Chapter 6
The old expert’s heartbroken sobs and his anguished accusations exploded like thunder through the silent arrivals hall!
Chief Engineer Richard Arden! A national hero! A national treasure!
Each word hit like a sledgehammer,crushing into everyone’s hearts!
The crowd that had just been intimidated by the guards was now completely overwhelmed by this shocking truth and devastating grief!
Countless eyes focused on those cold fragments on the ground, filled with awe, regret, and towering rage!
“Jesus Christ!”
“Richard Arden! I remember now! The aerospace hero! They showed him on the news!”
“A priceless national treasure got smashed?!”
“That woman! And Elliot Hawke! It was them!”
All the anger, all the fury, found its target and instantly turned toward Celine collapsed on the ground and Elliot!
Elliot’s body swayed hard, completely losing all color, even his lips turning gray.
He stared in disbelief at those fragments he’d mockingly called “broken junk,” then at the sobbing expert, and finally his eyes locked onto my face.
Those eyes were filled with pure despair!
He finally understood why I’d said “you can’t afford it”!
Celine had completely fallen apart.
She was collapsed on the ground, not even having the strength to shake anymore.
She finally understood what kind of catastrophic disaster she’d caused! What two million dollar earrings? What future Mrs. Hawke?
In the face of destroying a national treasure, all of that was as insignificant as dust!
She was done! Completely done!
Elliot suddenly snapped to attention, like he’d grabbed onto a last lifeline.
Completely forgetting his image, he stumbled toward me, forcing his face into a smile that looked worse than crying, his voice carrying unprecedented humility and desperation.
“Calista! It’s a misunderstanding! This is all a huge misunderstanding!”
He was babbling incoherently, his trembling finger pointing at Celine.
“It was her! All that stupid woman’s fault! It has nothing to do with me! Really! I didn’t know! I didn’t know this was Uncle Richard’s!”
Looking at my cold, emotionless eyes, his terror was so great he was about to drop to his knees, his voice breaking.
“The engagement! Our engagement! It still counts! We’ll get married right away! Everything the Hawke family has is yours! Please forgive me! Please help me explain to them!Please!”
His voice was filled with desperate pleading. The Hawke Industries CEO who’d just been looking down on me and talking shit was now groveling like a dog.
I looked at his face, twisted and distorted by fear, at those eyes full of panic and calculation, and thinking of Dad, my heart felt nothing but desolation.
I slowly raised my hand, stopping his incoherent begging.
“The engagement?”
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Chapter 6
My voice was calm, with a sense of finality.
“From the moment your secretary destroyed Artemis-9 and you chose to take her side, from the moment you showed complete contempt for my father’s belongings and humiliated me – it was already more shattered than this treasure!”
