Chapter 826
The crowd at the gala was completely blown away.
“If what Mr. Ferguson says is true, this is a real-life case of biting the hand that fed them.”
“Seriously. Her family graciously helped a friend, and they repaid that kindness by destroying their lives. And years later, they try to wreck her granddaughter’s marriage… That entire family is a nest of venomous snakes!”
“They probably got a taste of the good life after ruining the first marriage. Then, seeing Ms. Ross join the Henderson family and step into Starfall City’s elite circle, they got jealous and pulled the same stunt. Let’s be real, if they hadn’t latched onto Mr. Henderson, that family wouldn’t even be qualified to step foot in here tonight. They’ll do anything to climb the social ladder.”
“I had dinner with Mr. Henderson, Ms. Hawkins, and Director Ross a while back. Ms. Hawkins sat right next to Mr. Henderson right in front of Director Ross, acting like his girlfriend while pretending she didn’t even know Director Ross. Looking back, the sheer audacity of this woman is unbelievable.”
“That’s putting it mildly! At every one of these galas, she parades around as his girlfriend right to Director Ross’s face, all while secretly dragging Charlene’s name through the mud. Ugh!”
Dalton Ramirez, Corinne Lancaster, and Raleigh listened to the whispers, their shock and disbelief deepening. They stared blankly at Vesta Hawkins.
If what Stewart Ferguson was saying was true…
No… how could Stewart’s claims possibly be true?
Moran Albright was equally stunned.
He looked at Thorne, Charlene, and Vesta with a heavy heart, unable to stop himself from turning to Granger. “Granger, what Stewart said… it can’t be true, right?”
If it was, then Thorne, and the Vesta they thought they knew…
Granger’s own emotions were in a tangled knot.
He had always assumed he knew exactly what was going on between Thorne, Vesta, and Charlene. Only now did he realize he didn’t really understand any of them.
Pulled from his daze by Moran’s question, he looked over at Charlene’s group and murmured, “I think… it’s true.”
Moran stared at him, utterly speechless.
In truth, everyone in the room was waiting to hear how Vesta would defend herself. But Vesta just stood there, her fists clenched tightly at her sides, absolutely silent. When neither she nor her supporters spoke up, Stewart didn’t waste any time. He glanced at Vesta, then at the Hawkins and Spencer families standing nearby. “Ms. Hawkins, was anything I just said fabricated or defamatory?”
“If so, please point it out. We can hash this out right here in front of everyone. If we can’t settle it tonight, Charlene and I would be more than happy to post Ms. Ross and your father’s divorce certificate online. We can do a deep dive into the entire divorce trial and recount exactly how your family bit the hand that fed them. We have mountains of evidence at our disposal. What do you say, Ms. Hawkins?”
Dead silence fell over the room.
Vesta pressed her lips together, refusing to answer.
Maureen Spencer and her family were equally mute.
Feeling the weight of the crowd’s judging stares, Leah Spencer bit her lip and ducked her head, her eyes welling with tears. She Wanted, sob, but with the rest of her family paralyzed in silence, she didn’t dare make a sound or meet anyone’s gaze.
She wanted the ground to swallow her whole, but her legs were trembling too violently to even move.
Rhoda was in a similar state, though perhaps slightly more composed. Terrified and bewildered, she couldn’t understand how everything had spiraled out of control so quickly.
At this point, the crowd had connected all the dots.
“So, Mr. Ferguson was telling the truth?”
“Holy shit!”
Raleigh stared at Vesta, stumbling back a step in pure shock.
Dalton and Corinne had similar reactions.
Corinne clenched her fists, staring at Vesta as a lump formed in her throat.
Stewart looked at Corinne with a mocking gaze, completely devoid of pity. He then shifted his attention to Raleigh. “Mr. Shaw, Ms. Lancaster… Now it’s my turn to ask. Do you two have anything else to say?”
“You…!”
Seeing the mockery in Stewart’s eyes, and realizing the depth of Vesta’s deception, Corinne was overwhelmed with anger and humiliation. She wanted to scream, but the words died on her tongue.
After the initial wave of devastation
washed over him, Raleigh seemed to
find a numb sort of calm. He stared blankly at Vesta and muttered, “So, joining PrimeStar Technologies,
trying to become Dr. Wagner’s
student, and sucking up to Dr. Lucas
tonight… was it all just revenge?”
A bystander couldn’t help but chime in, “So what if it is revenge? If I were Charlene,
I’d want the Hawkins and Spencer families destroyed!”
“Exactly! That Hawkins woman
already has Mr. Henderson wrapped
around her finger. If she had actually become Dr. Wagner’s student and won his favor, her family would be untouchable. Even Mr. Ferguson might not have been able to protect Director Ross then! Charlene would have been entirely at their mercy. So honestly, it’s less about revenge and more about self-preservation!”
“Damn right!”
Hearing this, Dalton, Raleigh, and Corinne all froze, unable to formulate a response.
Granger and Moran remained silently observant.
York Watson pressed his lips into a tight line, his gaze fixed intensely on Vesta.
Gaylord Hearst’s mind was reeling.
But upon hearing this, Stewart simply laughed. “Revenge?”