Ch 6: Red Diamond

A sleek Maybach stops in front of the Hawkins’ mansion. Everyone in the vicinity instantly breaks into whispers when they see Ryder Rochester coming out of it, looking sleek and handsome than ever. His red hair is brushed back and his sharp eyes are twinkling as if he’s expecting something exciting to happen.

“Isn’t that Ryder Rochester?” One guest whispers.

“A Rochester at Hawkins’ party? He won’t be pleased!” Another guest gossips. 

Ryder ignores them and simply walks towards the hall where the guests are enjoying themselves. His eyes fall on the dark haired woman in the middle who’s wearing a pink dress and is entertaining the guests at her own engagement party.

Elle is sweetly smiling at the business associates, but not engaging in conversations with them. Their business talks are boring to her.

“Congratulations.”

Her smile freezes when she hears the voice. She slowly turns around to find herself face to face with Ryder. Her heart skips several beats when he steps closer.

“What are you doing here?” She whispers. “This isn’t a place for you-”

“Don’t you wanna greet an old friend?” Ryder grins. “I’m merely here to congratulate you on your big day!”

Elle purses her lips, aware of the people around her. Ryder is enjoying her discomfort, the secret of their past hanging like a knife over Elle’s head. 

“What do you-” Elle begins to ask but is interrupted by a disruption. Everyone turns towards one of the corridors from which two people are emerging, one seemingly dragged by the other. Hector is pulling Scarlett’s wrist, dragging her roughly towards the hall before throwing her on the ground. Scarlett doesn’t say anything, not even wincing at the painful grip on her arm. She stops herself from falling when he pushes her, instead glaring at him.

“Look who it is, everyone!” Hector gleefully announces. “My ex-wife has come here to pay her gratitude to me!”

Elle is shocked to see Scarlett, her eyes widening by the sight of her stepsister. The many years in jail have made Scarlett even thinner than she was and there’s now a harder look to her. But even now, her beauty is unmatched. There’s no doubt about it.

Scarlett can feel the eyes on her. She knows that many of the guests at the party are talking about her. Everyone heard about the infamous step sister of Elle Swanson, the wily and scheming woman who forcefully married Hector Hawkins. It was all over the news. The step sister who stole everything from Cinderella but ended up in jail for her misdeeds. 

Seeing her fall was entertaining to them. And now that she’s back, they’re gonna see her fall again. 

Scarlett is quiet as Hector goes on.

“You really have no shame!” He accuses. “Not only did you kill your step father and crippled my sister, but you have the audacity to come back here? Did you think you’re the mistress of this house? Didn’t you get the divorce papers in jail? Or have you forgotten what you’ve done?”

His anger is exploding on her. It’s all her fault. The company’s losses and his family’s crumbling state is all because of Scarlett. In his mind, she’s nothing less than a harlot who deserved no happiness nor any pity. He wants to smash that pretty face of hers and ruin her!

“Answer me!” He growls. Elle dashes towards her fiance.

“Hector, honey don’t do this!” She feigns a concerned tone. “Sister is just here to apologize-”

“Apologize?” Scarlett speaks up. “For what? Why should I apologize to this sorry excuse of a man? Oh wait…”

Scarlett grins at Hector’s chagrin. “He’s no man!” She taunts him. “A real man doesn’t go around sleeping with his sister-in-law!”

“F*cking wh*re!” Hector roars and raises his hand to hit her but Scarlett grabs his arm and twists it so hard that Hector screams in pain. 

The guests are horrified and Elle shouts, “Someone save him!”

Several guards rush to pull Scarlett away. One of them grabs her and throws her on the floor while the others run to help Hector, who’s still whimpering.

“What a disgusting woman!” One guest shouts. “Throw her out!”

Scarlett is being held by the guards and she’s struggling to be freed. Hector is swearing at her while Elle is trying to calm him down.

“Sister, what have I ever done to you?” She cries. “Why do you do this?”

Elle bursts into tears, hiding her face but only Scarlett knows that she’s not crying. She knows Elle a little too well. Hector stands up and pats his beloved Elle.

“What the hell are you even doing?” Hector snarls at the guards. “Throw her out-”

Suddenly, several men march towards the guards holding down Scarlett. They take out their guns and point at the guards who are flabbergasted. One of the men points a gun at Hector and Elle, who are taken aback with shock.

“What’s going on?” Elle cries. “Who are these people?”

The guests are also scared. Guns? How? 

A figure casually walks up to them. Hector sputters at the sight of Ryder. Beside him, Elle is also shifting in fear. It seems that Ryder has brought his men with him.

Ryder takes out his own gun from his suit’s pocket and points it at Hector who cowers under it.

“W-What the hell are you doing?” Hector stammers. “This is an open provocation! The other families won’t stand by and watch! They’ll kill you for starting a war-”

“Eh?” Ryder teases. “Me? Start a war? It was you who provoked my family first. If I’m not wrong, you’re the one who assaulted Scarlett first and I’m simply retaliating. It’s self-defense.”

He steps closer, still pointing the gun at Hector. “Shall I kill you? Or cripple you? Either way, what bliss!”

“No.”

Scarlett calmly pushes away the guards who were trying to hold her down and stands up.

“Let them live, Ryder,” she says. “It’s their big day as well, after all. We shouldn’t create discord. Especially when we have our own happy news to share.”

Ryder shrugs and tucks his gun back to his pocket.

“Lucky b*stard,” he mutters at Hector. 

Hector and Elle are confused. Their confusion is reflected by the others who are also scratching their heads. Scarlett turns to the guests.

“I have my own announcement to make,” she tells them with a smirk. She holds up her left hand to show a bright red diamond sparkling on her ring finger.

“Ryder and I got married,” she announces with a smile. “And as of today, we’re the partial owners of the Hawkins’ Group. We’ll be moving into this mansion tomorrow.”