Chapter 2

In the morgue, I finally saw the elderly man's face.

According to the plan, after today's engagement party, he would have become my future father-in-law.

Now, he lay alone inside a refrigerated drawer.

His lower limbs had been crushed beyond recognition.

Furious, my father informed the Alvarez family that we were unilaterally canceling the engagement.

However, early the next morning, I received an invitation to a family dinner hosted by the Alvarez family.

At the same time, I also received a call from Ethan.

"Celeste, are you really that jealous of my trip with Mia? You actually used canceling the engagement to threaten me!"

"Fine. My uncle personally sent the invitation, so the party will proceed tonight. I'll even apologize to you in person. Is that enough to satisfy you?"

He had actually canceled his trip with Mia and rushed back to Enotria overnight. So hurriedly that he still didn't know his father had already died.

"Sweetheart, are you going?"

Dad looked at me.

I stared at the invitation for several seconds before nodding.

I didn't care about Ethan, but if I wanted to expand our influence in Enotria, I couldn't ignore the Alvarez family.

More importantly, just a minute earlier, Ethan had posted online that the engagement party would proceed as planned.

In the photo, every influential and high-ranking elder of the Alvarez family was present.

As the star of the show, Ethan appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the attention.

He captioned it, [Thank you to my beloved father, the most important person in my life. He hosted the most extravagant engagement party of the Alvarez family. I love him, and I love the Alvarez family.]

The lonely old man lying in the morgue deserved the truth.

A limited-edition luxury car pulled up in front of the Alvarez family estate. Inside, the atmosphere was lively, filled with voices and celebration.

The moment the car arrived, the guests in the courtyard all turned to look.

Ethan pushed through the crowd and hurried forward.

"Father, you're finally here! But why are you—"

After seeing my face clearly, he looked somewhat surprised.

It seemed he had been anxiously waiting for his father, the man who was supposed to preside over the party.

The looks the guests gave me were also filled with sympathy.

"Isn't she the woman whose father was hit by a car yesterday? Her father is lying in the hospital, yet she's still here attending the party. She doesn't even have a family member with her. How pitiful."

"There is always a price to pay for crossing social classes. This is the cost of a nobody trying to attach herself to the Alvarez family."

Ethan frowned in dissatisfaction.

"Celeste, you've adapted to the role of Mrs. Alvarez pretty quickly. Your father is still lying in the hospital, yet you're in the mood to rent such an expensive car before the party?"

Rent?

This car was the gift my dad gave me for my twenty-first birthday.

As for him, because he had to cancel his return flight to Lanford, he left ten minutes later than I did.

He was currently on his way in the Cullinan driven by his chauffeur.

Mia walked through the crowd toward me, her face filled with innocence and sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Ms. McKenna. I truly didn't mean to hit that elderly man. I hope Ethan's five hundred thousand dollars can bring you some comfort."

"By the way, how is that elderly gentleman doing?"

"Not very well."

I looked at Ethan. "He's dead."

A collective gasp swept through the crowd.

I stared into Ethan's widened eyes as he took a step backward in shock.

"I think it's far more important that you go to the hospital and look at the body than this engagement party."

"He's dead? How is that possible?!"

However, Mia's sudden breakdown immediately drew all of his attention.

"I barely touched him. How could he have been so frail that he died? I'm sorry, Ethan! I didn't mean to!"

She clearly believed the dead man was my dad. Yet instead of me, she chose to apologize to Ethan.

What would happen if she knew the truth?

Before I could say anything, Ethan pulled her protectively behind him and looked at me with caution.

"Celeste, it was an accident.

"Did you deliberately announce your father's death in front of everyone because you wanted to embarrass Mia? What's next? Are you planning to have her sent to prison?"

"Heh. A nobody like her thinks she can send Mia to prison? Not unless she wants to make an enemy of the Alvarez family."

A mocking female voice sounded from behind Ethan.

It was Ethan's mother, Diana Grace.