Chapter 3

Amanda excused herself to go the washroom. She left her handbag behind because she knew she won't be taking long and everyone there was like family so she trusted that her handbag will be safe.

Seeing her leave, Juliana and her son Ryan exchanged a look. They each knew what to do. Their eyes were filled with evil glint.

They have been waiting for an opportunity to place the prepared necklace in Amanda's bag and frame Amanda as they had planned earlier and this was the best opportunity for them.

It was a replica of the necklace that Vallery was supposed to wear during the party. Val had made it so that they could take this chance and remove this bitch from their sight once and for all.

They even planned to blow up the matter so that she may end up in prison.

Ryan was the one carrying the necklace. He moved toward grandma Catherine because that is where Amanda had left her handbag. He pretended to chat with grandma and extended his hand towards Amanda's handbag without anyone noticing. 

The necklace was soon dropped in Amanda's bag and they just had to wait for the show to begin.

...

Amanda did not take a long time in the washroom and soon returned.

She had just occupied her seat when she heard a commotion outside. Soon, she saw the man who appeared in her dreams almost every night for the past five years and was delighted.

He was as handsome as she remembered. The five years overseas seem to have added a sense of maturity to his already existing charm. 

She almost ran towards him but restrained herself when she saw that he was surrounded by a lot of people. 

And she was not in a hurry because she knew they will have plenty of opportunity to catch up.

Seeing her act like that, Juliana sneered, disdain filled her eyes as she smirked maliciously. 

The William family also did not walk over to greet Jason because they knew their time would come. 

In the midst of the crowd, Amanda saw a delicate figure walking towards Jason, she was very familiar with that figure that she did not need to look twice to know who it was. Who else could it be other Vallery Jackson, her step sister who looked down on her and despised her to the core.

She wondered what her sister was doing going where Jason was. After all, everyone knew that Jason did not like her although he did not show it openly. 

What she did not know was that what was going to happen next will be her worst nightmare for the years to come.

She watched as Vallery walked towards Jason, how they smiled at each other, how they locked their eyes, full of affection for each other. 

She stared at them as they moved closer to each other, finally hugging and then......

Amanda's mind suddenly went blank. It felt like fireworks were bursting in her head and she could not even see clearly. She stared at the pair kissing in front of everyone without even caring that they were in public. Grandma Catherine and Amanda's mom were in worse state than Amanda.

They stared at Amanda then at the kissing pair, before everything clicked in.

The earlier behaviour of Juliana and Liz had left them stunned but they had kept the doubts to themselves, now they understood that they were the only ones left in the dark about the whole situation.

The Jackson family only wanted to humiliate Amanda and let her know that she was nothing without her family and that she could never dream about marrying into a good family without any background. 

Amanda's face had turned as pale as sheet of white paper, and no blood could be seen on her face. Her lips trembled as she bit on them hard to prevent her tears from flowing out.

....

Vallery and Jason walked towards the family after finishing their reunion. They were followed by Vallery's father who was chatting with his friends. You could tell that he was in a very good mood.

"Grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, auntie... how are you guys?" Jason greeted them with his charming smile.

Seeing the smile that she had longed to see for a long time, Amanda felt like her eyes were burning.

Ever since he came in, he has not looked at her for even a second, he even ignored her mother as he greeted the rest of the family.

Amanda and her mother felt like they were the biggest joke of the year. They were not even treated like family and started wondering why they were called to come to this engagement. 

But they will soon know the answer to their questions.

Amanda stared at Jason as he greeted everyone except for her and her mother. She felt she was swallowing a huge and disgusting fly that could not go past her throat.

Her feelings were all over the place but she reminded herself to calm down and that everything will be okay, that this was just a prank set by Jason.

But the truth always hurt....

"Hey son, look at how you have grown. You had almost forgotten how home looked like. You were not planning on coming back for it not for the engagement between you and Val, right? How can you be so unfilial?" His mother reprimanded him but you could hear the love and indulgence in her tone. It did not feel like scolding at all.

"Yes son, your mother is right. You cannot always go away for a long time. Your grandparents are getting old by the day, and they want to spend more time with their grandson!"

"Okay dad, mom, I have noted that. . This time I'm planning on moving back to the country permanently, after all I'm almost a married man and I can't just leave my wife behind." 

"Ja.....s......on!" Amanda's voice trembled and choked as she called her childhood sweetheart. 

But Jason turned a blind eye and pretended not to have heard her as he continued to chat with his family.

"Jason!" His grandmother called him. He could not ignore her and turned around to look at her. 

That is when his eyes looked at Amanda because she was standing next to his grandmother. It was just a brief look before he averted his gaze. 

It was brief but Amanda felt like she had been socked in ice marbles when their eyes met.

He looked at her coldly like she was a stranger to him. 

Amanda almost fainted but thanks to her mom, she held her in place and squizzed  her hand to give her warmth.