“Our Ruby can take care of herself! Get lost! Get lost!”
My assistant called in a panic—people were flooding in reports against the company.
The livestream chat was nothing but abuse.
Someone had already photoshopped my face onto a funeral portrait and blasted it across every platform.
【Wanted a marriage certificate? Here's your memorial photo instead. Go die.】
Ruby scrolled through post after post. Not a single word in my defense.
“Honey……can you please stop making a scene?”
The guests were shifting in their seats. “What's going on here? He didn't even work this out with the bride first, and he's trying to get married?”
Her fans chanted：“Get off! Get off!”
The chanting kept going.
I still didn't say a word.
Half an hour. That's all it would take for my bride to finish her makeup and arrive.
I turned to the guests. “The bride and I have already talked this through. We've got our marriage certificate.”
Ruby and Sebastian both looked stunned. Especially Ruby.
She stepped forward. “Sweetheart, how could you lie to them like that? Faking a marriage certificate is a crime. You could go to jail.”
The second before her fingers could touch it, I passed the certificate to my parents.
They ran their thumbs over the photo. “This girl is beautiful.”
Ruby's lips curled when she heard that. “Calm down, okay? We'll get married quietly in a little while. Just give me some face today.”
She shoved at me, trying to push me off the stage. “Alright, enough of this. I guess I'm just too irresistible.”
Her fans rolled their eyes. “How embarrassing. Faking a marriage certificate? Even teenage fangirls don't pull stunts like that anymore.”
A glass of wine hit me full in the face. It ran down, soaking through my suit.
I raised a hand and wiped the wine from my face. “Sebastian. What do you mean by that?”
He wore his best righteous expression. “How can you bully a woman like this? I never should have given you money to start that company—all it did was let you do harm!”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“So he built his whole business off his buddy's money. What an ungrateful piece of work.”
“The guy standing up for Ruby is probably her boyfriend, right? I remember her saying she'd date when she felt like it.”
Where no one else could see, Sebastian leaned in close and whispered：“You're usually so clear-headed. Why did you have to make a scene today? You and Ruby have such a good thing. I can't just stand by and watch you two fall apart over this.”
I shoved him hard and walked out the door.
Behind me, the fans got in their parting shots. “Ran off like a stray dog with his tail between his legs. Pathetic.”
Outside, I had my assistant bring a fresh suit.
My phone was already lighting up.
【Three minutes until arrival at the venue.】
My son had sent a message too.
【That Ruby Dickerson also stole company secrets and gave them to Sebastian. He sold them to your competitor. That's a crime too.】
I handed every file, every piece of evidence, to the AV crew backstage.
“When I give the signal, you put these up on the big screen. One by one.”
I straightened my tie and walked back into the venue in long, steady strides.
The doors swung open. Ruby was already up on stage, dancing with easy grace.
Sebastian was her partner.
The fans below were going wild, cheering with everything they had.
“Ruby, this guy's pretty cute! And he knows how to treat you. Honestly, just lock him down!”
They were deep in it now, Sebastian's arm wrapped around Ruby's waist, the two of them pressed close with zero daylight between them.
Ruby laughed and called down to the crowd：“Watch and learn, girls! What matters most is having a good time while you can—especially with men. If he's fun, play with him a little.”
She grabbed Sebastian's collar, yanked it down, and pressed her lips to his.
