After He Cheated, I Revealed My True Identity

Chapter 4

Meryl was left completely speechless, her pretty face flushing bright red with embarrassment. She darted a pleading look toward her father.

Simon's face was dark with fury. He stood up, walked over to Ian, and forced a stiff smile. "Ian, she's just a kid who doesn't know any better and is spouting nonsense. Don't take her words to heart."

He then turned to face the crowd and announced in a loud, clear voice, "This whole thing is really just a misunderstanding. My daughter and Calum are head over heels for each other, and this song is the fruit of their love. As for Thalia…" He paused for a beat, then spoke to me in that patronizing, condescending tone men used to people they thought were below them.

"Thalia, I know you and Calum have a history. But love can't be forced. Young people should look to the future, don't throw away your whole career over some silly little romance."

His words sounded high-minded and reasonable on the surface, but every single one cut like a knife.

Not only did he clear both his daughter and Calum of any plagiarism accusations, he also turned right around and painted me once again as a scorned woman acting out of petty spite.

That old fox really knows how to play the game, doesn't he?

"Simon is exactly right." Calum jumped in immediately. He shot the professor a grateful look before turning to me, a barely perceptible glint of threat in his eyes. "Thalia, for the sake of what we used to have, let's just drop this here, okay? You'll still be my good friend, I—"

"Shut up," I cut him off cold. "Calum, you don't get to talk about 'what we had'."

I stepped slowly toward him, staring him dead in the eye. "That jacket you're wearing? I bought it with my first ever paycheck. That watch on your wrist? I earned the money for it by pulling three all-nighters arranging music for clients. Even the chance for you to be standing here in front of everyone today? That was me who—"

That was the first time I'd ever used my status as the heiress of Diamond Entertainment. I'd anonymously submitted our album to the award selection committee through a special contact.

I sucked in a deep breath and bit back the rest of the words. What was the point? None of that mattered now.

I shifted my gaze to Meryl. "And you, I treated you like my best friend, and you stabbed me in the back by stealing my boyfriend. You're wearing the dress I got you as a gift, hanging off my boyfriend's arm, and using my song to show off how great your love is. Doesn't that make you sick to your stomach?"

Meryl flinched hard, her face crumpling into an expression of pure grievance. "I… I didn't…"

"Enough!" Calum shoved me hard, and I crashed to the floor, my knee scraping hard enough to draw blood.

"How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?" Calum's eyes were filled with pure disgust. "Meryl and I have loved each other this whole time! We didn't go public because she cared about your feelings, and now you're here slandering her?

"If you'd just acted like a normal person and congratulated us when I proposed, none of this would have happened. You're the one who decided to make a fool of yourself by twisting the facts!"

So that was how he saw it. I was the other woman in his eyes.

He'd betrayed me, tossed me aside like trash, and I was supposed to smile and wish him and his new girlfriend well?

The hell gives him the right to demand that?

I stared at his unapologetic, self-righteous face and suddenly burst out laughing. "Calum, you're gonna regret this real soon."

Right then, the venue doors slammed open. My dad walked in, flanked by a group of high-ranking executives.

He cut straight through the crowd and stepped right up to me, slipping off his suit jacket and draping it over my shoulders.

He didn't say a single word, just gave my shoulder a gentle, reassuring pat with his broad, warm hand.

Then he lifted his head, his sharp, cutting gaze sweeping across every single person in the room.

Finally, it landed on Calum and Meryl, both of whom had gone deathly pale.

"Who dared to bully my daughter?"