Chapter 285: Shelly Lowell is a Drake?

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Shelly Lowell is a Drake?

As the master of ceremonies delivered his speech, Vivian Lowell saw the girl slowly emerge from backstage.

The girl was wearing a haute couture gown and showed no signs of timidity on her face. However, the moment she walked out, many people in attendance were stunned.

Immediately, whispers broke out.

The emcee on stage was still recounting how difficult the past years had been for "Miss Drake," but the people below were clearly no longer listening.

Everyone present recognized this Miss Drake.

It was Shelly Lowell.

It was the same Shelly Lowell that Vivian Lowell knew—the daughter of Robert Lowell and Sharon Galahad, the one who had appeared at the Lowell Family’s banquet to be formally recognized.

Vivian Lowell stared ahead blankly, filled with incomprehension, shock, and disbelief.

She had memories of her past life, so she knew with absolute certainty that when Shelly returned to the Lowell Family, Robert Lowell and Sharon Galahad had definitely done a DNA test.

The Lowell Family had chosen to officially recognize Shelly only after they had confirmed she was their biological daughter and learned that Vivian had no blood relation to them whatsoever.

In fact, the Lowell Family had used three different labs for the DNA tests back then. Vivian had even helped arrange one of them, and she had collected the samples herself.

Vivian was 100% certain that Shelly was a Lowell. There was absolutely no room for error.

But...

What was happening right now?

Vivian didn’t understand.

’Did Mr. Drake really do a DNA test with Shelly?’

Vivian was highly suspicious!

"Vivian."

Just as Vivian’s mind was in turmoil, Julian Faulkner suddenly called out to her and whispered, "Have you forgotten what Mr. Drake said to you before the banquet started?"

Hearing Julian speak, the stunned Vivian snapped back to her senses.

She remembered.

Before the banquet, Mr. Drake had mentioned that no matter what happened during the event, he hoped Vivian would agree to help if he needed it.

Based on Joy Drake’s and Mr. Drake’s strange behavior earlier, Vivian suddenly understood.

She understood why they had acted that way.

They knew all along that today’s "leading lady" would be Shelly Lowell!

Vivian was speechless and confused. She desperately wanted to question it, but then she remembered that Mr. Drake had already spoken to her, so it wasn’t her place to challenge anything.

This was the Drake Family’s business, after all. Mr. Drake himself had said he had his reasons for doing this.

"Julian, did you know about this all along?"

Vivian was filled with suspicion. Otherwise... there would be no reason for Julian Faulkner to be so calm right now.

"No."

But Julian Faulkner shook his head. After a moment of thought, he said seriously, "I only put things together after seeing their unusual reactions."

"As for Shelly... I was actually thinking that if it’s her, compared to anyone else, we have less to worry about, don’t we?"

Vivian had been feeling quite unhappy.

She felt that a crucial mistake must have been made somewhere. Mr. Drake missed his granddaughter so much, so why would he so carelessly acknowledge Shelly now?

And based on what Mr. Drake had said earlier, Vivian could tell that he must have sensed something was wrong too. ’So, is he just playing along with the scheme?’

’And did he give me a heads-up before this all happened because he was afraid I would misunderstand?’

As for what Julian said...

’Compared to anyone else, if it’s Shelly, we have less to worry about.’

Vivian really wanted to retort, but she also felt that it was true.

Shelly wasn’t smart. In her past life, she had only achieved what she did thanks to Vivian’s guidance. In essence, she was an extremely selfish person with no real talent.

A person like that could never meet Mr. Drake’s expectations or inherit the Drake Family’s enterprise in the future.

’So why is Mr. Drake doing this?’

Her thoughts had come full circle, right back to where they started. Feeling frustrated, Vivian glanced at Julian Faulkner.

Julian seemed to understand what Vivian was thinking and comforted her in a soft voice, "It’s alright. I think, given Mr. Drake’s personality, he’ll explain things to you after tonight if you have questions."

"He has his own agenda. Perhaps there’s a deeper meaning behind all this, don’t you think?"

Vivian was silent for a moment, noncommittal. For now, that was all they could assume.

Mr. Drake was definitely not a muddle-headed man. Since he was doing this...

’Well, alright. I’ll just wait and see how things unfold.’

As Vivian thought this, she also overheard some of the whispers around her.

Most people had recognized Shelly and were discussing how she used to be the daughter of the Lowell Family.

After the Lowell Family fell, Shelly had vanished without a trace. Now she had returned to the country and transformed into the heiress of the Drake Family. It just went to show how unpredictable life was.

As they talked, they also recalled a few other things.

For example, Shelly Lowell had once been engaged to someone from the Grant Family. The Grants were at the banquet today, and rumor had it that Mason Grant was still single.

He had just recently started dating a new girlfriend, who was also said to be the heiress of a wealthy family of similar standing!

Of course, that heiress couldn’t possibly compare to the Shelly of today!

Furthermore, Shelly and Vivian had a history of conflict. One could say that Shelly’s life used to be one of luxury.

But because Vivian had dealt with the Lowell Family, causing their downfall, Shelly had become like a rat scurrying across the street for a while. It was a miserable time for her—she lost her engagement, and no one knew where she’d gone.

Now Vivian was Mrs. Faulkner, and the Faulkner Family was so powerful and influential. Would Shelly hold a grudge?

If the Drake Family and the Faulkner Family became enemies because of this, who knew what kind of scene that would create!

Everyone’s minds were racing with their own calculations.

They glanced curiously at the Grants, then at Vivian Lowell, but unfortunately, the Drakes seemed completely absorbed in the ceremony, paying them no mind at all.

The banquet continued.

Shelly Lowell stood radiantly on the stage as Joy Drake took out a jewelry set she had prepared and crowned Shelly’s head with a piece from it.

"Shelly, it looks so beautiful on you. You truly are our Drake Family’s Princess!"

Joy Drake’s tone was even a little fawning. She was beaming, practically praising Shelly to the skies!

Shelly was undoubtedly overjoyed.

She never would have dreamed that after the Gallia Fashion Week, Joy Drake would come and bail her out. She had been terrified at the time, and later, when Joy asked about her family background, she told her everything.

And when she finished, Joy Drake broke into a dazzling smile and became cheerful.

Joy Drake told Shelly that Mr. Drake once had a granddaughter who went missing. The granddaughter’s parents had died in a car accident—a situation very similar to the one Shelly had described!

Perhaps, Joy suggested, Shelly was the long-lost heiress of the Drake Family.

After hearing what Joy said, Shelly was stunned. Her first instinct was that she was being scammed!

’How could something like this be possible?’

Shelly knew perfectly well who her biological parents were. She had gone to get the DNA test done herself, and she still remembered the joy she felt, as an ordinary girl, upon learning she was a member of the Lowell Family.

She had been afraid the doctors made a mistake and that she would be cast out of a life like heaven and back into hell, so she had confirmed it again and again to be sure it was real.

The results proved it: she was the daughter of the Lowell Family.

But sadly, the good times didn’t last. Shelly met Vivian Lowell, and that was the beginning of all her nightmares.

What came after were things Shelly didn’t want to face.

Now, Joy Drake had suddenly appeared before her and told her she was the Drake heiress. Shelly had no idea how to react.

Shelly hesitated, wondering if she should tell Joy the truth.

She really didn’t want to experience such a dramatic rise and fall again; it was enough to make a person break down.

"I..."

Just as Shelly started to speak, Joy smiled sweetly and stopped her. "I know your story now," she said.

"I can tell you with absolute certainty that you are the Drake heiress. Do you have any idea how much wealth the Drake Family has? It’s more than ten Lowell Families combined."

"Perhaps you still don’t understand. Let me put it more plainly. As long as you become the Drake heiress, you won’t even have to give a second thought to the Faulkner Family."

"So what if Vivian Lowell is Mrs. Faulkner? In front of the Drake Family, she’ll still have to be polite."

"Honestly, you’re sick and dying. You don’t have long to live anyway. Instead of letting things continue like this, you might as well take a gamble, right?"