Whitney tried to stop her, but it was way too late. When Anastasia pushed open the guest room door, everyone got a full eyeful of what was happening inside. Marco was on top of Valeria, his clothes disheveled, while she fought him off, looking like a complete disaster—hair everywhere, mascara streaked down her cheeks. There was still a weird floral smell hanging in the air.

The crowd gasped upon witnessing this. “What the… what the hell is happening in there?” someone gasped. “Holy shit, that’s Mr. Parker and Valeria! What are they doing?” “Jesus, this is so fucking embarrassing! It’s Mrs. Kingsley’s birthday party!” “I know, right? How trashy can you get? Didn’t she just introduce her boyfriend to everyone?” Everyone was whispering and gossiping like crazy.

Whitney’s face went dead white—she never in a million years thought it would actually be Valeria and Marco in that room! She’d had this horrible gut feeling the second she saw Anastasia standing there. The whole plan was supposed to have Anastasia trapped in there—how did everything go so sideways? Had that sneaky bitch Anastasia somehow flipped the script on them?

Standing in the doorway, Anastasia gasped and covered her mouth in shock. “Oh my God, Valeria, Mr. Parker, what are you… what’s going on here?”

Two could play this acting game. Even though Anastasia sounded totally shocked, there was a cold satisfaction flickering in her eyes. She’d seen right through Whitney and Valeria’s bullshit scheme from day one. Since they wanted to destroy her reputation, she’d give them a taste of their own medicine.

Hearing Anastasia’s voice, Valeria’s head snapped up, her eyes wild with panic and rage. “Anastasia! You did this, didn’t you?”

Anastasia put on her best innocent face. “Valeria, what are you even talking about? I have no clue what you mean. I just went upstairs to change my dress and heard some commotion, so I came to see what was up.”

“I had no idea. Valeria, what exactly are you and Mr. Parker doing in here? It’s Grandma’s birthday party—this is really not appropriate, you know?” Anastasia sounded genuinely concerned and confused.

Valeria was completely speechless, her face cycling through every shade of red and white. “You… you’re full of shit! It was obviously you who…”

“Valeria, shut the fuck up!” Whitney quickly interjected.

Damn it, if Valeria lost her cool and spilled everything, they’d be totally screwed. Marco had also come back to reality and was shooting daggers at Anastasia. “You manipulative bitch, this was all you, wasn’t it?”

Anastasia looked genuinely hurt and confused. “Mr. Parker, I only… I don’t know what you’re… I didn’t set anything up? But seriously, how did you two end up in here together?”

Marco was completely off guard by her response and couldn’t think of what to say. He hadn’t expected this chick to be such a master manipulator—she’d totally played him.

Whitney was panicking and rushed to do damage control. “Everyone, please, this is obviously just a huge misunderstanding! Valeria, Mr. Parker, you need to get up right now! Don’t let everyone get the wrong impression!”

Valeria was biting her lip so hard it might bleed, her eyes burning with humiliation and fury. She wanted to literally murder Anastasia with her bare hands. But she knew there was no point saying anything now—she could only scramble to her feet and stare at the floor, too mortified to make eye contact with anyone.

Thank God Jasper was across the house talking shop with some business contacts. If he’d walked in on this disaster, her life would be completely over. Marco also straightened his clothes and stood there looking like he wanted to kill someone.

Whitney quickly tried to manage the situation, turning to the crowd. “Everyone, this was clearly just a big misunderstanding. Let’s all head back to the main party—we don’t want to keep Mrs. Kingsley waiting.”

The guests nodded and, even though they were dying to know more details, knew it was time to move along. They slowly started heading back toward the main house.

Once everyone had cleared out, Whitney turned on Anastasia with pure hatred in her eyes. “Anastasia, you really are a piece of work.”

Anastasia smiled sweetly. “Mrs. Stone, it takes one to know one.” Whitney was so pissed her face turned purple, but given where they were, she had to swallow her rage and hiss, “Don’t think you’ve won. This isn’t over!”

Anastasia just shrugged and casually walked away. “If you want to keep playing these games, I’m ready to play all night,” she muttered to herself, her eyes flashing with ice-cold determination.

At that exact moment, a black Rolls-Royce Phantom was pulling into the Kingsley estate’s circular driveway.