William forced himself to crack into a smile. He was a very egoistic person, hence regardless of whether Alexandra was joking or not, her previous sentence caused him to lose face. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I know that Alexandra loves to joke around. So, since I’m going to be marrying her, of course, I’m going to have to be more forgiving of her. How could I possibly take it to heart?”However, when William said, “Take it to heart,” he did not say it convincingly enough and revealed the unhappiness he had within. Nevertheless, there was nothing that Victor could say to refute since it was his daughter who was wrong in the first place. Therefore, he could only force himself to smile and comment no further. However, Alexandra immediately said something to make the scene even more awkward than it already was!“Who says that I was joking? I’m serious,” she said with a straight face. Then, she told Victor, “Daddy, haven’t I told you that I’ve already got a boyfriend? Plus, he’s even here
”I demand an explanation, Victor!”Tony’s features were extremely twisted as he shot Victor a death stare, seeming like he intended to blow his top at any moment.William also had a ferocious expression on his face as his cast turned completely red. Anyone would be able to see that he was already on the verge of a breakdown and was a literal barrel of dynamite that would explode at the slightest spark.Even Victor, who had experienced all sorts of tough situations before, could not help but feel his head itch as he felt anxious momentarily. However, there was nothing that he could do to turn the situation around since they were in the wrong in the first place. It was already a marriage that had been decided beforehand, yet Alexandra had just declared that she had a boyfriend. Therefore, if this did not mean that William had been cheated on, then it would be a tight slap on the Smiths’ faces!‘Honestly, I would’ve never thought that Alexandra would be so naughty and disobedient. How
“What do you mean, Dad? Since when have I ever been a difficult child to mind? Look, this is my marriage. Can’t I make a decision on something that will affect the rest of my entire life?” Alexandra retorted as a lump ballooned in her throat. Her eyes darted in the direction where Zayn was, hopeful that he would rise up and stand on her side when she needed him the most.To her horror, Zayn was gone though she had no idea where to.‘B-b-but…! Where’s Zayn? He was here just a moment ago! How could he be gone now?’ Her mind flailed from the disappearance and she panicked. She started looking around in earnest, hoping that she could locate the man, but he might as well have faded into thin air, never to be seen again.How could this have happened? Had Zayn abandoned her and skedaddled on his own?Alexandra’s first instinct was to leap off the stage and look for him. If he had vanished, she would be left hard-pressed on what to do right now.She did not know that unbeknownst to hersel
The crowd’s eyes were instantly trained at the direction Alexandra cast.Victor could feel his hair standing on its end as he came to grips with the fact that things had gone out of his control. Never in his storied life had he expected his darling, docile little daughter, whose naughtiest shenanigans used to be disguising herself as a boy for a romp, to be such a reckless rebel. Tonight was supposed to be the engagement party held jointly by the Smiths and the Browns! They had invited so many members of high society as witnesses, but all they managed to witness was this fiasco!How could the Smiths’ reputation ever recover from this? In fact, Victor could already imagine just how irreparable the family’s name would become after tonight—and how bloody and bitter the Browns’ resentment was going to be.Had he known that this was going to happen, Victor would have rather canceled this sorry catastrophe of an engagement.There was, of course, a possible way to rescue the Smiths’ nosed
The question scrapped against the air so abruptly that, while it was not loud, it pounded and reverberated across the hall.Everyone heard it. All at once, wandering eyes pooled over the source of the voice where a young man in a suit stood.His first button was undone and his tie was absent—a combination of fashion choices that made him appear charmingly cavalier and nonconformist. He had eschewed styling his hair, contrasting everyone else in the room, and let his mane assume its natural form. He did not bear the most handsome features in the room, but he had something else to him—an air of alternative duende—that made it hard to tear one’s attention away from him.Who else could this be other than Zayn Larson?Hearing him speaking up made Gordon, who stood near him, gawk in nonplussed shock. Never in his imagination had he ever predicted Alexandra’s boyfriend to be him!The familiarity in his voice arrested every muscle in Alexandra’s face. She turned to find Zayn, and the tear
The corner of Victor’s lips jolted uncontrollably.In his mind, the poor man was howling in despair. How was he supposed to answer this? This engagement party had turned into a joke!“It was you, Zayn Larson! It was you all along!” A shout, laced with staggering bitterness, rang out nearby. There was malice burning in William’s eyes as he glowered at Zayn with a look of vertigo whose hunger could only be relished by his enemy’s flesh, bones, and fresh, warm blood.Emotions assaulted the man’s veins so violently. They twisted his features beyond recognition while waves of visible tremor rocked him. Not a mote of his famed handsomeness survived; now, he looked like a demon in the flesh who terrorized the onlooking crowd.Zayn was not the least afraid of him. He smiled and remarked, “Oh, it’s me, all right. Gee, William Brown, I didn’t expect you to be so lucky! You actually survived.”Shrill chomping sounds escaped from William as the man gnashed his teeth. Combined with his clenche
Tony was wearing one of his foulest grimaces. It was clear that Victor had hardened his resolve and made a choice, and that was to become enemies with him rather than to explain themselves out of this fiasco.To ask someone like him to just take the loss and scamper away was akin to asking for the impossible, but admittedly, there was no turning back after all was said and done. Far more impossible things had happened, and if he were to throw a fit right now, their unflattering optics would be all on him.One did not occupy his spot as a mogul without the necessary wits—Tony let what had happened simmer in his mind for a second and immediately saw the key to the issue. With a chuckle, he put on a look of benevolence and looked into Victor’s eyes, proclaiming, “You’re your daughter’s precious little Papa above all else, after all, Victor. Tonight will truly live long in my memory.”It was a proclamation clear as day to every attendee: the Smiths and the Browns were now enemies.To t
Alexandra’s face turned a little paler.William was the worst—and she could not overstate how much she hated him. Why must he be so irksome?! Could he please give himself the boot without one last kick at her?Yes, Alexandra knew who Zayn really was—the maligned son-in-law of the Carter family whose infamy was too well-known in the city. If her family knew all about it, she could bet that their heads would explode. Worse, her dad was definitely not going to let her off the hook this easily, too. How could she not panic?Now that things had come to this, there was no other option for her than to grit her teeth and dissembled nonchalance the best she could. “Oh, please. As if there’s anything for me to hide! Zayn is my boyfriend who, I know, has never killed anyone or violated the law. Honestly, are you done with your yammering? Can you spare us the embarrassment and leave already?”Alexandra had accidentally worded her retort too tartly that she immediately attracted the ire of ever