Chapter Two: The Price of a Lie
By morning, videos of the confrontation had spread across social media.
One guest had recorded Isabella leaving the mansion. Another had captured Vanessa removing her engagement ring and throwing it across the ballroom.
The headlines were merciless.
ASHFORD HEIR’S SECRET LOVER CRASHES ENGAGEMENT PARTY.
SOCIETY WEDDING ENDS BEFORE IT BEGINS.
WHO IS THE MYSTERY WOMAN IN SILVER?
Adrian’s father, Charles Ashford, ordered his legal team to bury the story. He also ordered Adrian to release a statement denying any romantic relationship with Isabella.
“You will say she was a former employee who became emotionally attached to you,” Charles said from behind his desk.
Adrian felt sick. “That’s a lie.”
“It is a solution.”
“She gave up her job because of me.”
“Then she should have known better.”
Adrian slammed both hands on the desk. “I love her.”
Charles barely reacted. “Love is not a business strategy.”
The engagement to Vanessa had been designed to merge Ashford Holdings with the Cole family’s investment firm. Without the merger, Charles warned, thousands of employees could lose their jobs.
For months, Adrian had used those employees to justify his silence.
But now he saw the truth.
He had not protected them.
He had protected himself.
Across the city, Isabella stayed inside her father’s apartment while reporters waited outside. Richard offered to use his influence to remove every article, but she refused.
“I’m tired of hiding,” she told him.
That afternoon, Vanessa arrived unexpectedly.
Richard did not want to let her inside, but Isabella agreed to see her.
Vanessa entered without makeup, dressed in jeans and a dark sweater. She looked nothing like the polished woman from the engagement party.
“I came to apologize,” Vanessa said.
Isabella folded her arms. “Did you know about me?”
“No. I knew Adrian didn’t love me, but I thought there was no one else.”
“Why would you agree to marry someone who didn’t love you?”
Vanessa looked away. “For the same reason he agreed to marry me. Our families taught us that duty mattered more than happiness.”
She placed a folder on the table.
Inside were financial reports showing that Charles Ashford had been secretly moving company money into private accounts. The business was not failing because Adrian refused to marry Vanessa. It was failing because Charles had been stealing from it.
“My father discovered this last month,” Vanessa explained. “Charles threatened to ruin him if he canceled the merger.”
Isabella stared at the documents. “Does Adrian know?”
“No.”
“Why are you giving these to me?”
“Because last night, I finally saw what our families turned us into.” Vanessa’s voice shook. “I don’t want to become them.”
That evening, Adrian called Isabella seventeen times.
She answered the eighteenth.
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately.
She closed her eyes.
“I don’t need another apology.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because tomorrow morning, my father is holding a press conference. He wants me to call you unstable.”
Isabella’s grip tightened around the phone.
“And will you?”
“No.”
There was something different in his voice. Not confidence exactly, but decision.
“I’m going to tell the truth,” Adrian said. “All of it.”
“You should have done that before.”
“I should have.”
She waited for him to ask her to forgive him.
He did not.
Instead, he said, “You deserved a man who chose you before he was forced to lose you.”
For the first time since the mansion, Isabella allowed herself to cry.
May you like
Not because she trusted him again.
Because he had finally spoken without hiding behind an excuse.
