📖 Chapter 2: The Mother’s Sins and the Bride’s Fury
"It’s a lie! A cheap setup for money!" Evelyn screamed, her perfect wedding facade completely disintegrating. She pointed a trembling finger at the little boy, Leo. "He’s a fraud! Arthur, tell them it’s a lie!"
But Arthur wasn’t looking at Evelyn. He walked step by step down the altar, past his weeping bride, and stopped right in front of his mother.
"Is it true?" Arthur’s voice was dangerously quiet. "Did you drive Clara away? Did you tell her I wanted her gone?"
Eleanor Sterling stood up, smoothing her Chanel dress. "I did what was necessary for this family, Arthur. A waitress from the slums has no place in the Sterling dynasty. Evelyn is your equal. That... thing standing there is just a mistake."
SLAP.
The sound echoed through the ballroom. But it wasn't Arthur who struck. It was Evelyn.
Evelyn hadn't slapped Eleanor out of justice; she had slapped her out of humiliated fury. "You knew?!" Evelyn shrieked at Eleanor. "You knew he had a bastard child, and you let me walk into this public humiliation?! My family’s reputation is ruined!"
Evelyn turned her rage back to Arthur. "Choose right now, Arthur. Throw that boy out, erase that tape, and marry me today—or I walk, and my family pulls every single dollar of investment out of Sterling Industries by midnight!"
Arthur looked at Evelyn, the woman he thought he loved, now looking like a monster in a white dress. Then he looked down at Leo. The boy was crying silently, clutching his own arms, terrified of the storm he had unleashed.
Arthur knelt on the marble floor, right into the shattered glass. He pulled Leo into a tight embrace.
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"I'm sorry," Arthur whispered into the boy's hair, tears finally streaming down his face. "I am so, so sorry."
Arthur stood up, holding Leo’s small hand securely in his. He looked Evelyn dead in the eye. "The wedding is over. Get out of my sight."
