Chapter 5

Three days later, I arrived at the party venue ahead of schedule.

The moment Pearl caught sight of me, her eyes lit up, and a triumphant smirk played at the corner of her lips.

"Look who said he wasn't coming, yet here you are in the flesh. Fine, since you're here, just stay by my side. If you want me back, you'll need to play by my rules at the very least. This outfit isn't bad today. It's no designer brand but tolerable enough."

Ignoring her sudden outburst of vanity, I tried to walk past her toward my seat.

I took barely two steps before an irritated Pearl grabbed me once more. "Didn't you hear me talking to you? Our seats are over here. Where do you think you're going?"

I yanked my arm back and said calmly, "That's your seat. My seat is over there."

As Pearl followed my gaze toward the head table, her expression turned ugly.

Richard shot me a venomous look and pointed at my cufflinks as he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Alex, how the hell did you sneak in here? You're here to crash the party, aren't you? How dare you wear those cufflinks?"

His loud voice instantly drew every eye in the room.

"Aren't those cufflinks the sapphire pair Ms. Carter bought in Glenford for her husband?"

"Looks like it. The man is pretty good-looking, and he even bears some resemblance to Mr. Foster. And dressed like that… Could he be trying something with Ms. Carter?"

"What are the security guards at the door even doing, letting trash like this slip through? I can smell the poverty on him from here."

"Ms. Moran, is this a friend of yours?" a guest asked.

Pearl put some distance between us before replying calmly, "No."

At her response, Richard perked up, puffing his chest out as he confronted me. "Take off those cufflinks and get the hell out before Ms. Carter gets here!"

Pearl added in a low voice, "Put away those filthy thoughts of yours and wait for me at home!"

I looked at Richard with amusement and sneered. "Are you sure you want me to leave?"

Feeling humiliated, he shot me a vicious look and snapped, "What? You think this party can't go on without you? Giving you a chance to walk out on your own feet is doing you a favor!"

With that, he lunged forward to rip off my cufflinks.

I slapped his hand away and stepped back to avoid him. Unexpectedly, someone tripped me from behind, sending me stumbling to the floor.

Seizing the opening, Richard planted his foot onto my hand and tore the cufflinks from my wrist by force. The next second, he hurled the cufflinks violently onto the floor.

With a sharp crack, the delicate sapphire cufflinks shattered into pieces, sending fragments flying everywhere.

A sharp pain shot up from my crushed wrist, the skin scraped raw.

As I stared down at the scattered shards on the floor, my expression darkened.

"Get him up and throw him out!" Richard barked, looking down at me with disdain.

A crowd quickly gathered around us.

Seeing people reaching out to grab my hands and legs, I yanked myself free and snapped coldly, "Don't touch me. I am—"

Before I could finish, Richard landed a hard punch across my face. "Are you about to claim you're Ms. Carter's husband again? You're just a freeloading boy toy who spends his days catering to old hags!"

Still unsatisfied, Richard swung his arm back and landed another punch.

I wiped the blood from my lip, the fire in my chest finally burning past my control.

Pearl crouched down in front of me and reached out toward the scrapes on my wrist, but I violently jerked my hand back.

She looked down at me coldly. "Alex, haven't you made enough of a scene today? You showed up wearing these cufflinks and dressed up like this today just to make me jealous, didn't you?

"I really don't know what to do with you. Forget about the cufflinks, stop spewing that delusional nonsense, and I'll let you stay by my side."

I let out a cold laugh. "Where do you get off being so arrogant? Just wait. You'll regret every single word you said today."

After saying that, I glared daggers at Richard. "And you!"

Pearl frowned, about to speak, when a sudden hush fell over the room. The guests quickly adjusted their attire and gathered toward the main entrance.

Accompanied by a large entourage, Catherine walked in, holding the hand of a little girl.

Pearl turned to me abruptly and whispered, "Alex, today's party is crucial for me. Keep your head down and don't cause any more trouble.

"Don't you love kids? If I manage to build a connection with the Carters today, we can start trying for a baby as soon as we get back."

I didn't even bother answering her. My gaze cut through the crowd, landing straight on the two figures who had just entered.

Finally, Catherine walked right up to me, following after the little girl.