Chapter Seventeen

Amelia's POV

Getting champagne poured on me was a terrible experience. The liquid soaked my hair, messing up my coiffure, and dripped down my face onto my dress. I was forced to stand there in shock, blinking champagne away from my lashes and feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"Now you know how it feels to be mistreated," the man said smugly.

How was a grown man behaving like a kindergartner? Who still poured wine on people these days, anyway?

All because I refused to talk to him?

My fists clenched at my sides and I glared at him, wanting nothing more than to put my fist through his stupid face.

People were starting to notice what happened. I could hear whispers as the other guests turned in our direction.

I didn't need to look to know that they were recording, and being Isabella Domitia meant that I couldn't get into a fight that could end up on the internet.

However, the last thing I expected was for Jeremy to walk quickly over to me, taking off his suit jacket. He wrapped it around my shoulders, then took out a hankie and began to wipe the champagne from my face.

"You really should start wearing an alarm that beeps whenever your ex boyfriends get anywhere near you," he said under his breath. "I swear, all of them are so mad, they would do anything. You could literally got stabbed one day."

Oh. So this was another poor dude Isabella had dumped. Well, I suspected she must have found him immature as well. I got that he was heartbroken, but acting like the boring bully in middle school just to get back at his ex?

Damn.

"It's not like I just broke up with him yesterday or something," I grumbled.

Based on my calculations, my last "ex" was Elijah, then Jacob Flynn. I didn't know when Isabella had broken up with this one.

And honestly, I didn't care.

"You did break up with him by getting together with another guy while he thought you two were still dating," Jeremy pointed out.

'What?' I thought, my jaw almost dropping in shock. 'Come on, Isabella. A normal breakup is not that hard. What did you make it so messy for?'

"Well," I replied. "It's not my fault he was delusional. He wasn't going to accept that we were over unless he saw me moving on."

"Moving on," the man sneered.

I hadn't even noticed he was still standing there.

"You can tell yourself and other people whatever lies you want," he said, "but the truth remains that you were being a freaking whore like always."

Before I could react to this, Jeremy charged forward and punched the man so hard that he fell to the floor. I stared in shock at the unexpected turn of events.

Before the man could get up, Jeremy was raining more punches down on him. Gasps of shock came from the other guests as the men fought like it was a death match.

'I want to go home,' I thought, suddenly feeling very tired.

I had had more than enough of being Isabella Domitia for one day.

Meanwhile, the crowd was drawing closer until there was a circle around us. Cameras were aimed at three of us, despite my efforts to step out of recording range. I pulled Jeremy's jacket tighter around my body, wishing I could use it to hide my face too.

I was staring at the floor, wishing desperately for it to open up and swallow me whole, when I heard someone suddenly announce excitedly "Julian Lake is walking in!"

Instantly, my head snapped up, and I craned my neck towards the door. Most of the other guests were doing the same.

Then he walked through the doors, and my heart nearly stopped. Not just because he was drop dead gorgeous, but because he was the same gorgeous guy from the bar forever ago. That was Julian Lake?

I had poured my drink on Julian freaking Lake?!!! I was still gaping at him when he turned in my direction. His eyes fell on me, and I tensed, but his gaze slid right through me like I wasn't there at all.

'Oh,' I thought. 'He doesn't recognize me.'

I wasn't sure whether to feel relief or disappointment at that. As I watched him walk further in, past an adoring crowd that parted like the red sea before him, I couldn't help noticing something odd.

When I met him at the bar, he had shown several expressions, even though they were just different versions of an "are you stupid?" face. But now he just looked bored. He didn't even seem to notice his fanclub, which was made up of pretty much everybody in the hall.

"You embarrassment!" a shrill voice yelled.

I turned to see Mr and Mrs Domitia stomping their way to me with giant frowns on their faces. Just in time for Jeremy to deliver one final, winning blow to his opponent. He stood up, casually wiping blood from his nose as if neither his frowning parents nor his now untidy appearance mattered.

Like the unfair human beings they were, Mr and Mrs Domitia did not lay a finger on Jeremy. They just said, "Jeremy, we're leaving." Then Mrs Domitia grabbed my upper arm like she wanted to break it and practically dragged me out of the hall.

The moment we were in the car, the shouting began.

"How could you two be so stupid?!"

"We're tired of your boyfriend drama, Isabella!"

"You're a disgrace to this family!"

"You call yourself our heiress?!"

And on it went.

As soon as we got home, Mr Domitia exited the car like he couldn't bear to continue breathing the same air as us, and made sure to bang the door on his way out. Mrs Domitia fixed us, or rather me, with a stink eye first.

"If you've ruined your chances with Julian Lake," she declared, "we're disowning you, you disgraceful child."