Chapter 2
The guests in the hall all let out a collective sigh of relief, slipping their insincere smiles back on as they got ready to witness the rest of the ceremony.
I stood up, the wide hem of my ceremonial wedding robe sweeping across the floor.
Before anyone could react, I raised my foot and kicked the fiercely burning brazier at the front of the hall with all my strength.
Hot coals and ash exploded in all directions.
Several guests nearby screamed in fright and stumbled back in panic.
Alistair was left utterly speechless.
His ecstatic expression turned to utter disbelief.
"Elsie, what the hell are you doing?!" Alistair shouted.
I brushed off some nonexistent dust from my sleeve, then swept my gaze across the hall with a cool indifference.
The faces that had been waiting to mock me were now frozen.
Finally, my eyes locked onto Alistair, and I spoke each word slowly and clearly.
"Since you're so devoted, I'll help you fulfill your wish," I said.
I turned around and raised my voice to the Williamson family butler standing just outside the door.
"Attendants!" I called out.
"Miss Williamson," the butler bowed immediately.
"Pass on my orders," I said.
My voice echoed through the wedding hall, silencing all the whispers.
"Take all one hundred and twenty trunks of my dowry and send them back. Don't touch a thing!" I announced loudly.
"I'm not entering the Duke's Estate today," I declared.
With that, I didn't even glance at Alistair, whose face had instantly drained of all color.
I ignored Alana's flustered, bewildered look as well.
I gathered up my dress, stepped over the mess of scattered coals, and walked out, calm and composed.
Jayden immediately came forward, took off his outer robe, and draped it over my shoulders, protecting me as we walked out.
The Williamson family guards quickly assembled and started carrying out my orders with flawless precision.
The redwood chests and trunks that had just been hauled into the Duke's Estate, crowding the entire front courtyard, were now being picked up one after another and carried right back out.
"Elsie!" Alistair's desperate shout echoed behind me.
I didn't even pause.
He never expected me to do something like this.
He thought I'd just bite my tongue for the family's reputation, or for the Duchess's dignity.
He was dead wrong.
I never got my dignity from anyone else.
I fought for it myself.
Watching the servants haul away the dowry that had once stood for glory and dreams, the Duke's Estate, just moments ago buzzing with celebration, was now left eerily empty.
Alistair stood amid the wreckage, his hand clutching his sword, shaking.
He watched my determined figure disappear and stared at the deserted wedding hall, and for the first time, real panic took over.
The journey back to the Williamson Estate was thick with tension, the air so heavy it was hard to breathe.
On the way there, a grand wedding procession stretched for miles, decorations everywhere, with drums and music echoing through the streets.
The crowd lining the streets finally snapped out of their shock, and gossip started flooding in like a tidal wave.
"Whoa, why is the Duchess's dowry being hauled back out?" someone shouted.
"Are they really canceling the wedding?" another person gasped.
"I just heard the Duke made the Chancellor's daughter accept a side consort right at the ceremony!" someone whispered.
"Seriously? On their wedding day? That's a total slap in the face for the Chancellor's family!" another person exclaimed.
Those words cut like knives, slashing at the Thomas family's pride, and the Williamson family's too.
But I couldn't care less.
Face? If I lost it, I could always win it back.
But if one was rotten on the inside, all the fancy appearances in the world wouldn't change the fact that it was just glitter on garbage.
My brother rode beside my carriage, guarding me in silence, his expression grim and stormy.
I knew he was angry at Alistair, but he was also worried about me.
The carriage pulled up at the gates of the Chancellor's Estate.
The gates stood wide open.
My father, Carson Williamson, the Chancellor himself, stood at the entrance in his official robes, his expression as calm and unreadable as a still pond.
Behind him, the entire household of the Chancellor's Estate stood in formation.
I lifted my skirt and stepped out of the carriage, walked up to him, and bowed respectfully.
"Welcome home, Elsie," Dad said.
His eyes, hardened by years in politics, lingered on me for a moment. There wasn't a hint of blame in them, just a mix of deep anger and genuine concern.
"I'm glad you're home," Dad said quietly.
He spoke in a low, steady voice, then suddenly turned, his words rising with a thunderous fury.
"Close the gates!" Dad commanded.
"Yes, sir!" the servants replied in unison.
The heavy red-lacquered gates slammed shut behind me.
All the noise and prying eyes from outside were instantly shut out.
Back in my courtyard, Sia quickly brought over a basin of hot water to help me wash my face.
My mother rushed in, her eyes misty with tears. She grabbed my hand, so overwhelmed she couldn't speak for a while.
"Mother, I'm fine," I said softly, squeezing her hand back.
"Sweetheart, I failed you. I couldn't find you a good husband," my mother said, her voice thick with emotion.