Chapter 2: His Father’s Judgment

 

Ethan stared at his father.

For the first time since I had met him, he looked uncertain.

“Dad, let me explain.”

Damon’s expression did not change.

“I asked you a question.”

His voice was quiet, yet Ethan visibly stiffened.

Vanessa stepped forward. “Mr. Bennett, please. This is between us.”

Damon looked at her.

One look.

Vanessa stopped speaking.

His attention returned to Ethan.

“Was Maya telling the truth?”

Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “It was a mistake.”

My stomach twisted.

Six months.

“A mistake?” I whispered.

Ethan glanced at me. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Six months is a remarkably persistent mistake.”

Damon’s words sliced through the corridor.

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain.”

Several guests had begun appearing at the far end of the hallway.

Wonderful.

Exactly what I needed.

An audience.

Ethan noticed them too.

“Can we discuss this somewhere private?”

“No.”

“Dad.”

“You were comfortable humiliating your fiancée in this hotel. You should be equally comfortable explaining yourself in it.”

Ethan’s face reddened.

I stared at Damon.

I had known him for nearly three years, yet I had never spent more than a few minutes alone with him.

Damon Bennett rarely attended family gatherings unless required. When he did, people adjusted themselves around him.

At forty-five, he had built Bennett Global into an empire spanning hotels, property, and private investments.

Ethan worshipped his father’s success.

He also feared his disappointment.

Until now, I had never understood how much.

Damon turned to me.

“Did you know before today?”

I shook my head.

“Did you suspect?”

“No.”

Something flashed across his face.

Anger.

Not at me.

He looked at Vanessa.

“You were her maid of honor.”

Vanessa swallowed.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

I laughed bitterly.

“For six months?”

“Maya, please.”

“Stop saying my name.”

She fell silent.

Ethan stepped toward me.

“Enough. We need to fix this before people start talking.”

I stared at him.

“Fix what?”

“The wedding.”

I almost admired his audacity.

“You still think there’s a wedding?”

“We can postpone the ceremony for an hour. You need time to calm down.”

Damon’s head turned slowly toward his son.

I saw the exact moment Ethan realized he had said the wrong thing.

“Calm down?” Damon repeated.

Ethan exhaled. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t.”

“This is between Maya and me.”

“Not anymore.”

Ethan frowned. “What does that mean?”

Damon stepped beside me.

Nothing about the movement should have mattered.

Yet it did.

For the first time since opening that door, I no longer felt like I was standing alone.

“You betrayed her on her wedding day,” Damon said. “Then told her to marry you anyway because you believe your surname is worth more than her dignity.”

Ethan’s face hardened.

“You always do this.”

“Do what?”

“Judge me.”

Damon gave him a cold stare.

“You make it remarkably easy.”

Ethan laughed without humor.

“Of course. Damon Bennett, perfect as always.”

“Ethan,” Vanessa whispered.

He ignored her.

“You think you know everything about relationships? How did your marriage work out?”

The corridor went silent.

Even I knew Ethan had crossed a line.

Damon had been divorced for years. Nobody in the Bennett family discussed his former wife.

His face became unreadable.

Ethan seemed to realize his mistake.

“Dad, I didn’t mean…”

“Go downstairs.”

“What?”

“Tell the guests the wedding has been cancelled.”

Ethan stared at him.

“You cannot decide that.”

“No. Maya already did.”

Damon looked at me.

Something about those words nearly broke me.

Maya already did.

Not Ethan.

Not his family.

Me.

I had decided.

Ethan shook his head. “She’s emotional.”

I turned on him.

“Stop speaking about me as if I’m not standing here.”

“Maya…”

“I loved you.”

His expression shifted.

“For four years, I loved you. I defended you. I trusted you. I was prepared to build my entire life with you.”

My throat burned.

“And you were sleeping with her while I planned our wedding.”

Ethan looked away.

“So no, I do not need an hour to calm down.”

I pulled the veil from my hair.

“I need you out of my life.”

His eyes snapped back to mine.

“Maya.”

I dropped the veil at his feet.

Then I walked away.

I made it three steps before Damon spoke.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

The truth sounded pathetic.

I had arrived in Ethan’s car. My overnight bag was in the honeymoon suite. My phone was downstairs with my sister.

I had nowhere to go wearing a wedding dress worth more than my first car.

“I’ll take you home,” Damon said.

Ethan laughed.

“No.”

We both turned.

His eyes were fixed on his father.

“You’re not taking her anywhere.”

Damon’s expression chilled.

“I wasn’t asking your permission.”

“She’s my fiancée.”

“Was.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“You stay out of this.”

For the first time, Damon smiled.

There was no warmth in it.

Then he looked at me.

“Come with me, Maya.”

I should have refused.

I should have found my family.

I should have done anything except follow my cheating fiancé’s father.

But Ethan had spent the last ten minutes treating me like property he expected returned once I stopped being inconvenient.

So I lifted my chin.

And walked toward Damon.

Ethan grabbed my wrist.

Damon stopped.

His eyes dropped to Ethan’s hand around me.

“Let her go.”

“She belongs with me.”

Something changed in Damon’s face.

His voice dropped.

“Maya does not belong to you.”

Ethan released me.

Damon held out his hand.

I stared at it.

Then I placed mine in his.

His fingers closed around mine.

Warm. Firm. Certain.

We had barely taken two steps when Ethan spoke behind us.

“You think he’s helping you?”

I stopped.

“Maya, ask my father why he already knew your name before I ever introduced you.”

My blood went cold.

Slowly, I turned toward Damon.

He did not look surprised.

And suddenly, I forgot how to breathe.