Seeing the murmurs starting up again, Zac quickly spoke up. "Stalling? Hah! It’s just a phone call. I’ll call Ivan right now. He’s my close friend, and if someone dares to copy his signature design in front of me, it’s my duty to let him know." He spoke with righteousness, as if he were passing judgment on some heinous criminal. After saying that, Zac shot Arthur a look, then pretended to scroll through his phone—but his screen never actually showed the contacts list. He was waiting. Waiting for Arthur to panic and beg. Arthur had grown up in the Gray family, so he must have heard of Mr. Ivan. Otherwise, why would he have dared to copy his mark? Before, Arthur might have thought he could get away with it. But now, with Zac personally about to call Ivan and report his blatant forgery, surely he was scared. Zac was certain of it. A rejected, penniless loser like Arthur wouldn’t dare offend someone like Ivan. So Zac wasn’t worried. He kept sneaking glances at Arthur, waiting for him to break down. He even started thinking about how he was going to humiliate him—how he would tear him down while still keeping up his good-guy act. But time passed. Second by second. Arthur remained still. Meanwhile, the entire hall had gone silent. Everyone had stopped what they were doing, their attention locked onto Zac’s phone, waiting for him to make the call. This was it. The moment of truth. Zac was starting to panic. His composure wavered, and his scrolling became noticeably faster. Ashley’s voice cut through the tense air, cold and unimpressed. "Zac, have you never used a phone before? Just use the search function instead of scrolling like an idiot. Everyone’s waiting. Stop wasting our time."Zac’s fingers froze. For a brief moment, his mask slipped. But he quickly took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. It’s fine. It’s just a performance. None of these people actually know Ivan. They wouldn’t recognize his voice. All I have to do is call some random number and put on a show. Zac had been faking things his whole life. One more act wouldn’t kill him. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he clenched his jaw and finally dialed. He pressed random numbers and hit call. As long as the person on the other end didn’t say anything weird, he could play this off. Luckily, no one dared to stand too close and see his screen. Except Tia. She saw everything. From the start, she had felt uneasy. She had noticed how Zac never actually opened his contacts list and instead just kept swiping aimlessly. But now, she saw it with her own eyes. He had typed in a completely random number. He was bluffing. The call connected almost instantly. Zac wasn’t lucky this time. The voice on the other end was an elderly woman. "Hello? Who is this?" Her voice was loud. Very loud. Loud enough that even the people standing nearby could hear.Zac’s face stiffened for a fraction of a second before he quickly recovered. With a kind and patient tone, he said, "Ah, hello! Is this Ivan’s grandmother?" The old woman’s voice grew even louder, practically booming. "Ivy? Ivy who? Who are you talking about?" The whispering in the crowd grew heavier. Zac’s expression twitched. But he didn’t hang up. Instead, he forced a polite smile and raised his voice as well. "Hello, I’m a friend of Ivan’s! My name is Zac!" There was a long silence on the other end. Then the old woman muttered, "Scammer! Trying to cheat me out of my money? Bastard!" The line went dead. Zac immediately hung up, his fingers stiff. When he looked up, everyone around him was staring. Their expressions were unreadable. Zac forced a chuckle. "Ah, Ivan’s grandmother is getting up there in age. Her hearing isn’t very good. Ivan probably left his phone with her and went out." No one responded. Then, after a long pause, someone finally spoke. "But… I remember reading somewhere that Ivan’s grandmother passed away years ago." Zac’s entire body tensed. "Then maybe his neighbor picked up instead!" Another voice chimed in, confused. "But didn’t Ivan move to a private mountain retreat years ago? He doesn’t have neighbors." Zac’s face turned rigid. He had no response. So he snapped. "How the hell am I supposed to know who answered the phone? What, you think I have x-ray vision? You think I can see what’s happening on his end?" The crowd murmured in agreement. That… was true. But something still felt off.