2

The whole lounge went silent in an instant.

Only the music drifting in from the ballroom outside kept on, sticky and syrupy, and somehow that made it sound all the more mocking.

Alison leaned into Luke's arms, one slender white hand pressed to her stomach.

So frail she looked like a breath of wind could knock her over.

She lifted her eyes to me, a film of tears over them, her voice thin as a mosquito's whine. "Sandy, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to ruin your engagement party with Luke, I just hurt so badly I couldn't stand it, so I..."

As she spoke, she shrank a little deeper into Luke's arms.

As if I were the one about to bully her.

Luke tightened his arms around her at once and pulled her close.

When he raised his head to look at me, his brows were knotted hard.

"Sandra, Ali isn't feeling well, there's no way I could just leave her on her own. What did you mean by all those things you said in the group chat? The guests are still out there. Can't you stop throwing a tantrum?"

Watching him stand there so righteous, I nearly laughed out loud.

Throwing a tantrum?

He'd left me alone at our engagement party, and somehow he thought I was the one throwing a tantrum?

Before I could open my mouth, my father stepped in front of me first, jabbing a finger at Luke's face. "Luke, you say it plainly. Who exactly is causing a scene here today? You leave a hall full of guests behind and go running off to drag this stray girl over here, and you've still got the nerve to say my Sandy is throwing a tantrum? You think the Pruitt family has no one to stand up for her?"

"Dad!" Alison's eyes reddened all at once, tears spilling down.

"I know you don't like me, that you hate my mother for switching me and my sister back then. But I still lived in the Pruitt house for eighteen years... How can you call me a stray girl... And... I really did hurt so much I couldn't bear it, that's the only reason I called Luke over. I never wanted to steal my sister's fiancé..."

She sobbed until she could barely catch her breath, her shoulders jerking with it.

It cut Luke to the heart, and he shielded her tighter still.

His eyes went cold as they turned to me. "Sandra, get your father under control. Today was just an accident. How can he say something so cruel? Ali's in this much pain and she still insisted on coming to apologize to you. Can't you give her a little room?"

The words had barely left Luke's mouth when my father let out a snort of a laugh.

"Give her room? The Pruitt family poured our hearts into raising her for eighteen years, she took over what was rightfully my daughter's and stole her fiancé too, and now we're supposed to give her room? Luke, has that little schemer bewitched you clean out of your senses?"

3

The moment my father said that, Alison only cried harder.

She looked ready to faint, her lips trembling.

"Sandy, I really didn't—" she pleaded, eyes swimming with tears.

The way she looked at me, one more word about her wrongdoing and she'd collapse right there on the spot.

I stepped forward, out from behind my father.

My eyes went to the hand she had pressed to her stomach.

Honestly, with acting like that, it was a waste she hadn't gone into film.

I gave a small smile. "Stomach cramps, and yet you still managed to drag yourself here to apologize. Alison, you really are hard on yourself."

The second the words left my mouth, her tears stopped cold.

She hurried to explain, "Sandy, I only came because I wanted to say sorry to you in person. I pushed through the pain to be here. How could you think that of me... Is that really the kind of vicious woman I am, in your eyes?"

Luke jumped in at once, his brows knotted tight enough to crush a fly. "Sandra, Ali's in this state and you're still being snide? It's one engagement dinner. What's wrong with pushing it back? Do you really have to be this petty?"

His logic almost made me laugh, and in that instant whatever love I had left for him scattered for good.

"Just one engagement dinner?" I said coldly.

"Luke, easy for you to say. Do you have any idea that this stunt of yours has humiliated the entire Pruitt family?"

Before Luke could answer, Alison started trembling again.

Her voice went so faint it was almost lost. "It's all my fault... I'll leave right now. Luke, you stay... I can get to the hospital on my own..." And with that she moved to push away from him and head for the door.

But Luke couldn't bear to let her go alone. He pulled her back and held her tight.

His eyes went colder still when they turned to me. "Are you determined to make sure no one saves face today?"

"Me?" I twisted the corner of my mouth.

"From start to finish, it's the two of you shameless people causing this scene. Since you've got no one but Alison in your heart, then go and live your life with her. This engagement is off. I'm calling it off today."

Luke froze. Clearly he hadn't expected me, who had always done whatever he said, to call off the engagement so bluntly.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

I met his gaze and said it plainly, one word at a time, without a shred of hesitation.

Five years of my youth thrown to the dogs was still better than a lifetime trapped in the mud.

His face darkened at once. He stared at me for a while, as if trying to make sure I wasn't just saying it in anger.

But my face stayed calm and unmoved. I didn't even furrow my brow.

The last trace of hope in his eyes slowly sank.

After a long moment, he pushed out one line. "Sandra, don't you regret this."

I smiled. "Don't worry, I definitely won't. And I hope you won't either."

4

And so Luke Gilbert walked out with Alison Pruitt.

No hesitation. No regret.

I watched their backs disappear through the door, and my heart was perfectly calm.

If anything, I felt relieved.

Seeing the situation was beyond saving, Will and Olivia Gilbert had no choice but to trail out after them, sullen and grim.

On her way out, Olivia kept sighing, muttering, "How did a perfectly good match turn into this? We were practically one family..."

The way she said it, you'd think I was the one throwing a tantrum and driving their good son away.

I didn't bother with her. I straightened my dress and turned toward the noisy ballroom beyond.

Just then, my father caught my arm from behind, his voice thick with concern. "Sandy, why don't I go tell the guests you're not feeling well and we'll reschedule? You don't have to force yourself through this..."

I reached back and patted his hand, smiling. "Dad, I'm not forcing anything. We're not the ones in the wrong here. There's no reason we can't say it plainly."

Tonight the Pruitts had invited half the elite of Havenport. If I slunk away now, who knew what stories people would spin about me afterward. Better to lay it all out in the open.

Seeing how set I was, my father didn't push it.

He just gave my shoulder a firm pat and walked out at my back.

By now.

Plenty of the guests already knew what had just happened, clustered in twos and threes, murmuring to each other.

The moment they saw my father and me walk into the ballroom, everything went quiet.

Every eye turned to me.

Some curious, some pitying, and more than a few savoring the chance to watch me humiliated.

I walked up to the stage at the front of the ballroom, took the microphone, cleared my throat, and said, "Sorry to keep everyone waiting. A moment ago, Mr. Gilbert left to look after another woman, so this engagement party has been changed, on short notice, into a broken-engagement party. Luke Gilbert and I are done, cleanly and completely, with nothing more between us. Please, eat and enjoy yourselves. On your way out, there'll be a gift waiting for each of you at the door, by way of apology for the trouble."

The instant I finished, the room erupted.

The buzz of voices swelled, and the amusement on many faces turned to shock.

Clearly no one had expected me to be so direct, to lay the whole thing bare in front of everyone.

I stood on the stage, watching their reactions with ease, without a trace of embarrassment.

The wrong wasn't mine to begin with. Why should I hide and cower?

Just then, a soft laugh drifted from the ballroom doorway, a low, pleasant male voice carrying through the air. "Miss Pruitt, since I've come uninvited, would I be lucky enough to stay for this broken-engagement party?" I looked up and saw a man in a black suit standing at the door, his features sharp and striking.

It was Joel Sanchez.

Head of the Sanchez family, Havenport's top financial dynasty.

I'd met him once, at the reunion dinner the Pruitts held when they reclaimed me.

But I hadn't crossed paths with him since.

Before I could speak, my father was already stepping forward with a smile.

"Mr. Sanchez, please, come in. We'd be more than glad to have you. Why on earth wouldn't you be welcome?"

Joel gave my father a nod, then let his gaze settle on me.

There was a faint trace of amusement in his dark eyes. "Then I won't stand on ceremony. After all, I've never been to a broken-engagement party."

At that, the murmuring dropped even lower. Everyone caught that something about those words wasn't quite ordinary.

I steadied myself, lifted the microphone, and let the corner of my mouth curve. "Then I hope you enjoy the meal, Mr. Sanchez..."

Joel nodded, then found a seat near the front and sat down.

And with that, the broken-engagement party got underway in high, lively spirits.