CHAPTER 8
I stood motionless on the porch, watching my daughter break down in front of the very men she had chosen over her own blood.
"I listened to him, Mom," Samantha sobbed, bowing her head in deep shame. "Greg told me his parents wouldn't take us seriously if we had an old-fashioned farm wedding... he said your truck and your work clothes made the estate look cheap."
"And you believed him," I said softly, my voice filled with steady sorrow rather than anger.
"I was stupid," she cried. "I was so insecure about fitting into his family that I let him erase you... I let him make me feel ashamed of the woman who built everything I have."
Greg stepped onto the bottom step, glaring at Samantha with pure disgust.
"Are you serious right now?" Greg demanded coldly. "You're crying to your mother after she ruined our entire wedding day? After she humiliated my family in front of two hundred wealthy donors?"
"She didn't humiliate your family, Greg!" Samantha shouted back. "You humiliated yourself the second you thought you could use her land while throwing her away like trash!"
Richard stepped between them, his face darkening with absolute coldness.
"Enough of this ridiculous melodrama," Richard snapped. "Samantha, if you step away from this agreement, my family will pull all funding for Greg's new investment firm, and you will start your life with nothing."
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Samantha looked at Greg, waiting for him to object, waiting for him to defend her against his father's cold threat.
Greg said nothing; he simply stood there, staring at the ground, silently confirming that his loyalty lay entirely with his father's money.
