After her accusation, Emma, Mr. Kevin Everly, and the others all stared at Hogan in shock. Liliana, standing nearby, suddenly clenched her palm tight, an overwhelming surge of hatred rising in her chest-she wished she could tear Hogan to pieces with her glare alone. Hogan was well aware of Liliana’s seething hostility toward him, but he remained unmoved. All he cared about was that the truth was finally out.

“So you were never pregnant?”

Emma marched straight to Liliana’s side, fuming.

“How dare you telling such an outrageous lie! What were you hoping to accomplish by pretending to be pregnant?”

The more she thought about it, the angrier Emma became. She shouted, “You weren’t carrying a child at all, yet you claimed you were having Finn’s baby! When the time came, what was your plan-bring in some child from who-knows-where and try to pass them off as an heir to the Everly family?”

Emma was no stranger to scheming herself; as someone well-versed in manipulation, she immediately guessed Liliana’s likely intentions. Furious, Emma raised her hand and slapped Liliana hard across the face. The blow was so forceful that Liliana stumbled back several steps, nearly losing her balance.

Clutching her burning cheek, Liliana slowly swept her gaze over the people around her. Each of them looked at her as if she were some sort of monster, filling her with a mix of resentment, anger, and humiliation so intense that tears nearly spilled from

her eyes.

But Liliana had always been remarkably strong-willed, and even now she held herself together.

She spoke tightly: “Mrs. Emma Everly, I know I made a huge mistake back then, but I never planned to use someone else’s child to deceive everyone. I told everyone later that I’d had a miscarriage, didn’t I?”

“I never meant to fool anyone. I only did it because I wanted to stay by Finnian’s side…”

Liliana kept explaining, but Emma was in no mood to listen. She continued to glare at Liliana with undisguised rage.

Hogan watched the argument coldly. To him, Liliana and Emma’s angry exchange was like watching two dogs fight—it made no difference who came out on top.

He walked over to Mr. Kevin Everly and quietly said, “Grandfather, let me take you home. This has become an utter farce—there’s no reason for us to stay here.”

Mr. Kevin Everly sighed. “Let’s just go, I don’t want to be here anymore…” He, too, was fed up with the chaos. He let Hogan help him out of the room, leaving the scene behind.

That very night, the news that

Finnian had abandoned Liliana in the middle of their intimate wedding reception was all over the internet, creating a massive uproar. Online discussions exploded:

“Why did Mr. Everly run out on the wedding? That’s so strange. Does this mean he doesn’t want to marry Liliana after all?”

“There have been rumors for a while that Mr. Everly never really liked Liliana that he was pressured into marrying her. Now that he’s run out on the wedding 1 guess those rumors were true. Poor Liliana.”

“People online shouldn’t just believe every rumor they hear. Mr. Everly and Liliana love each other-he must’ve left the reception because of some urgent matter. They’ll reschedule the wedding soon. Let’s just wait and see, and Liliana shouldn’t be too upset.”

“Haha, Liliana’s fans are just deluding themselves at this point. Let’s see if they actually ever reschedule that wedding.”

The initial breaking news simply reported that Finnian had abruptly left the reception during his small wedding with Liliana, but no one knew where he’d gone or why.