The silence in the grand ballroom was deafening. Thousands of dollars' worth of champagne glasses remained suspended in mid-air as eyes shifted from the slick, dark-suited lawyer to the frail old man holding a single crushed white rose.

Before Julian could even process the words, four muscular men in black suits stepped forward, silently forming a wall between the ruined groom and the wealthy elite who had just been laughing with him seconds ago.

The high-society guests began to whisper furiously.

"Did you know about this?" "I knew the Vances were broke, but a fake estate?!" "Look at Julian... he looks pathetic."

Friends who had just toasted to Julian’s bright future suddenly avoided his eyes. Some quietly slipped out the side doors to call their brokers; others pulled out their phones, surreptitiously filming the meltdown.

"Get your hands off me!" Julian roared as a bodyguard took a firm grip on his arm. "I'm calling my mother! She knows the truth!"

"Your mother signed the power of attorney over to Mr. Sterling two hours ago, Julian," Harrison interjected, adjusting his silver wire glasses. "In exchange for Mr. Sterling paying off her offshore gambling debts in Macau, she relinquished all claims to the Vance surname and its assets. She is currently on a flight to Geneva. Alone."

Julian felt as if the world was tilting under his feet. His mother had abandoned him? His entire life—the luxury cars, the penthouse in Manhattan, the trust fund—was a house of cards, and it had just been blown away by a man he had spat on an hour ago.

Chloe grabbed Julian’s arm, her claws digging through his suit jacket. "Julian! Do something! Tell them he’s lying! Tell me you still have the villa in St. Tropez!"

Julian looked at her, his eyes hollow. "Chloe... I..."

"You don't," Thomas answered for him. "The St. Tropez villa was repossessed last Tuesday. As were the yachts."

Chloe’s face turned from bright red to pale white. She slowly loosened her grip on Julian’s arm, stepping back as if his poverty was contagious.

"You lied to me," she breathed, her voice dripping with disgust. "You told me you were worth three billion dollars!"

"Chloe, baby, please! We can fix this!" Julian pleaded, reaching for her hand.

"Get away from me!" she screamed, tearing off her multi-carat engagement ring and hurling it at his chest. The diamond bounced off his suit and landed on the cold marble floor with a sharp clack. "I spent six months planning this wedding! My family invested millions into your tech startup!"

"Which is also bankrupt," Harrison added unhelpfully. "In fact, the Securities and Exchange Commission has just issued a warrant for Mr. Vance's arrest regarding insider trading and embezzlement of Sterling funds."