Chapter 15: She’s Taken

Just then, a man in a sharp suit stepped onto the stage, carrying a file bag.

“I am the attorney representing Mrs. Madison Scott, Mr. Scott’s ex-wife. She left a property in my care, with instructions that it should only be transferred to her daughter Bianca once she comes of age and gets engaged.”

The lawyer approached Bianca, shook her hand, and opened the file bag. He then handed her a commission letter and a big check.

“Your mother wants you to have these. Take it,” Peter said to Bianca affectionately.

Bianca, feeling dazed, accepted the items from the lawyer. She hadn’t heard about her mother since she left, and she had no idea her mother had left her such a large sum of money.

The guests clapped while Stacey and Haris kept their eyes on the check. This was the whole point of the engagement party. They could only take everything from Bianca once she got the money!

As the applause quieted, the host began the engagement ceremony. But suddenly, a harsh voice interrupted from the middle of the crowd.

“Wait a minute!”

All eyes turned toward the voice, spotting a curly-haired woman in a black dress striding down the center aisle toward the stage. She fixed a fierce gaze on Bianca the whole way.

It was Mia!

Bianca squinted at Mia, then glanced briefly at Stacey, who sat in the front row with a smug smile.

Mia reached the stage, her heels clicking loudly. With everyone’s attention on her, she grabbed the microphone from the host and declared dramatically, “Today, I’m going to expose Bianca’s messy personal life. She’s engaged, but she’s been seeing another man. She’s a dirty cheater!”

Suddenly, the banquet hall erupted into chaos.

“Bianca seems so sweet and innocent! Who would’ve guessed she had such a messy personal life?”

“Yeah, you can’t judge a book by its cover!”

Ignoring the whispers from the crowd, Bianca stared at Mia with a cold gaze.

“Do you have any proof?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t accuse you without proof!” Mia’s mouth twisted into a wicked smile. She snapped her fingers, and a waiter approached.

“This man works at the Grand Horizon Hotel. Sir, tell us what you saw on June 2nd.”

The waiter hesitated, then said, “On June 2nd, I saw Miss Scott going into a man’s room and not coming out until the next morning.”

Mia grinned triumphantly and pointed at Bianca. “See? Our witness saw you going into a man’s room late at night. You can’t say you were just talking. Who was he? Not your fiancé, right?”

Right on cue, Haris put on an exaggerated look of distress, twisting his face in pain. “Bianca, did you cheat on me?”

Bianca almost burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. These people were experts at twisting things to make themselves look good! She was the one who had been betrayed, yet they managed to make her seem like the villain while her cheating boyfriend played the victim.

But she couldn’t let them get away with it.

Stepping forward calmly, Bianca looked down at Mia, who was standing right in front of the stage. “It’s his word against mine, and it’s easy to pay someone to lie, you know.”

Then she turned to the waiter and said, “Tell me how much they paid you, and I’ll double it if you tell everyone here the truth.”

“I... I am telling the truth!” The waiter lifted his head defiantly, showing no fear as he looked at Bianca.

Since he saw Bianca leaving Dave’s room that morning, he assumed she had willingly entered the room the night before.

“You want more proof? Fine. How about this?”

Mia held up her phone and played a video.

On Mia’s phone screen, a woman resembling Bianca was shown, wearing the same outfit Bianca had worn that night. The video clearly showed the woman entering a hotel room, arm-in-arm with a man.

However, the CCTV footage only captured the woman from behind, so her face was obscured throughout the clip.

Mia held the phone up to the waiter and asked, “Is the woman in this video the same as the one onstage?”

The waiter nodded earnestly. “Yes, it’s her! I’m sure of it. She was also wearing a floral dress that day!”

The audience erupted into chaos.

“Many women could have worn the same dress. Do you really think everyone will believe the woman in the video is me? Think again, Mia,” Bianca said, unfazed.

“I can prove Bianca’s cheating!” Suddenly, Samuel’s companion, Carla, stepped forward, surprising even Stacey and Mia.

“Last weekend, I saw Bianca at the mall with a man. She told me he was her boyfriend, and he even bought her the dress she’s wearing now! If you don’t believe me, you can check the store’s surveillance footage. I swear I’m telling the truth!”

With two witnesses against Bianca, almost everyone in the hall believed she was guilty. The second witness was Samuel’s companion, making them doubt she’d lie about Bianca.

Now, most people thought Bianca was promiscuous. They couldn’t understand how anyone would want to marry her.

Peter’s face turned red with anger and embarrassment. He wished he could slap Bianca then and there!

To everyone’s surprise, Haris came over and affectionately took Bianca’s hand with a loving look.

“Bianca, as long as you’re ready to start fresh and be with me completely, I don’t care about your past.”

Haris’s forgiving words caused a stir among the guests.

“Wow, he’s so open-minded!”

“No, he’s just blinded by love. He’s so in love with her that he’s ignoring all the warning signs. She better marry him quickly, or she won’t find anyone else.”

“I think he’s only forgiving Bianca because she just inherited a lot of money from her mother,” someone interrupted. “She might have to keep quiet about her feelings. In the end, she might lose everything she has.”

People discussed passionately, some touched by Haris’s gesture, while others saw it as insincere.

Stacey and Haris’s plan was to exploit Bianca’s vulnerable moment in front of everyone. Once Bianca would hit rock bottom, Haris would swoop in, offering forgiveness and portraying himself as her savior. They believed Bianca, touched by his forgiveness, would become obedient to him. So, they didn’t care about others’ opinions!

Their goal was to fully control Bianca so they could eventually take over her mother’s and even the Scott family’s assets. It was just a matter of time!

Excited, Haris knelt down and presented the engagement ring he had prepared. “Will you marry me, Bianca?”

The guests held their breath, waiting for Bianca’s reply. They expected her to be swept off her feet by Haris’s romantic proposal and say ‘yes’ right away.

Suddenly, the banquet hall door was kicked open.

“Sorry, but she’s taken.”