Chapter 3

Margery Ashford shoved her way through the crowd.

She rushed to the bed and broke down sobbing. "My poor son! He was completely innocent, and now someone's taken advantage of him!"

Turning to Katherine, she cried, "Mrs. Hartwell, you owe us an explanation for this! Someone got my son drunk and left him in this room. Then, he woke up with a woman in his bed.

"He was passed out cold. There's no way he could've done anything. Someone obviously set him up!"

Someone murmured from the crowd, "But Mr. Stephen was clearly the one holding on to the lady—"

Margery spun around and shrieked, "My son was drunk! How could he have made the first move when he wasn't even conscious?"

Katherine's face went from pale to ashen. She pushed to stand up. Despite the tremor in her voice, she still carried the commanding presence of the Hartwell family's matriarch.

"Ms. Ashford, your son compromised a young woman's reputation, yet you're trying to turn this around on us?"

Margery lifted her chin and finally stated her true intentions, saying, "What's done is done. They were found in the same bed, and now both their reputations are ruined.

"If you ask me, Ms. Hartwell should marry Stephen instead. She'll still be marrying into the Aldridge family either way, so what difference does it make which son she marries?"

The moment she said that, several people in the crowd began voicing their agreement.

"She has a point. After they were found together in bed, they can't simply pretend nothing happened."

"But Ms. Hartwell was originally engaged to Mr. Nicholas…"

"These are exceptional circumstances. Their families need to contain the scandal before it gets any worse. They can't let Ms. Hartwell's reputation be destroyed."

"Besides, Mr. Stephen is an Aldridge. It's not as though Ms. Hartwell would be marrying beneath her status."

Their words pierced my ears like daggers.

I stood at the front of the crowd, staring at the two figures huddled on the bed. Tears clung to Stephen's lashes, while Margery carried on sobbing.

My fists tightened until my knuckles cracked, and I clenched my jaw so hard that my cheeks began to ache.

Katherine had gone deathly pale, and only then did Stephen climb out of bed.

He stumbled toward me, grabbed the hem of my pants, and looked up. His wide, innocent eyes brimmed with tears, while his voice came out hoarse and shaky. "Nicholas… I'm so sorry. I-I had too much to drink. By the time I woke up, I was already in the middle of this situation. Please forgive me…"

He clutched my pants until his knuckles turned white. Tears streamed down his face, and his shoulders shook as he sobbed.

To anyone who didn't know the truth, he looked like the victim in all of this.

Margery rushed over, dropped to the floor, and wrapped her arms around my leg as she cried, "Nicholas, please have mercy on your brother! He's young and naive. He wouldn't even know if someone was setting him up. You can't turn your back on him now!"

Some of the onlookers sighed, while others shook their heads in disapproval.

Most of them had already turned toward Katherine, waiting for her decision.

Katherine's lips trembled before she finally said, "Nicholas, about the engagement…"

She left the sentence unfinished, but everyone knew exactly what she meant.

I clenched my fists tighter, digging my nails deep into my palms. Despite the pain, I didn't loosen my grip.

Katherine spoke again, sounding as though the words took every ounce of strength she had. "Nicholas, after what's happened, we have to protect Isabel's reputation."

I closed my eyes and swallowed hard.

The prophecy had said that everyone would catch them in a compromising position, and now the entire room had gathered to witness it.

It had also said that Isabel would have no choice but to marry Stephen.

Now, Katherine was starting to give in, Margery was still wailing, Stephen was still begging, and every guest in the room was watching me, waiting to see what I would do.

But I refused to believe that the woman I had personally sent to her room had somehow ended up in this guest room.