“Wait!”
A clear, commanding voice cut through the celebration.
Every head in the room turned toward me.
Under the weight of all those stares, I walked to the stage, took the microphone from the host's hand, and faced the crowd.
Every pair of eyes was locked on me, wary and uncertain, as I spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there's something you should know.”
“This woman's husband, Elwin Henson, is already a married man.”
“He carried on with another woman behind his wife's back and fathered a child with her.”
I held up my marriage certificate with Elwin for the entire room to see, plain as day.
The moment the words left my mouth, the room erupted.
Guests stared at the two of them in open disbelief.
One of the senior figures in attendance turned to Summer's father.
“Mr. Pruitt, what exactly is going on here?”
Jeremy Pruitt's face was dark as a storm cloud.
He shot a displeased glance at Summer on the stage, as if blaming her for not handling this beforehand.
So he had known about Elwin's marriage all along and had simply gone along with whatever his daughter wanted.
The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
In that instant, I decided the Pruitt family had no reason left to exist.
Beside me, Summer was seething, her glare sharp enough to flay me alive.
But it was Elwin who spoke up.
“Everyone, please, don't believe a word she says!”
“Yes, we signed a marriage certificate, but she dragged me to the courthouse when I was blackout drunk. It doesn't count!”
“We don't even have children together. She's the one who won't let go!”
“So that certificate? It's nothing but a piece of paper.”
He delivered it with such conviction that the crowd swallowed every word.
The accusations swung toward me instead.
“So she's just some obsessed admirer? Unbelievable. Crashing a Pruitt family event like this.”
“I knew it. A man like Mr. Henson would never do something so disgraceful.”
“The delusion on this woman is something else entirely.”
The ridicule and contempt crashed over me like a wave, burying me where I stood.
I stayed rooted to the spot, cold to the bone, every limb rigid.
The husband I had loved for three years had just twisted every truth inside out and slandered me in front of hundreds of people.
And in that moment, I laughed.
I looked straight at Elwin.
“Good for you. You're really something.”
His expression was remote, his voice low.：“Maura, I told you. You shouldn't have come here. Since you insist on clinging to me, don't blame me for what happens next.”
Below the stage, Jeremy Pruitt nodded at him with a look of approval.
Summer's face twisted into something ugly as she turned on me.：“You just don't know when to quit, do you? Fine. Then you can die for it.”
She screamed at the bodyguards standing near the stage.：“What are you standing around for? Drag this lying tramp out and get rid of her!”
Relatives from both families piled on, cursing me for disgracing their names.
The bodyguards surged toward the stage.
Every guest in the hall held their breath. The tension was suffocating.
Everyone was certain of the same thing: I had crossed the Pruitts, and I was finished.
Then the next second changed everything.
The heavy double doors of the hotel ballroom slammed open.
Dozens of black-suited security operatives poured in, moving in lockstep. They pinned the bodyguards to the floor before a single one could reach me.
The lead operative stopped before me and reported.：
“Ma'am, the hotel is locked down. Not even a fly is getting out.”
I lifted my gaze and let it drift across the ashen faces of Summer, Elwin, and every member of both families.
A smile curved my lips, cold and razor-edged.
“You wanted me dead, didn't you? You wanted to twist the truth?”
“Then let's see who buries who today.”
