Chapter 3
"What did you say?!"
Eric was the first to shout, his voice cracking with disbelief.
He seized my wrist, squeezing so hard I thought he'd crush my bones.
"Julia! What the hell are you talking about? Not marrying me? Explain yourself!"
His eyes were bloodshot, wild with a mix of rage and panic.
The whole performance he'd staged was now totally out of his control.
Down in the audience, my mom's legs gave out when she heard me, and she almost fainted.
Luckily, my dad caught her just in time.
Marjorie's wailing stopped dead.
She sprang up from the floor, looking like a furious lioness.
"Not marrying him? Dream on!"
"Do you even know how much money the Grant Family poured into this wedding? You think you can just walk away?"
"We threw the banquet! We invited all our relatives and friends! And now you want to call it off? How are we supposed to face everyone after this?"
I jerked my hand free from Eric, my face cold as ice.
"Respect is earned, not handed out by someone else."
"You should've seen this coming when you started plotting against me."
"As for the money..."
I stared at Marjorie, her face contorted with greed and fury.
"Let's tally things up right now."
"You..." Marjorie was left speechless, so furious she couldn't even get a word out.
Richard stormed over, his face stormy with rage.
"Julia, let's not blow things up. We can work this out."
His voice was gentler, but the threat in his eyes was still sharp.
"Eric messed up today. He got carried away."
"But he meant well. As his wife, you should back him up."
"Everyone's here. Just go along for now and let the wedding finish. We'll sort things out behind closed doors, as a family."
"A family?" I repeated, my voice thick with sarcasm.
I said it again, the irony almost making me laugh.
"Mr. Grant, the moment you all schemed together to trap me, I stopped seeing you as family."
"And this wasn't just Eric being impulsive, you all knew exactly what you were doing."
"You just never expected I'd call you out in front of everyone."
My words cut through their last bit of pretense like a knife.
The Grant Family looked like they'd just swallowed a bitter pill.
Eric looked at me, his eyes pleading.
"I'm begging you, Julia, please don't do this."
"Think about all those years we've spent together."
"Shut up!" I snapped, cutting him off.
"Don't even talk to me about love. You've ruined what that word means."
I didn't want to waste another second on them.
I just wanted to get out of this disgusting place as fast as possible.
I turned to leave the stage.
Eric lunged forward and grabbed my arm again.
"Julia! You can't just walk out!"
Marjorie barreled toward me, spreading her arms wide to block my path.
"Fine, you want to leave? Then hand over all the money we spent on you!"
"And pay back every dollar we spent on this wedding! Not a single cent missing!"
"Fine," I said, stopping in my tracks and turning to face them.
"Let's do the math."
I pulled my phone from the pocket of my wedding dress.
Everyone froze, no one had any idea what I was about to do.
I unlocked my phone and opened a note.
That was something I prepared it a long time ago.
I looked up, my gaze was like a scalpel, cutting through them one by one.
"The down payment for the house was 400,000 dollars," I said, my voice steady, every word cutting through the noise.
I spoke slowly, my voice quiet but each word sharp and clear.
"My parents put in 200,000 dollars."
"I put in 100,000 dollars myself."
"Eric, your family chipped in 100,000 dollars."
"Isn't that right?"
Eric swallowed hard, but didn't say a word.
Marjorie looked like she wanted to argue, but Richard shot her a look that shut her up.
I've got bank records for all of it, they can't talk their way out of this.
"The house is only under Eric's name," I said, my voice calm but firm.
"Back then, you said it was too much trouble to put my name on the deed because I wasn't from around here. And I actually believed you."
"I paid 160,000 dollars for the renovation."
"And 66,000 dollars for the appliances, that was my money too."
"I've got all the receipts and bank records to prove it."
With every word I said, the Grant Family's faces turned a little paler.
"As for the other expense you keep talking about, I have already cleared them out, that's 62,000 dollars."
"Yet, what my parents spent on this marge was a 100,000-dollar car, registered under my name. I just picked it up yesterday."
"And the wedding costs you keep mentioning, the banquet, wedding planner, everything, add up to 83,000 dollars."
"I transferred that money to the wedding planner from my own account just two weeks ago."
My gaze finally settled on Eric, his face completely drained of color.
"So, Marjorie," I said, my voice calm but cutting.
"Aside from the 100,000 dollars you put down for the house, has the Grant Family ever paid a single cent for anything else?"
"So what exactly do you want me to pay back?"
Marjorie's lips trembled, but she couldn't get a single word out.
The whole place went dead silent.
Everyone was stunned, just staring at me in disbelief.
They looked at me, their eyes full of sympathy and shock.
But when they turned to the Grant Family, all that was left was contempt and scorn.
"But that's not all," I wasn't done yet.
Since we'd already ripped off the mask, I was going to tear it off completely.
"The mortgage on the house is 4,000 dollars a month."
"From the day we bought it until now, that's three years, total thirty-six installments."
"Every payment came straight out of my paycheck."
"Eric, with your 2,000-dollar salary, besides buying yourself cigarettes and booze, and buying health supplements for your parents, have you ever put a single dollar toward the mortgage?"
The crowd erupted and the guests totally lost it after that.
Everyone was staring at Eric like he was some scammer and a mooch.
"Oh my god! This guy is such a piece of trash!"
"So the bride's been supporting his whole family all this time?"
"He's just mooching off her for life!"
Eric swayed, like all the strength had been sucked out of him.
He looked at me, his eyes full of despair.
He knew it was all over.
Seeing him like that, I felt nothing at all.
I held up my phone, showing it to him, and to everyone else.
"I've got backups of every transfer record, every receipt," I said.
"Eric, I'll see you in court."