Chapter 2: Cracks in the Empire
Within minutes, the party dissolved into chaos.
Phones came out. Names were searched. Truths were confirmed.
And every single result pointed to one thing—
She wasn’t lying.
Daniel felt the ground shift beneath him.
“You… you’re part of that Hale family?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I didn’t want to be,” she replied. “Not like this.”
Eleanor staggered back, gripping the edge of a glass table.
“Impossible… our company… our investments…” she muttered.
“Yes,” the bride said calmly. “All backed by Rival Bank.”
A pause.
“Which means… by my family.”
That was the moment everything broke.
Because suddenly, Eleanor wasn’t the powerful one anymore.
May you like
She was dependent.
And everyone knew it.
