Chapter 3: The True Heir Arrives
Eric didn't give his bride a single glance. He ignored her completely, his eyes locked onto the crying, chocolate-covered girl standing in the center of the room.
Without a single thought for his own multi-thousand-dollar custom wedding tuxedo, Eric dropped directly to his knees on the dirty marble floor. His hands were shaking with a mixture of terror and rage as he pulled a pristine, white silk handkerchief from his breast pocket. He reached up, his fingers incredibly gentle as he began to wipe the heavy dark chocolate cream away from Sara’s stinging eyes.
"Brother... it hurts... my eyes are burning..." Sara whispered, her voice breaking completely as her strength gave out. She collapsed forward, her stained uniform smearing chocolate all over the front of Eric’s immaculate white tuxedo shirt.
Eric caught her instantly, pulling her tight against his chest, shielding her from the flashing cameras of the press. "I've got you, Sara. I'm so sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry I let this happen to you."
The entire ballroom went dead silent. The smartphones that had been recording the humiliation of a lowly waitress were now capturing something entirely different—the total, catastrophic collapse of Chloe’s social standing.
Chloe’s breath hitched, her face turning a sickly, translucent white as she stared at her groom cradling the catering girl. "Brother? Eric... what are you talking about? She's just a temporary worker... she's a nobody..."
"Shut your mouth!" Eric roared, looking up at Chloe with a gaze so lethal it made the supermodel step back in genuine physical fear. "This 'nobody' is Sara Diamond Vance. She is my younger sister. She is the youngest daughter of the Vance estate, and she owns more shares of this entire hotel conglomerate than you could ever dream of in your shallow, pathetic life!"
A collective gasp echoed through the ballroom. The guests looked at each other in absolute shock. It was a well-known fact in high society that the patriarch of the Vance empire had a younger daughter who lived a completely private, reclusive life away from the toxic glare of the media, refusing to use her family's wealth. Nobody had ever seen her face—until today.
Sara had wanted to surprise her older brother on his big day, slipping into the catering staff just to catch a glimpse of his happiness without causing a media circus. And instead of a celebration, she had been treated like garbage by the very woman who was supposed to join their family.
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"Eric, listen to me, I didn't know!" Chloe cried out, her voice pitching into a panicked, frantic state as she realized her entire future was slipping through her fingers. "She was dressed like a servant! If she had just told me who she was, I would never—"
"So you only treat human beings with decency if they have a bank account?" Eric said, his voice dropping into a cold, chilling register that signaled a permanent corporate execution. "You've shown me exactly who you are, Chloe. And you will never, ever be a part of my family."
