Chapter 5 - THE BRIDE’S REVENGE
The ballroom was dead silent.
The reality of what had happened in my own home, under my own roof, crashed over me in terrifying waves.
My mother had weaponized my wife’s postpartum struggles.
She had threatened to lock Catalina in a psychiatric ward just to clear the path for a corporate merger.
I looked at Isabella.
She was standing frozen in her custom Italian silk gown.
Her dream wedding had just become a crime scene of family secrets.
Isabella slowly turned to face her father.
“You helped her do this,” Isabella said.
Her voice was dangerously quiet.
“You tore a mother away from her infant daughter so you could get a seat on a board of directors.”
Arthur sighed, adjusting his tie.
“Isabella, grow up. The world is built on difficult decisions. Daniel’s family is solvent now. You are going to be a billionaire’s wife. Catalina was collateral damage in a corporate restructuring.”
Isabella stared at him.
Then, she looked down at her left hand.
She wore a massive, five-carat diamond engagement ring.
Slowly, deliberately, Isabella slid the ring off her finger.
“Isabella, what are you doing?” Arthur warned.
She didn’t answer him.
She walked over to my mother, Beatrice.
My mother flinched as Isabella approached.
Isabella didn’t shout. She didn’t scream.
She simply dropped the heavy diamond ring into my mother’s champagne glass.
It sank to the bottom with a quiet clink.
“Keep the ring, Beatrice,” Isabella said softly. “It’s as fake and cold as you are.”
Isabella turned to me.
There were tears in her eyes, but her posture was entirely dignified.
“I loved you, Daniel,” she said.
“Isabella, I am so sorry,” I whispered, meaning every word.
“I know you are,” she nodded. “You were a victim in this too. But you were blind. You let them build a cage around you because it was comfortable.”
She reached out and gently touched Mia’s cheek.
“Your mommy is a very brave woman, Mia,” Isabella smiled sadly. “You make sure your daddy goes and finds her.”
Isabella turned and walked down the center aisle of the ballroom.
She didn’t look back at her father. She didn’t look back at the guests.
She simply walked out the massive oak doors, leaving the ruins of our fake life behind her.
Arthur Vance cursed loudly and rushed down the aisle after his daughter.
I was left standing at the altar with my mother.
Beatrice composed herself, smoothing the front of her designer dress.
“Well,” my mother said, her voice dripping with venom. “That was unnecessarily dramatic. We will simply have to issue a press release stating the wedding was called off due to irreconcilable differences.”
I stared at the woman who gave birth to me.
I felt nothing but absolute, freezing disgust.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
My mother laughed harshly.
“I have no idea. And it doesn’t matter. She’s gone, Daniel.”
“She called Elena’s phone last night,” I said, stepping toward her. “You know where she is.”
My mother crossed her arms.
“Even if I did, I would never tell you.”
Before I could speak, Elena touched my arm.
“Mr. Reyes,” the housekeeper whispered.
I turned.
May you like
Elena was looking at the pocket of my tuxedo jacket.
“Check your grandfather’s watch,” she said quietly. “The one you asked me to polish this morning.”
