Julian and Samantha’s friends laughed. My face turned red not from embarrassment, but from holding back anger.
Instead of picking up the glass, Samantha deliberately knocked over my tray. CRASH! The crystal glasses shattered on the floor, and wine spilled onto her shoes.
“Ouch! Are you stupid?!” Samantha screamed, acting out and losing her mind. “Look at my shoes! You’ll love them! Your husband is so stupid, Julian!”
Julian shuddered. He turned to me with a steaming nose. “Aurora! How stupid is that?! Get down on your knees and wipe Samantha’s shoes right now! You’re embarrassing my guests!”
« Julian, he intentionally knocked over the tray, » I replied coldly.
“I don’t care! Get down on your knees and apologize to him or I’ll have you dragged to the guards!” Julian yelled right in my face. They expected me to get down on my knees and cry in utter shame.
But I remained standing straight. I took out the earpiece hidden under my hair and whispered softly, “Come in.”
The Coming of True Power
Just then, the large double doors of the ballroom swung open with a loud bang. The music stopped.
Dozens of men in black suits—the company’s elite security team—entered. Following them was Mr. Lorenzo, the company’s elderly and feared Chief Executive Officer (CEO), along with the entire Board of Directors.
Julian was panicked. He quickly left Samantha and ran to meet the CEO.
“M-Mr. Lorenzo! Sir! It is a great honor that you came to my promotion party!” Julian sipped and stammered, bowing and extending his hand. “Your VIP table is ready—”
But Mr. Lorenzo did not accept Julian’s hand. He brushed past him like a dirty wind. Mr. Lorenzo and the billionaire directors walked quickly past Julian, towards the center of the ballroom.
They all stopped right in front of me—at a woman wearing a dirty waitress uniform and surrounded by broken glass.
In front of hundreds of astonished guests, Mr. Lorenzo and the entire Board of Directors simultaneously bowed almost ninety degrees.
“Madame President,” Mr. Lorenzo’s loud and formal greeting echoed throughout the silent ballroom. “We apologize for our delay. Your orders are ready.”
The Collapse of Arrogance
A deafening silence fell. The wine glasses of some guests fell to the floor.
Julian’s jaw dropped. His eyes widened like tears from his skull. His legs began to tremble. His gaze shifted from me to Mr. Lorenzo.
“M-Madame… P-President…?” Julian whispered tremblingly and stammering. All the blood had drained from his face. “M-Mr. Lorenzo… I think you made a mistake. That’s my wife… she’s a worthless piece of shit…”
I slowly took off my apron and threw it among the broken glass on the floor. I looked at Julian with a very cold and deadly smile.
“The woman you called your slave and ordered to kneel before your hooker is Aurora Imperial,” I coldly announced, as if ice had pierced her soul. “The sole owner and President of the entire company you are so proud of.”
Everyone gasped. Samantha, his girlfriend, seemed to have a stroke where she stood, trembling with intense fear and gradually backing away.
“A-Aurora…?” Julian knelt on the floor, sweating profusely and his knees were completely weak. “B-Babe… w-what does this mean? Y-You are the owner of Imperial Holdings?!”
“I ordered the board to promote you, Julian. I did it because I thought you had some good left in you,” I replied as I walked towards him. “But you have proven to me that you are a worthless, arrogant monster consumed by greed.”
“B-Babe! Forgive me! I just made a mistake!” Julian sobbed, trying to crawl to grab my shoes, but one of my bodyguards quickly kicked him away. “I’m your wife! We’re family! S-Samantha was the one who flirted with me!”
When Samantha heard that, she went crazy and slapped Julian very hard. “You are shameless! You said you were rich and your husband was trash! You just swallowed me!”
I looked at them without a single drop of pity. I turned to Mr. Lorenzo.
“Mr. Lorenzo,” I ordered.
“Yes, Madame President?”
“Revoke this man’s promotion. You’re both fired, Julian and Samantha. Tomorrow morning, freeze all his bank accounts and take back all the cars he bought, because they all came from my company’s funds,” I coldly judged. “And get the lawyers ready. I’m going to charge him with Embezzlement because of the funds he stole to buy luxury for his girlfriend.”
Julian burst into tears. “No! Aurora, you must be so pitiful! I have no money! I’m going to jail! I’m going to beg on the street!”
I turned to face him and stared at him with pure disgust. “You want me to be your helper tonight, right? Well, starting tomorrow, train yourself to be a real starving person.”
I turned my back on them. “Security, drag them both out of this hotel. They’re ruining the atmosphere at my party,” I ordered finally.
The two screamed, begged, and even fought as the guards mercilessly dragged them out of the ballroom in front of all the guests who were now laughing at them. I left them with shattered dreams, no money, and no face to present to society.
Sometimes, the greatest power is not to shout or boast of wealth. It is to remain calm, wear a mask, and let the traitors’ own arrogance dig their own grave.
