Chapter 5
In One Swift Moment, All Crumbled
Lev's anger wasn't unexpected. Of course, I remembered that his father, Mr. Haris Halton, had promised the family inheritance only to the son who married properly, in line with the family's expectations. Soon, Lev was supposed to inherit control of the family business, the wealth, the name. All of that was now in question, in one swift moment, all of that crumbled.
His face had gone pale. Every carefully built plan, every expectation the Haltons had placed on him vanished.
Never once did he think a girl like me would dare speak up. Dare to walk away from Lev Halton.
He thought he could lock me into a one year marriage, claim his inheritance, and then toss me aside. Did he expect me to just accept it? Did he think I was a doll, wound up to perform and then be discarded?
What he didn't expect was that I finally learned the value of my voice. It was a small thing, but it was mine. And I chose to use it.
"You can't just do this. You're ruining everything! Me, my family!" Lev's voice cracked, a mix of fury and panic.
Dafa's hand rested lightly on my shoulder, as if anchoring me. His voice was steady, almost cold. "She's not ruining anything. She's choosing what's right for her. That's all. If anyone wants to object…" Dafa's eyes narrowed. "They'll have to object to me, not her."
Lev let out a bitter laugh. "Choosing what's right for her? Funny, coming from someone like you. Everyone knows that nothing's good about you."
The guests murmured, some shocked, some scandalized, and some too polite to show their astonishment.
"Isn't he Halton's illegitimate son?" someone whispered.
"Yes. And yet he dares to take his own brother's fiancee. Truly, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He inherited his mother's audacity. But this... stealing his brother's bride? Absolutely shameless."
"And the woman herself… how poor she is choosing an illegitimate son over a legitimate heir? He won't inherit anything, and he will live in poverty forever."
"You heard that? You're shameless," Lev smirked, his voice laced with venom.
The room fell into a hush, every pair of eyes shifting toward Dafa, as if he were an intruder in this grand mansion.
Before anyone else could speak, a figure stepped forward. Mrs. Minerva Halton, Dafa's stepmother. She stood tall in her emerald green silk dress, her grip on her clutch turning white knuckled. Her cold eyes scanned Dafa, then lingered on me, as if calculating every possible consequence of this moment.
"You wretched son. You're not even welcome in this house. Yet here you are… sabotaging everything. Like you always do."
Dafa offered a half smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Well, maybe now people in this house will remember I exist."
What a pity. Did he say that he should do something to get his own family's attention? What kind of life had he lived, always on the edges of his own home? Always forgotten, until he caused just enough chaos to be noticed.
"You think being an embarrassment makes you visible?" she hissed. "You were a mistake from the very beginning, a scandal your father dragged into this family because he felt guilty."
Dafa's face barely shifted, yet the pain in his eyes sharpened, hidden behind a polished coolness.
"Maybe, but at least I'm not hiding behind a legacy I didn't earn," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Don't you dare," she cut in, her composure slipping for a fraction of a second. "Everything I have, I have protected. This family, this name. You wouldn't understand duty. You are merely a ghost this family tolerates."
"You're right," he said softly, yet the calm in his tone was almost terrifying. "This house never wanted me here. But this moment... this decision? It's not yours to control."
"Is that what you think this is? You're a fool. You're just proving how desperate you are. You're 27, and you'd steal your brother's bride. It's pathetic." A bitter, sharp laugh escaped her.
"I'm not stealing anyone. She's choosing her freedom. That's more than anyone in this room ever gave her."
Mrs. Halton scoffed, her voice sharp enough to cut marble. "What freedom are you talking about? This marriage was decided by the family elders. The debt of parents is to be paid by their children. It's tradition. It's honor."
Dafa tilted his head, the faintest hint of irony pulling at his mouth.
"Honor? Is that what you call forcing a woman into a loveless marriage to settle debt? Funny how your sense of duty always seems to benefit the family name."
"You know nothing about honor. You're just bitter because you'll never be part of this legacy. You were never meant to be."
Dafa let out a slow breath. Then, with a calm so sharp it could slice stone, he stepped closer, not backing down, but claiming space that was always denied to him.
"Mrs. Halton, you speak of honor, yet you champion a transaction where a young woman is sold to settle a debt of kindness. You call me 'shameless,' but what is more shameless than a family so desperate for leverage they must trade a son's marriage for it?"
She drew a sharp breath, her eyes flashing with pure fury.
"How dare you reduce centuries of tradition to a... a transaction! You know nothing of the sacrifices made to uphold this family's standing!"
"Let's be precise," Dafa said, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. "The family decree was that kindness debt be paid by the children marrying. It did not specify which son."
Mrs. Halton's mouth opened, but only a strained sound emerged.
"The implication was clear..."
"Lev sought to fulfill this with a lie," Dafa overrode her, his tone lethally calm. "You can ask him what has he done. This is the true dishonor. The scandal that would have shattered the Halton name when it came to light. I am offering a legitimate path. The debt is paid. The family's obligation is met. The only thing that changes is which son stands beside her." He tilted his head, his gaze boring into her. "Or is your problem not with the debt, but with me being the one to solve it?"
A wave of murmurs rippled through the guests. The logic was irrefutable.
Her face once a mask of controlled disdain, was now pale with rage. She took a half-step forward, her voice trembling not with hurt, but with incandescent anger.
"You insolent. You think you can twist our traditions to suit your whims? You speak of legitimacy, but you are the very definition of illegitimacy!"
It seemed that Dafa didn't take her words to heart. He turned his gaze from her, as if she were now irrelevant, and addressed his father directly.
"Father. The agreement is satisfied. A Halton son will be her husband. You don't need to give me any condition for that. The matter is closed."
His eyes hardened imperceptibly. "Unless you wish to publicly annul your own promise and declare that the word of Haris Halton is subject to his wife's temper. Make your choice. Stand on your promise, which I have fulfilled, or on her spite, which I will not acknowledge."
I was surprised that Dafa had not just defended himself, he had publicly dismantled her authority.
Mrs. Halton stood utterly still, her jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might crack. She had been outmaneuvered, not with shouts, but with cold, irrefutable logic, and her silence was more telling than any scream.