Chapter 15

The massive crystal chandelier in the five-star hotel ballroom blazed brilliantly, reflecting a forced illusion of luxury orchestrated by Emely Nasution. Behind her wide smile as she greeted business associates and socialites, she concealed a suffocating anxiety. Tonight’s engagement party between Dewangga and Vanes was her final gamble. She had deliberately invited the media and influential figures to silence the rumors of the Nasution family’s financial collapse.

“Everything must look perfect,” Emely whispered to her assistant, her sharp eyes scanning the white lily decorations that filled the room. “Show the world that we are still in power.”

Vanes stood at the center of the room, wearing a white crystal-embellished gown designed to highlight her pregnancy. She looked like a queen, but beneath her heavy makeup, cold sweat continued to trickle down. Dewangga, standing beside her, looked like a living corpse. His face was stiff, his eyes hollow, and his hand repeatedly brushed against his suit pocket—waiting for the vibration of his phone that would answer his suspicions.

The event began with the clinking of champagne glasses. Emely stepped onto the small stage, holding a microphone with practiced elegance.

“Thank you for attending this blessed evening,” Emely’s voice echoed. “Today is not only about my son Dewangga’s engagement to Vanes, but also about welcoming the heir of the Nasution family. The baby boy she carries will prove that our family will continue to thrive beyond any slander.”

Polite applause followed, though cynical whispers about Serena lingered in the corners of the room. Just as Emely was about to invite Dewangga to place the ring on Vanes’s finger, his phone vibrated.

Dewangga stepped away from the crowd, moving quickly to a quieter corner. He opened an encrypted email from Medika Utama Laboratory. His fingers trembled as he downloaded the attachment titled Confidential Prenatal DNA Test Results.

His eyes scanned the probability figures on the screen.

Biological Father Probability: 0.00%.

The world seemed to stop spinning. All the air in his lungs felt sucked away. The line below struck even harder: The fetal sample shows a genetic match with an individual named Reno Pratama.

Dewangga felt his blood boil to the breaking point. Reno—the man he had heard on the phone that night. All this time, he had abandoned Serena, hurt Clarisa, and destroyed his reputation just to protect the womb of a woman carrying another man’s child. He had become the greatest joke in his family’s history.

He looked up, staring at Vanes, who was smiling sweetly on stage as she accepted congratulations from the guests. The anger he had suppressed exploded into pure madness.

Dewangga strode back into the center of the room with an intimidating pace. Seeing her son approach, Emely immediately welcomed him. “Come on, Dewangga, put the ring on her. The media is recording.”

Instead of taking the ring, Dewangga grabbed Vanes’s wrist so roughly that she cried out in pain.

“Dewangga? What’s wrong? You’re hurting me!” Vanes screamed, her face turning pale at the sight of his bloodshot eyes.

“Hurting you?!” Dewangga roared, his voice booming across the ballroom and silencing the orchestra. “Your pain is nothing compared to how foolish I’ve been for trusting a woman like you!”

“Dewangga! What are you doing? There are guests here!” Emely tried to intervene, but Dewangga shoved her aside, sending her crashing into a pile of wedding gifts.

He threw his phone straight at Vanes. It fell to the floor, the screen displaying the damning DNA results. “Look at this! Look at your so-called ‘heir’! Who is Reno?! Who is the father of the bastard in your womb?!”

Vanes stared at the screen, and in an instant, all her defenses collapsed. Her face turned as white as paper. The invited guests began to gather, and the cameras that were meant to capture happiness now recorded the most disgraceful scandal of the century—live.

“Dewangga… I can explain… this must be a misunderstanding…” Vanes whimpered, reaching for his leg.

“Don’t touch me with your filthy hands!” Dewangga kicked her hand away and dragged her by her perfectly styled hair. Vanes screamed hysterically as her expensive gown dragged across the floor, her small crown falling and being trampled by the panicked crowd.

“Everyone, look!” Dewangga shouted at the guests, his voice breaking with rage and humiliation. “This is the woman you call the future daughter-in-law of the Nasution family! The one my mother worshipped! She’s carrying her own assistant’s child! She tricked me into funding her life!”

“Stop, Dewangga! Stop!” Emely cried, realizing that it wasn’t just the engagement ending tonight—the entire dignity of their family had crumbled into dust before their business associates.

Dewangga dragged Vanes all the way to the ballroom exit and threw her onto the asphalt outside the hotel lobby, in front of stunned drivers and doormen. He grabbed the box containing the billion-rupiah diamond ring and hurled it at her tear- and dust-covered face.

“Take this and go to hell!” he roared. “Don’t ever step foot in my house again! And you, Mother… you forced me to accept this woman. You are responsible for this destruction too!”

He turned and walked away, leaving Vanes sobbing on the street and his mother unconscious inside the hall. He stood in the hotel lobby, breathing heavily, as flashes from journalists’ cameras attacked him relentlessly.

At that same moment, on a giant screen in the city broadcasting live entertainment news, Serena watched the scene unfold from inside her car with Haris Nasution. Serena did not smile. She simply stared at the screen with an empty gaze.

“A beautiful tragedy, isn’t it?” Haris whispered softly.

Serena took a deep breath. “This isn’t a tragedy, Haris. This is justice. Dewangga built his empire by burning my life. Now, let him watch his own empire burn in the fire he created.”