His Revenge, My Marriage

CHAPTER 2:THE FALL OF EMILY LANCASTER

For a moment, the entire place froze up completely. The pleasure in the room vanished without hesitation. Ethan's face was completely flushed, drained or colour. He never expected Emily to be there at that time.

Beside him, Serena jolted off so violently that she nearly rolled off the bed with sharp gaps tearing through her lungs. Emily's heart was racing. This was heartbreaking to behold. Serena managed to yank the silk dress up to her collarbone before searching for the perfect words. "Emily, this isn't—" "Shut up." Emily cut her off before she could say the rest of the words. Serena snapped her mouth shut.

Ethan got out of the bed, his hands raised defensively. "Baby, listen to me—" "Don't call me that." Emily's tone was very stern and sharp that it made Ethan flinch.

Emily stepped fully into the room, looking between them. Her eyes were sorrowful and tearful.

There were always tiny whispers that something like this was going on. But she chose to ignore them all. "I can't believe I was this foolish," she said, a hollow chuckle escaping her lips. “Ethan, I gave you my entire being for five freaking years. I defended you when people questioned your intentions for me." She rubbed tears off her eyes and looked at Serena. “You. I always saw how you looked at him.

But I chose to ignore everything and trust you. But then, this is it.” Her throat got clogged up and she swallowed down. "And all this time... you were sleeping together." "Emily—" Ethan tried to speak again.

"How long?" she demanded and sniffed.

Serena looked away. She seemed rather indifferent about the whole thing.

“Tell me this was just one moment of weakness." The lack of an answer shattered the last remaining pieces of her heart. Silence meant this wasn't a reckless mistake or a single night of weakness. It was a calculated, long-term execution of her trust.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Ethan finally said.

"Really? Tell me one thing, Ethan. Did you ever actually love me?" More silence.

The hesitation hurt worse than the affair itself. A man who had loved her would have lied to save her feelings. Ethan couldn’t even manage that. The truth was written plain across his face. She had been a chess piece.

Emily nodded slowly, the fog in her mind was finally clear. She sniffed and grunted.

“I understand now," she said while nodding.

Serena sighed indifferently. “What exactly do you understand? What can you do?" Emily swallowed the pain. "You want to see, right?” She took the diamond engagement ring from her finger and threw it with full force at Ethan. It hit his chest before clattering against the tiled floor.

"I never want to see either of you again." What came next was completely not expected. Ethan bursted into fits of laughter. Serena joined him. For a moment, Emily was completely thrown off. “I'm calling your bluff," Ethan said. “What?" Emily queried him. “You think this is a joke, don't you?" He shook his head. “Of course, I don't. But what exactly do you think you are doing? Tomorrow's our wedding. If you pick this ring and slide your finger right through it now, I'll forget you ever did this." What the heck? Emily could not believe her ears. This had to be a joke.

“You can't be serious.” Ethan sighed. "What can you do without me? You, of all people, must know the outcome of your actions. You can't bring shame to me, Emily. I want to assure you that.” He rubbed his jaw. "Besides, your family's business is plummeting. I have been your only hope.

If you call off this wedding, you will likely lose your place in the family to Serena here." "With or without your help, I'll build my family's business again.” She stormed out of the house without looking back. By the next morning, the private betrayal was public entertainment.

Emily woke up to tons of messages and missed calls. Her notifications could not stop beeping.

Overnight, the wedding of the century had been dissolved, and the internet was already buzzing. By noon, the scandal had completely hijacked the national news cycle. Snippets from the rehearsal dinner the night before were uploaded online, with body language experts analyzing every smile, every glance, and every micro-expression between the three of them. Her private line rang. It was her grandfather calling. Finally, The patriarch of the family. The only man who had ever protected her unconditionally since she lost her parents as a child. Everyone saw her as a public asset except him. "Grandpa?" "Hello, ma'am." She recognised the voice immediately. It was her grandfather's doctor. "Why are you calling with this line?What happened? Where is he?" A long pause followed. "I am so incredibly sorry." Her heart suddenly became heavy.

"What is it? Is he okay?" "Your grandfather suffered a massive, catastrophic heart attack approximately thirty minutes ago," the doctor said, his professional composure cracking slightly.

The room was suddenly too tight and hot. She shook her head many times.

"No," she whispered. "No, he's fine. He was fine yesterday." "He asked for you right before he lost consciousness, Emily," Dr. Evans said softly. "We tried everything we could. I'm sorry. He's gone.” The world stopped spinning entirely. Tears rolled down her cheeks immediately. Nothing mattered anymore. Not Ethan. Not the wedding. She just wanted her grandpa back. After a full day spent crying, she was making coffee in the kitchen with her thoughts going haywire. Her grandpa was the only remaining piece holding the business. Their shares were plummeting too quickly. And her head wanted to explode. Just then, her private line buzzed again. She quickly yanked it off the table, hoping it would be another news from the doctor. However, it was a message from an unknown person. It read, “Hello, Love ... .Everything changes soon.” No name attached. But somehow, Emily knew her life was about to take a dramatic turn.