Chapter 3 - The Cold Truth
""Is that true?"" Victoria asked, staring at the man she was supposed to marry in three months. ""You stole her savings and canceled her insurance while she was pregnant?""
""It was my money! I earned that bonus!"" Terrence screamed, losing all semblance of composure. ""She was trying to ruin my future! Why should I have sacrificed my career for kids I never wanted?""
The words hung in the chilly December air, toxic and irrevocable.
Delilah stepped behind my leg, wrapping her arms around my coat. Wyatt clenched his little fists, glaring at Terrence with fierce maturity. Mason gently reached out to comfort his sister, while Savannah maintained an unnerving, unflinching stare at her biological father.
""Kids you never wanted,"" Richard Sterling repeated slowly, disgust dripping from every syllable. ""A man who abandons his flesh and blood is capable of any betrayal in business. And you wanted to merge into my board of directors?""
""Mr. Sterling, please, this is a private matter!"" Lorraine intervened desperately, rushing forward with a glass of water that she tried to hand to Victoria. ""Keahu is doing this out of jealousy! Look at her, she’s trying to sabotage my son’s happiness! Terrence has been a devoted partner to your daughter!""
""Shut up, Lorraine!"" Victoria shouted, whirling around. Tears of humiliation were streaming down her cheeks, smudging her mascara. ""You told me Keahu died in a car accident years ago! You sat in my mother’s salon and swore Terrence had lived through the tragic loss of his high school sweetheart! You fabricated an entire bereavement story to gain my family's sympathy!""
The guests gasped again. Several people pulled out their phones, surreptitiously recording the unfolding spectacle. The facade of the prestigious Coleman family was disintegrating by the second.
""I... I only wanted what was best for Terrence,"" Lorraine whimpered, covering her face with her trembling hands. ""He deserved a fresh start!""
""At the expense of four innocent lives?"" I asked, looking Lorraine dead in the eyes. ""You knew, Lorraine. Don't play the innocent martyr. When the babies were three months old and fighting respiratory infections in the neonatal intensive care unit, I swallowed my pride. I called you from a hospital payphone, begging you to ask Terrence for our family medical history because Wyatt needed emergency surgery.""
Lorraine froze, her eyes bulging with terror.
""Do you remember what you told me, Lorraine?"" I continued, taking one slow, deliberate step toward her. ""You told me: 'If those bastards die, don't send the bill to my house.' And then you hung up.""
The room fell into a silence so absolute that the faint ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner sounded like thunder.
Aunt Beatrice dropped her wine glass. Uncle Raymond shook his head in profound shame, turning his back on his sister.
""You monster,"" Victoria whispered, backing away from Lorraine and Terrence. ""You absolute monsters.""
Victoria slowly reached down to her finger. With deliberate, shaking movements, she pulled off the engagement ring. She looked at Terrence, who was practically on his knees, weeping in panic.
May you like
""The wedding is off,"" Victoria declared coldly. ""The merger is dead. And by tomorrow morning, every member of the country club and every logistics board in the state will know exactly what kind of parasitic coward you are.""
She threw the ring onto the floor. It bounced against the wood and rolled into the dark puddle of wine.
