“So what?” Vanessa snaps, “She still relies on the Bamford—she’s nothing without them. Just wait for the divorce, then you’ll see. “
The noise in the room only grows louder as the crowd waits for some sort of explanation from Waylen.
“Look, Mr. Bamford is here,” someone shouts.
The mood immediately becomes anticipatory as the guests crane their necks to look for Waylen. They all turn toward the stairs, and the journalists raise their cameras and push each other to get a clear shot of Waylen. Waylen descends the stairs with one hand casually in the pocket of his fine suit.
Waylen walks slowly and stares down at the crowd like a king examining his subjects. His powerful presence quiets the hustle, and the silence becomes intense enough to hear a pin drop. The female guests feel their knees weaken as they look at him with admiration.
Robert clears his throat, “Mr. Bamford has something to say about the divorce rumor that’s been spreading on the internet.”
Waylen takes a cold look at the noisy crowd, knowing they’re all hoping that his marriage has failed.
“There has been a bereavement, but there’s no divorce,” he says vaguely.
The journalists start whispering madly.
“Is this some sort of statement of love for your wife?” one reporter asks.
“Are you sure you want to say this in front of the press?” inquires another, Aren’t you afraid you’ll break your vows?”
“What do you know?” chimes in another, “He’s telling us he regards Leilani as his wife. That’s kind of romantic.”
“The divorce is fake?” asks another.
“It looks that way,” his friend replies, “There is no valid notary stamp on the doc.u.ments.”
“Mr. Bamford has made the situation clear,” Robert announces, “I hope there are no more questions about his marriage. Please, leave us alone now.”
Robert gives a meaningful glance to the bodyguards and they begin to clear the room of journalists. Though the guards are highly trained, it proves difficult for them to separate the press from the general public and the room descends into chaos. Despite the hubbub, no one dares to ask more questions about the marriage. After all, Waylen represents the Bamford family and the press knows better than to challenge them.
Eventually, the party guests are asked to leave as well. Anthony apologizes to them as the guards escort them out of the villa. The security guards do their jobs efficiently, but some of the journalists refuse to leave quietly. In the hustle to remove them, they drop their phones and other equipment.
Janetta and Vanessa exchange resentful looks. They had no idea that Waylen would take the press on in this way.
“I apologize for the unfortunate incident, Waylen,” Anthony says, clearly fl.u.s.tered, “I’ll order my men to find out who sent the photo. I won’t stop until I get to the bottom of this.”
Waylen is still standing on the stairs and Anthony stands below him—his position couldn’t be more inferior.
Waylen’s face is dark red as he replies, “There’s no need.”
“Why not?” Leilani asks.
She descends the stairs wearing a light green, off-the-shoulder evening dress. She looks like a woodland fairy, and her face is prettily flushed. Waylen’s words have confused her. She knows he probably just said what he did to stop the press from harassing him, but a faint sense of hope pierces her chest and makes her limbs feel numb.
Waylen looks up at her as she descends and their eyes meet; something seems to pass in the air between them. She feels so overcome, she can hardly remember to put one foot in front of the other. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, but she forces herself to calm down. She knows she’ll need her wits about her in the battle to come; Waylen will be out for the blood of whoever sent the photo, and she will have to prove that it wasn’t her.
“Leilani, if Waylen says we should let it go, we should,” Anthony says.
Waylen is pissed off about the leak, and Anthony doesn’t want to deal with the possible consequences of a full-scale investigation.
“Why? We’ve been made an absolute laughing stock in the middle of our party,” Leilani says, “If someone in this house did it, they meant to insult you. You’re the man of the house. Aren’t you worried about such a show of disrespect?”
Anthony feels shamed by Leilani’s speech, and his face turns sour as she questions his masculinity and honor.
“You think it’s one of us?” he demands.
“We can only be sure after a proper investigation,” Leilani said.
“What do you propose?” Anthony asks.
“Look, Dad, there’s something dodgy about this phone.,” Janetta says sweetly, holding one of the phones dropped by a journalist, “Look, at this message here.”
“Give it here,” Waylen commands.
Robert takes the phone from Janetta and wipes it clean with a handkerchief before unlocking it and passing it to Waylen. The screen shows a message containing photographs of the divorce agreement. According to the contact information in the phone, the person who sent it is named Gabrielle.
“Where is Gabrielle?” Waylen asks coldly.
Leilani is standing next to Waylen and she sees everything over his shoulder. She can’t help scoffing.
“How could it be Gabrielle?” she thinks, “She’s the last person that would do such a thing!”
“Gabrielle is in the makeup room. I’ll call her,” Robert says.
Before Robert can leave, the sound of footsteps makes everyone lookup. Gabrielle is descending wearing an elegant dress and a full face of makeup. Thanks to the stylings of Josiah, she has shed her immaturity and looks to be a sophisticated beauty. She smiles sweetly as if she has no idea what storm she’s about to face.
Kathrine follows Gabrielle. She can’t walk too fast because of her pregnancy, and she holds the handrail as she walks.
“Is this about the photo?” she asks with mock outrage, “I don’t know why someone would do that to this family. Can’t they at least let us enjoy our party?”
She shoots a quick venomous look at Leilani and continues: “Anthony, I think Leilani is right. We have to find out what’s going on, and we absolutely can’t allow the person responsible for this to walk free. We can’t allow any faith-breaking behavior in the family.”
Though Leilani is forced to look up at Katherine, she maintains her dignity.
“You mean we should banish the person who did this?” Leilani asks, “Cut them off entirely? Disinherit them?”
“Yes,” Katherine immediately agrees, “We should cut her off from this family. She doesn’t deserve to carry the Peters name.”
“What if she’s not technically one of us?” Leilani asks, “And why are you so sure it was a woman?”
“What do you mean?” Katherine asks, suddenly guarded, “You think it was me?” Katherine is the only one in the family who wasn’t born a Peters. She clenches the handrail so tightly it seems that her fingers are gouging the wood.
“You’re not wrong,” Leilani retorts, “I have my suspicions about you.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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