Chapter 12

"AHHHH! AHHHHHH!" Andrew screamed at the top of his lungs, a sound of pure, unhinged fury that echoed off the hotel walls.

"BECAUSE I'M YOUR HUSBAND!" Andrew finally bellowed out to the empty air, but I didn't even turn around to listen.

Taylor paused right at the edge of the parking lot. She looked down at me, a dark, dangerous glint in her eyes. "Andrew," she called out over her shoulder, her voice dropping into a deadly calm. "You dug this hole with your own hands, and now you want to back out?"

She raised a single hand, signalling to the four burly, suited security guards standing by her black Maybach.

"Teach him a lesson," Taylor commanded ruthlessly. "Knock some sense into him."

Before Andrew could even react, Taylor’s security team lunged forward. They grabbed Andrew by his collar and slammed him down onto the hard concrete, forcing him onto his knees.

"Let go of me!" Andrew screamed, but his voice was instantly cut off as the guards began raining heavy, deliberate blows onto his belly.

They hit him with brutal efficiency, punishment delivered for every tear I had shed over five years. Taylor gently lowered my feet to the ground, keeping her arm firmly wrapped around my waist to support my weight as we watched the spectacle.

Within seconds, blood trailed from the corner of Andrew’s mouth, dark bruises already forming across his jaw as he groaned in agony on the floor.

"Let go of me! How dare you?!" Andrew gasped out, clutching his stomach as he spat blood onto the pavement. "Taylor... I'm your brother!"

"Andrew!" Kate shrieked, trying to sprint toward him, but two of Taylor’s guards caught her by the arms, pinning her back effortlessly.

"Taylor, you've lost your mind!" Kate screamed, fighting against the guards' grip with tears of rage streaming down her face. "You can't do this to him! You're crazy!"

Taylor paid Kate no attention. She stepped forward, her heels clicking sharp and rhythmic against the pavement until she was standing directly over her bruised, trembling brother.

"Everything you have right now your job, your luxury house, the money you waste, even the funds you used to fool around with Kate I gave it all to you," Taylor said, her voice icy and absolute. "I gave it to you, and I can take it away just as easily."

Andrew panted heavily, his body trembling in pain as he forced his head up to look at his sister.

Taylor raised her leg, placing the sole of her high heel firmly onto his chest and pushing him flat onto his back. She leaned over slightly, her foot pressing down with enough weight to steal his breath.

"This is your absolute last chance, Andrew," Taylor whispered, her voice carrying across the silent parking lot for every guest to hear. "Say it again in front of everyone... whose wife is Sophia?"

A suffocating silence settled over the entire venue. The guests held their breath, Kate froze in horror, and my neglectful parents watched with wide, terrified eyes.

Andrew stared up at Taylor’s cold, unyielding face. He swallowed the blood in his mouth, his arrogance completely crushed into dust.

"Sh... She..." Andrew choked out, his voice cracking with utter humiliation. "She... she is your wife."

Taylor stared down at him for a long, silent moment before slowly pulling her foot back. She turned on her heel, striding back to where I stood waiting.

Her expression instantly softened as she reached out, gently tucking a wet strand of hair behind my ear.

"Let's go home," Taylor murmured softly, her eyes searching mine with immense warmth. "There's no need to let this trash ruin your mood any further."

A genuine, triumphant smile touched my lips. "Okay."

Taylor opened the rear door of the Maybach, guiding me inside before climbing in beside me. The luxury car smoothly pulled away into the night, leaving the chaos of the banquet behind.

Back on the pavement, the guards released Kate, who immediately ran toward Andrew, collapsing beside him on the concrete.

"Andrew! Explain this right now! What is going on?!" Eleanor, my mother, shrieked as she rushed over, her voice shrill with panic. "Why did Taylor say Sophia is her wife?!"

Andrew pushed Kate’s hands away, wiping the blood from his lip as he slowly, painfully dragged himself up to his feet. He glared at Eleanor with dark, exhausted fury.

"I'm not answering that question a third time," Andrew spat out bitterly.

Without looking back at his mistress or his stunned in-laws, Andrew turned around and limped away into the darkness, leaving them all standing in complete, ruined and silence.