revealing an elderly man with

snow white hair and a deeply lined

face, yet his eyes practically

sparkled with vibrant energy.

"My favorite VIP! Did you get the delivery?"

Before Juniper could even say hello, the old man's booming, exuberant voice echoed from the speaker. "You gave me such short notice, and 4. was short on my premium ingredients! Otherwise, I would have made you a proper mountain of

them!"

"I got them."

Juniper's lips twitched into a soft smile. "Thanks for the hard work."

"Hard work? What hard work?! Getting to personally make chocolates for you is the greatest blessing this old man could ask for!"