Chapter 6:A Cruel Invitation
969 Words
The ballroom was still filled with a tense silence.
Everyone had just heard Vincent Hale’s cold remark directed at his own brother.
No one had expected him to speak like that in front of hundreds of guests.
But the tension wasn’t over yet.
On the stage, Ethan held the microphone with a thin smile.
His gaze shifted from Vincent… then returned to Luna, who was walking toward the exit.
“Luna.”
Ethan’s voice echoed throughout the ballroom.
Luna stopped.
Several guests immediately exchanged glances.
They knew this wasn’t over.
Luna slowly turned around.
Her eyes met Ethan’s again.
“What now?” she asked calmly.
Ethan let out a small laugh.
“Are you just going to leave like that?”
He swept his gaze across the room casually.
“After everyone came to celebrate our engagement?”
Some guests looked uncomfortable.
But many were curious.
Drama like this rarely happened at high-society events.
“At the very least,” Ethan continued,
“you could offer your congratulations.”
He pulled Elena closer.
“To me and Elena.”
Whispers immediately spread across the room again.
Some people began to frown.
The request was cruel.
Yet Ethan seemed to be enjoying the situation very much.
Elena lowered her head slightly.
“Ethan… maybe we don’t need to—”
But her voice was too soft.
Too deliberate.
Everyone knew she wasn’t truly objecting.
Luna looked at the two of them for a few seconds.
Inside her heart, something felt strangely calm.
How strange.
Perhaps because pain that was too great had finally turned cold.
“Congratulations?” Luna repeated quietly.
Ethan nodded casually.
“Of course.”
He shrugged.
“After all, you were always the one who said Elena was like a sister to you.”
A few guests chuckled.
The joke was cruel.
But Ethan had clearly said it on purpose.
Luna took a slow breath.
Then she said calmly,
“Alright.”
The entire room fell silent.
Even Elena looked slightly surprised.
Luna walked back toward the stage.
Her steps were calm.
Unhurried.
Uncertain.
Every pair of eyes in the ballroom followed her movement.
When Luna stood in front of Ethan and Elena, she gave a faint smile.
“Actually, I should be thanking you.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
“Thanking us?”
Luna nodded.
“Yes.”
She looked at Elena.
“Thank you for taking something that wasn’t very valuable to begin with.”
Soft whispers spread among the guests.
Some even suppressed laughter.
Ethan’s expression immediately tightened.
But Luna wasn’t finished.
She continued in the same calm tone,
“After all, now I finally know what kind of man I was about to marry.”
She looked Ethan straight in the eyes.
“And honestly…”
Luna gave a thin smile.
“…it’s rather disappointing.”
A few people actually laughed this time.
Ethan’s face darkened.
Elena quickly grabbed his arm.
“Ethan… don’t get angry…”
But that only seemed to irritate him further.
He looked at Luna coldly.
“You still have the nerve to act like this?”
Luna raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Ethan let out a short laugh.
“You really think you can find a better man than me?”
Whispers immediately broke out again.
The question was clearly meant to humiliate Luna.
Who would want to marry a woman who had just been disgraced like this?
But before Luna could answer…
a low voice sounded from nearby.
“There is.”
Everyone immediately turned.
Vincent Hale stood a few steps behind Luna.
His hands were still in the pockets of his trousers.
His expression was calm.
But his gaze was cold.
Ethan glared sharply at his brother.
“What do you mean?”
Vincent glanced briefly at Luna.
Then he looked back at Ethan.
“I mean something very simple.”
His voice was calm.
Yet clear enough for the entire room to hear.
“It’s not difficult to find a man better than you.”
The ballroom instantly exploded with shocked whispers.
Some guests even stared at Vincent in disbelief.
He had just said that.
In front of everyone.
Ethan looked truly furious now.
“Vincent.”
His tone was icy.
“Do you really want to interfere in my business?”
Vincent raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Your business?”
He glanced at the crowd gathered in the ballroom.
“If you humiliate someone in front of hundreds of people…”
his gaze sharpened again.
“…it becomes a public spectacle.”
Several guests held their breath.
No one dared to speak.
The tension between the two brothers hung clearly in the air.
But Vincent eventually turned back to Luna.
His eyes assessed her.
As though he was thinking about something.
And for a few seconds…
Luna felt that gaze again.
The gaze that made her feel as though this man was making a decision.
A big one.
But she didn’t know what it was yet.
Vincent finally spoke softly,
“Interesting.”
Luna frowned slightly.
“Interesting?”
Vincent nodded slowly.
“A woman who has been abandoned in a social altar like this…”
he looked at Luna more closely.
“…yet can still stand without looking broken.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“It’s very rare to see that.”
Luna didn’t know what to say.
But one thing she did know.
This man was different from everyone else in this room.
And somehow…
his presence made what should have been a nightmare of a night feel slightly different.
Meanwhile, on the stage…
Ethan stared at the two of them with an increasingly dark expression.
He was beginning to realize that this situation…
was no longer under his control.
- Writer
