Chapter 7 - The Fiancé's Ultimatum
Arthur Sterling didn't wait another second.
He turned on his heel, grabbed his wife Victoria by the elbow, and turned to his son. "Brandon. We are leaving. Right now."
"Brandon! No!" Riley screamed, trying to pull away from my security guards. "Brandon, look at me! I love you! Don't listen to her!"
Brandon stood staring at Riley. The illusion was completely shattered.
He looked at the custom white dress he now realized I had paid for. He looked at her hysterical, desperate face. He looked at her father sweating through his clothes like a exposed fraud, and her mother weeping on the red carpet floor.
Slowly, Brandon reached down, grabbed the platinum-and-diamond engagement ring he had placed on Riley’s finger two months ago during their private proposal, and yanked it off her hand.
"Brandon!" Riley shrieked, a sound of absolute despair.
"My family spent three months planning this union based on your father's lies," Brandon said, his voice cold and disgusted. "You're not an heiress, Riley. You're a fake. And your entire family is a parasitical nightmare. Do not call me again."
Brandon tossed the ring into his father's open palm, turned around, and marched down the boardwalk, followed immediately by his parents and all forty members of the Sterling family delegation.
The remaining twenty-eight guests—local socialites, former friends of Evelyn and Richard—began scrambling to leave, whispering frantically to one another, pulling out their phones to check the news feeds.
Within three minutes, the grand dock at Slip 42 was completely cleared of guests.
Only the cameras, the ship crew, my security detail, and my broken family remained under the bright noon sun.
Richard was sitting on a wooden dock bench, his head buried in his hands, staring at the floorboards in absolute defeat. Evelyn was sobbing quietly on the carpet, her Chanel suit ruined with dirt. Riley was huddled in a ball near the water's edge, weeping uncontrollably into her white dress.
I adjusted the cuffs of my emerald green blazer, turned to Captain Miller, and offered him a polite smile.
"Thank you for your professionalism today, Captain Miller," I said.
"It was my absolute duty, Ms. Hayes," Captain Miller replied, saluting softly. "The vessel is yours for the remainder of the day if you wish to set sail."
"Actually, Captain," I said, looking out at the sparkling ocean water. "I think I'll enjoy a quiet lunch on the upper deck."
I turned to walk up the gangplank, but Richard's weak, trembling voice stopped me at the base of the ramp.
"Avery..." Richard croaked out, raising his head. His eyes were red, hollowed out by sudden ruin. "What... what are we supposed to do now? We have no money. The bank accounts are frozen. We have nowhere to go."
I turned back and looked down at the three of them from the top of the ramp.
"You have thirty days to find a apartment you can actually afford, Dad," I said calmly. "I suggest you and Mom get real jobs. And as for Riley..."
I looked at my younger sister, who was staring up at me with raw, bitter eyes.
May you like
"Only real family belongs in my life," I said softly, echoing her five words back to her one last time. "And none of you qualify."
I turned on my heel, walked up to the sunlit upper deck of the luxury superyacht, and let the white-gloved steward pour me a glass of ice-cold French champagne.
