I didn’t want to stir up more trouble, so I reluctantly went to change.
While I was getting ready, the butler placed a jewelry box in front of me. Inside was a set of pink diamonds, glittering under the light.
I shook my head. “Don’t I already have a set of pink diamonds? Bring me that one instead.”
The butler’s voice stayed calm. “This set was prepared especially for tonight’s banquet. Please cooperate.”
I shot him a sharp look, but he kept his eyes lowered, outwardly respectful yet firm in his stance.
A cold laugh slipped from my lips. “Fine, have it your way.”
When the car stopped at the hotel, I stepped out, and immediately, people surrounded me with greetings and smiles.
“Mrs. Velasquez, long time no see! I heard you just got out of the hospital. How is your recovery?”
“Oh, listen to you, Mrs. Velasquez looks radiant tonight. Clearly, you’ve fully recovered!”
“Mrs. Velasquez, President Velasquez has been so devoted. Five years in a coma, and he stayed by your side the entire time. That’s the kind of devotion people envy!”
I kept a polite smile on my face, but inside, waves of bitterness rolled like a storm.
Just as I was about to usher them inside, a car pulled up behind me.
The door opened, and Trisha stepped out gracefully, her arm linked with Andrius.
The crowd fell silent instantly, their eyes riveted.
Then, whispers rose like a tide, swirling through the gathering.
“What’s happening? Why is President Velasquez arriving with Mrs. Velasquez’s sister and holding her hand?”
“Isn’t this a slap in the face? Weren’t they just praising his devotion? This is humiliating…”
“Exactly! Tonight’s banquet was supposed to celebrate Mrs. Velasquez, yet the mistress just waltzes in!”
I stood frozen, nails digging into my palms as my face turned cold.
Trisha, unaware of my mood, came over with a bright smile. “Sister, why didn’t you wait for us?”
Andrius, clearly uneasy, pulled his arm from hers. “Maxine, Trisha wasn’t feeling well before we left, so I….”
“This?” I cut him off, my voice sharp as ice. “This is the banquet you prepared for me? Some kind of special show?”
The crowd’s expressions shifted like ripples, some pitying, some mocking, others eager for the drama.
Andrius’s brows furrowed, his lips twitching as if to speak, but in the end, he only muttered, “Let’s go in first,” and strode ahead.
Trisha pouted. “Andrius, slow down!”
He actually stopped, waited for her to catch up, then wrapped an arm around her waist and walked her into the banquet hall.
A lady leaned close to me and whispered, “Mrs. Velasquez, you don’t look well. Would you like to rest in my car for a while?”
The gazes around me felt like thorns, piercing my back with every step. If I faltered now, I would become a laughingstock.
“Thank you, no need,” I said, forcing my shoulders back as I walked into the banquet hall.
“Five years in a coma, only to wake and have her husband stolen by her own sister, how pitiful.”
“I heard Mrs. Velasquez was just a scholarship student the family helped. She never fit in. People called it a prince-and-Cinderella story.”
“And didn’t she lose a child? Who knows if she can even have another? No wonder Andrius chose someone else.”
“She really can’t have more children?”
Every whisper cut into my chest like a knife, yet I had no words to defend myself.
