Chapter 3

I didn't say another word.

I reached for the microphone on the table.

The host, who had retreated to the side in fear, hesitated, then handed it over.

I stepped onto the main stage.

Nick's expression shifted slightly. "Emily, what are you doing?"

I ignored him.

I glanced at everyone in the audience and flashed a smile. "Everyone, we're adding an impromptu segment today."

Everyone was staring at me. Some people looked sympathetic, some were clearly shocked, and others were just here for the show.

I raised the document in my hand.

"My fiancé, Nick, brought a child right here to our engagement party and told me it was his own son," Emily said.

The crowd went wild.

"What?"

"That kid is really his? Seriously?"

"Do the Grants know about this?"

Nick lunged forward, trying to snatch the microphone from me.

I took a step back, and Sophie Lane had already rushed up from the audience, stepping in front of me.

"Try touching her and see what happens," Sophie snapped.

Sophie was my best friend.

She was dressed in a bridesmaid's dress, her face even colder than mine.

Nick jabbed a finger at me, barely holding back his anger. "Emily, are you out of your mind?"

I gave him a cold, defiant smile. "This isn't over."

I held up another document. "And that's not al. He forced me to sign a proxy agreement, demanding I admit that the thirty percent of Summit Innovations shares I own are actually his, and I'm just holding them for him.

"That thirty percent came from the money I invested eight years ago. It's what I earned after eight years of building this company with him. And now, he wants me to give it all up, right here, in front of everyone."

The crowd was buzzing, voices rising higher and higher.

Nick's mom, Mrs. Sawyer, was getting desperate. She shouted at the crowd, "It's not about giving up. It's just some family business, nothing more! Don't listen to her nonsense!"

I looked straight at her. "Ma'am, you just said it's normal for men to mess up when they're young. And you also said that once a woman gets married, she should put her heart into the family, and there's no point in holding onto shares."

Her face went pale. "When did I ever say that?"

I pulled out my phone and hit play on the recording.

Her voice came through the speakers, loud and clear. "Emily, once a woman gets married, she should focus on her family. Those shares in the company are useless to you. Nick's a man so he should be out there hustling."

Even the waiters in the back, carrying trays of food, stopped in their tracks at the door, listening in.

My mom stood up, her eyes rimmed with tears. "Nick, we're marrying off our daughter, not selling her! You used a child to deceive her, and now you want to steal her shares too? Does the Sawyer Family even have any shame left?"

My dad was even more direct. He grabbed a wine glass from the table and hurled it at Nick's feet. "This engagement is off."

The glass shattered.

Nick stood there, panic finally flashing across his face. "Mr. Grant, please, let me explain."

My dad let out a cold laugh. "Explain? Explain how you brought another kid to my daughter's engagement party? Or explain how you forced her to sign her shares over to you?"

Claire Winters hugged Leo tightly, and she just couldn't hold back her tears. "Please, don't blame Nick. It's my fault. I shouldn't have brought Leo here. But the child is innocent."

I looked straight at her. "The kid did nothing wrong. You're the one who messed up."

She froze.

I spoke each word clearly. "You knew today was my engagement party, but you still showed up wearing my dress, brought your kid, and tried to make me acknowledge him as mine. Claire, you're not some tragic victim, you're just shameless."

Her face went pale.

Leo shrank into her arms, scared.

Nick immediately stepped in front of them, shielding them. "Emily, come at me instead. Leave them out of this."

Look at that.

Even now, he's still protecting them.

The last bit of lingering ache inside me just vanished.

It's not that it stopped hurting. It just hurt so much, it finally cleared my head.

I slipped the ring off my finger. Nick had put it on me just two months ago.

It wasn't much of a diamond.

Back then, he said the company was expanding, money was tight, and once he had more, he'd buy me a bigger one.

I believed him.

Now that I think about it, it's almost laughable.

I set the ring on the table and pushed it toward him. "Nick, the engagement is off."

His expression changed abruptly, shock flashing across his face. "You're serious?"

"And one more thing," Emily said, tearing the proxy agreement in half. "I'll be auditing Summit Innovations' books, legally. Not a single dollar less than what belongs to me. If you so much as touch my shares, I'll kick you off the board myself."