Chapter 7
Mockery Wrapped in a Smile
Lev had no other choice, his mother kept insisting. After a tense, reluctant glare in my direction, Lev handed the phone to his mother.
Mrs. Minerva Halton's eyes swept over the messages, each scroll another nail sealing the truth.
Her lips thinned. She didn't speak at first; she simply absorbed the weight of the evidence, letting silence do the punishing. Then she lifted her gaze to Lev, sharp enough to slice him open.
"This… this is unacceptable," she whispered, her voice trembling not from sadness, but from humiliation.
"Do you understand what you've done?"
Lev's face drained of color.
"No Mom, it's not true!" he burst out, desperation climbing into his voice.
"Stop lying, the proof is right here, in front of everyone."
She snapped to Lev and he was sock that his mother didn't listen to him.
Then she turned to me. Her tone softened, but not her posture.
"Alayna… forgive my son, okay?"
"It's not your apology to make," I replied, my voice taut. "It's his mess. He should be the one cleaning it."
But Minerva Halton shook her head, as if my words were nothing but dust she could brush aside.
"I know, but I apologize on his behalf. So you're not angry, right? We're family. You've known Lev since he was a child. Why expose this in front of everyone? You should've been grateful that a country girl like you could enter the Halton family… yet you chose to embarrass us."
A soft, humorless laugh escaped me.
That was the most elegant insult I had ever received.
She spoke gently, but every word was varnished with condescension, a mockery wrapped in a smile.
Why did people like her always assume their status gave them the right to school me about grace?
I never wanted a war. Lev opened the battlefield himself.
He chose deceit, and I chose truth.
And sometimes, protecting our dignity meant stepping into the light, even if it blinded those who prefer the shadows.
"A script your son drafted I only provided the footnotes," I answered calmly.
Her eyes tightened at the edges, embarrassment flickering beneath her aristocratic composure.
"There are proper ways to handle family matters. In private. With discretion. What you've done… is the mark of someone who doesn't understand how our world works. But then again, five years in the countryside didn't teach you manners."
"On the contrary. I learned exactly what I needed. And if my name held as much monetary value as yours, Mrs. Halton, none of this would've been swept under a rug in the first place."
Her mask cracked.
"Your refusal has consequences," she snapped. "You think this little stunt makes you powerful? It makes you reckless. You've burned a bridge you will never rebuild."
"Some bridges are built on foundations so rotten… burning them is mercy," I said.
Mrs Minerva Halton's voice sharpened.
"And what about your own family's name? You think they'll walk away unscathed? Your parents, do they deserve the shame you've brought?"
"I was raised to believe honor comes from character, not from proximity to wealth. Something your son seems to have misplaced. Something he learned from example."
"You insolent girl!" Mrs Minerva Halton barked, straightening, her face flushed with rage.
"You dare speak of dictating my family's character? You forget that you are a guest here. A fortunate one."
I inhaled steady.
Perhaps this was what Dafa felt all his life. Seen, yet never accepted.
I wasn't even family yet, and already she was sharpening her teeth.
My mother approached. Her face flushed, anxiety tightening her expression.
"Alayna… how can you speak to Mrs. Halton like that? Come to your senses. Just let it all go. I've already agreed you're allowed to marry Dafa, right?"
She offered Mrs. Halton a strained bow. "Please forgive her. She's still young, still learning. Her manner doesn't reflect my upbringing…"
I stared. I didn't understand. After all this humiliation, why was my mother still begging?
I still held myself in a calm and composed manner.
Before I could respond to my mother, Mr. Haris Halton stepped forward, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder.
"Enough," he said, voice deep, measured, the room falling silent. "We've been humiliated enough. Let's move on. Continue the engagement ceremony."
Mrs Minerva Halton pressed her lips together. A pout lingering, but she retreated.
The Halton wasn't just one of the richest family in Metro City. Their influence wasn't measured in just about money, but also in power, in legacy, in the control they wielded over the very bloodstream of the region's economy. And at the head of it all stood Haris Halton. His presence alone could silence an entire room. His voice wasn't known for softness, it commanded, crushed, decided destinies.
With one quiet word, he could redraw the map of the city. That was the scale of his dominion.
So standing here now, defying that very authority wasn't just rebellion. It was a risk with everything on the line. The murmurs around me confirmed it:
"She actually dares to annul the engagement?"
"She's publicly rejecting a Halton… and for what?"
"She's done. Her family is done."
I was risking everything. My family's name, our future, the life my parents had hoped I would build. But truly? I had nothing left to lose.
Except for the echoing guilt that clung to me. The guilt of breaking the promise I'd made to my parents. I could only hope and pray that my calculations were right. That the marriage would still continue with another Halton son. That this chaos could still resolve itself.
And as though on cue, Mr Haris Halton turned to Lev. There was no screaming. No dramatic gasp. Just a single word, sharper than any slap.
"Step back."
Lev's face drained of color. He froze.
"Turn off the screen," Mr. Haris Halton ordered.
The hall obeyed. Instantly. The damning messages vanished. The red flags that had exposed Lev's betrayal disappeared, replaced once again by the polished facade of engagement decor.
Then Dafa stepped forward.
Steady.
Unshaken.
Even in his black leather jacket and worn blue jeans clothing that stood in stark contrast to the gilded grandeur of this hall, he carried an aura that was impossible to ignore. Not polished, not rehearsed, but undeniable. A quiet command that echoed his father's… perhaps even outshone it.
He stood beside me then, close enough that I could feel the warmth and certainty radiating from him. A quiet strength that felt almost regal, without ever needing a crown.
One of the Halton butlers stepped forward, silver tray in hand. Resting on it was a velvet box, the engagement ring, symbol of the union that moments ago seemed doomed.
But befor Dafa reached for it. Lev stepped forward, grabbing the ring box with shaking hands.
"This ring doesn't belong to you," he hissed, rage warping his voice.
"You don't deserve it on your finger!"