"Huh?" Ivan’s voice on the other end paused for a moment before letting out a laugh. "My grandmother? My grandmother’s been dead for years. Did she answer from hell?" Arthur chuckled at the response. Zac, however, turned ghostly pale. He could already feel it—the weight of every gaze in the room cutting into him like sharp knives. Arthur continued smoothly, "Or maybe it was another elderly woman? Someone nearby? Maybe an old lady with bad hearing and a loud voice?" "What old lady?" Ivan scoffed. "I haven’t seen anyone around here in years. I moved to the mountains specifically to avoid people. Bro, you got scammed. There are so many con artists nowadays. What was that name you said? Zac Gray? Never heard of him. What’s this nonsense about us being ‘close friends’? That’s hilarious! You are aware that you’re my only close friend, right? Also, I’ve been holding my phone this entire time—no one has called me. You definitely got played!" Arthur nodded. "Yeah, I did run into a scammer. And not just me—he scammed an entire room full of people." Ivan sounded intrigued. "Oh? Now this I gotta hear. Tell me what happened." Arthur laughed. "I’ll deal with the scammer first. I’ll tell you later." Ivan sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine." Just as Arthur was about to hang up, Ivan suddenly remembered something. "Oh, wait. By the way, does your outfit fit well? Bet you stunned the whole crowd, huh? Those pieces took me ages to perfect, so you better take care of them this time!" His tone was half-joking, half-exasperated, like he had caught Arthur mistreating his designs before. Arthur sighed. "Alright, alright. I got it." "Good. I just finished making you two new outfits. Come over for drinks sometime, and let me see if you’ve put on any weight. My treat." "Sure." The call ended. The entire room remained deathly silent.Even Ashley was stunned. Ivan just said Arthur is his closest friend? Arthur… has a connection like this? How was that even possible? Why didn’t I know about this?! Zac and Tia looked like corpses. Arthur turned to Zac, smiling faintly. "Ivan says there are no elderly ladies near him. And that he doesn’t know you. So tell me, Zac—who exactly did you call just now?" The crowd erupted. "Wait… Zac was the one lying? We all got tricked?!" "He pulled the same crap two years ago! Some things never change!" "I knew it! He’s still a liar! And he made us all look like fools!" "He really thinks we’re just here to be used and thrown away when it suits him, huh?" "Absolutely disgusting! The so-called young master of the Gray family—what a disgrace!" "Well, what do you expect? He’s adopted. Maybe he was just born rotten." "I actually believed he’d changed these past two years. Guess not. Still the same manipulative scumbag!" "But wait… Arthur really knows Ivan? And Ivan even said he personally sent him multiple outfits?" "That’s Mr. Ivan! And he just casually gifts Arthur custom designs?!" "And he even said he’s making more for him!" "He invited him for drinks!" "Unbelievable. Who is Arthur, really?!" "Come to think of it… I did notice that same embroidered mugwort symbol on Arthur’s sleeve before. I just assumed it was some random decoration!" "And he wears Ivan’s designs like they’re just normal clothes?! No wonder Ivan told him to take care of them!" The crowd couldn’t stop talking.As if guided by some invisible force, Ashley instinctively glanced down at her own sleeve. Sure enough— Embroidered there, subtle but unmistakable— A single, elegant, mugwort leaf.