Chapter 5
“Why?! Why are you doing this to me? Why didn’t you tell me anything?!”
Faced with his shouting, I finally laid it all out-the truth I’d kept buried deep inside.
“What about you, Nolan? Why did you do this to me? Did you think just because I was overseas, I wouldn’t find out? You paraded Sienna around in front of me like I was blind-do you really think I’m that easy to fool?”
“You care about her so much. You like her that much. Then why didn’t you just break up with me? Why’d you string us both along? You cheated first. The baby is already five months along. So tell me-what exactly did I do wrong by running from that wedding? What gives you the right to question me?”
Each word landed sharp and heavy, echoing through the stunned silence around us.
Nolan had never imagined that I’d known about his secret all along.
Guilt. Panic. Regret. Shame. They all crashed into him at once. He lunged toward the car window, rambling incoherently.
“It’s not like that, Maren, just listen to me! I-I didn’t even know she was pregnant. They found out during a company
health screening. My grandmother knew before I did. She was the one who insisted on keeping the baby, I just-”
Even now, he was still trying to push the blame onto someone else. And just like that, I was done.
“Right. It’s everyone else’s fault. The three hundred million you dropped on her stupid star at the auction, that kiss in the hallway, the iced vodka you picked for me-none of that’s on you, right?”
Nolan couldn’t get a single word out.
He stood frozen, eyes blank and hollow-completely defeated.
Just then, Mrs. Eleanor Everett stepped forward, her face tight with pain seeing her grandson like that. She rushed to his side, instantly switching into defense mode.
“Maren Whitfield! You know damn well how Nolan’s treated you all these years! He’s been talking about marrying you since two years ago. But you? You kept turning him down for your dancing! When he finally got the ring, you ditched him and ran off to another country!”
“He got drunk and ended up with Sienna’s kid-how can you blame him? He’s been guilt-ridden ever since-he won’t even
and acknowledge his own child, just to avoid hurting you! That’s how much he loves you! And you-after all that-you go humiliate our entire family at the altar? Don’t you feel the slightest bit ashamed?!”
Beckett’s face instantly turned cold at her sharp, righteous tone.
“Maren was twenty-one back then. She had a dream, a career. She didn’t want to get married so young. What the hell is wrong with that? The Whitfields aren’t exactly beneath the Everetts. This wasn’t some big social climb. And rejecting a few proposals? That’s not a crime.”
“Nolan couldn’t keep it in his pants. That’s not on Maren. Or do you think she held him down and poured shots down his throat? He knocked someone up-and then still tried to propose to Maren? That’s not love. That’s fraud. This whole wedding was built on lies and manipulation. And if she wanted to escape it? Good. Let her. What the hell are you gonna
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do about it?”
His words hit hard-blunt and merciless. Mrs. Everett turned red with fury. She pointed a shaking finger at him, stammering, “You-you-you-!” But couldn’t get a full sentence out.
Beckett let out a low scoff, gave the grandmother and grandson pair one last cold glance, and slammed the car window
shut. Then he floored the gas.
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