Chapter 814
Rhoda and Leah Spencer reacted just as intensely.
Leah’s face instantly drained of color.
However, no one had a bigger reaction than Vesta Hawkins.
Originally, her mindset had aligned with her family’s.
She had genuinely believed there was a chance to stop things from spiraling completely out of control.
But she never could have anticipated this.
She stared blankly at the massive screen, her mind short-circuiting. The champagne flute slipped from her numb fingers, shattering against the floor before she even registered dropping it.
Vesta and her circle weren’t the only ones in shock. Charlene Ross and Stewart Ferguson froze the instant they saw the projected images.
Neither of them had expected Raleigh to pull a stunt like this.
Stewart glanced at Charlene, arching a subtle brow in a silent question: When did this happen?
Charlene shook her head.
Her silent answer was clear: she had no idea.
Standing center stage, Raleigh took in the crowd’s reactions, his gaze sweeping over Maureen Spencer, Charlene, Stewart, Vesta, and Thorne Henderson.
His eyes immediately locked onto Stewart and Charlene.
Seeing their stunned expressions as they stared at the photos brought a smug smile to his lips.
But his focus quickly shifted to Vesta.
Seeing all the color vanish from her face as she stared at the screen, looking utterly shattered and in absolute disbelief, made his heart ache for her.
Yet, along with that protective urge came a surging, fiery anger.
He clenched his jaw. Without even bothering to check Thorne’s reaction, he snapped his attention back to Stewart and Charlene. With a cold sneer, he challenged Stewart, “Mr. Ferguson, it seems the woman you’ve been protecting so fiercely has quite a messy private life. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
The photos displayed Charlene and Thorne in different outfits, and Raleigh had “thoughtfully” added time stamps to each image.
The implication was glaring: Charlene and Thorne had been carrying on an affair for quite some time, with the most recent encounter happening just last week.
It painted a clear picture of an ongoing, illicit relationship behind closed doors.
Every eye in the venue darted toward Charlene and Stewart.
Truth be told, the crowd was buzzing with thrill.
No one had expected such explosive drama at a high-society event.
Even without the earlier
confrontation between Stewart and
Raleigh, it was obvious to anyone
watching that Stewart treated
Charlene with
nwavering Toyalty
and care.
Some even suspected he bent professional rules just for her sake.
And yet, according to the screen, Charlene had been making a fool out of him this entire time.
Honestly, an absolute betrayal like this would drive any man insane.
Stewart lowered his gaze, refusing to meet Raleigh’s eyes, and remained silent. Charlene did the same.
Raleigh had caught that brief, silent exchange of looks between Charlene and Stewart when the photos first went up.
He assumed Charlene’s head shake was her frantically denying the photos to Stewart, begging him not to believe the evidence.
That thought made him smile again. He pressed on. “Or perhaps, Mr. Ferguson, you think these photos are fake?”
His gaze snapped to Charlene. “Or
.e
maybe, Ms. Ross, you’d like to claim
this is just ‘standard business,
iel
conduct during your partnership with Mr. Henderson?”
Before either of them could answer, the crowd erupted into a fresh wave of
murmurs.
“There’s no way those photos are doctored.”
“Right? Even if PrimeStar
Technologies and The Henderson
Group are collaborating, why are they all over each other? They literally went home together.
“Exactly.”
Whispers tore through the room like wildfire.
Finally, Stewart spoke up. He looked at Raleigh, a slow smile spreading across his face. “I never said that.”
Raleigh faltered, thrown off by Stewart’s calm amusement.