6
A short while later, I heard a commotion in the hallway–the sounds of a woman crying and screaming, and a man yelling
curses.
Julian walked back in, seeing that I had regained some strength, and leaned casually against the door, observing me
with interest.
“Did you have someone drug him?”
I smiled, struggling to sit up.
“Just returning the favor.”
Julian helped me out of the room. The hallway was a chaotic mess. Tiffany was there, wailing and throwing a tantrum. Derek irritably tugged at his tie, trying to placate her in a low voice.
An overtly dressed woman stood nearby, watching with cold eyes.
Soon after, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes arrived. It was clear to anyone with eyes what had happened in the room.
Julian and I stood a short distance away. Derek immediately pointed at us and screamed,
“They both set me up! I was clearly going to..”
<
E
“They both set me up! I was clearly going to…”
He almost blurted it out, but then he remembered that he had been the one who tried to assault me first, and he instantly calmed down.
If this incident blew up, Mr. Sterling would never forgive him.
“How could you do this to me! You said you only loved me!”
Tiffany’s wails attracted many of the guests who had come for the engagement party. The previous two incidents had already ruined Derek’s reputation. With today’s chaos, who knew what people would say about him outside.
Derek, dizzy with rage from all the gazes, took his anger out on Tiffany, slapping her across the face.
“Why are you crying? Haven’t you caused enough embarrassment already?!”
With all the drama, no one noticed that the engagement ceremony had been delayed by twenty minutes.
Julian and I appeared hand–in–hand, ignoring Derek’s murderous glare, and stood on the stage, smiling sweetly.
My mother emerged from backstage with the Vance family’s butler and several assistants. The guests present widened their eyes in disbelief.
Though they didn’t recognize my mother, they certainly recognized the Vance family’s assistants.
Many were eager to approach and speak with her. At that moment, my mother took the microphone and announced my identity as the heiress to the Vance family.
Derek and Tiffany below the stage looked utterly shell–shocked, their mouths agape, unsure how to react.
Mr. and Mrs. Hayes beside them turned red and then pale, gasping for air like fish out of water.
They hadn’t realized I was the Vance family heiress. In that moment, they finally understood what Mr. Sterling had meant when he said that whoever married me would inherit the Hayes family.
