Brettley immediately lunged forward to catch her, but he was too late. Fiona had already landed on the ground with a loud thud.
“Ms. Blake! “
“Fiona! “
Jude and Brettley both exclaimed as soon as they saw Fiona falling.
Brettley immediately rushed forward to help Fiona up before lifting his head to shoot Bethan a murderous glare. “You’ve already witnessed how weak Fiona is. She was just talking to you, and she didn’t even say anything that was out of line. Why did you shove her like that?”
Bethan stared at Fiona, who was slumped ashen-faced in Brettley’s arms, and smirked contemptuously. “She didn’t say anything out of line, you say? Brettley Morrison, she mentioned my son and even said she wanted to become his godmother. Don’t you think she’s trying to provoke me?
“What does my son have to do with her? Both I and Nigel aren’t close with her, so why would she want to become his godmother? Why doesn’t she just voice out her true intentions? That all she wants is to take my son away from me! “
Brettley, whose arms were wrapped around Fiona protectively, stiffened when he heard this.
He did not know that this was how Bethan felt about Fiona. However, she was mistaken. Fiona did not want to take Nigel away from her at all.
Fiona had told Brettley that, after donating her bone marrow to Nigel, she and him would have a connection. Therefore, her last wish was to hear Nigel address her as godmother . This was all it took to make her life feel complete.
“I only have less than a year to live anyway, so even though I can’ t become a mother , it’d be nice to hear a child call me godmother. I’ d be content with that, even if I can’t have children of my own… “
Brettley recalled Fiona’s soft voice when she told him this at the hospital. “It’s just, I don’t know if Ms. Bethan and Nigel would agree to this… “
At that time , Brettley tried to reassure her and told her that they would discuss this next time.
Fiona had specifically requested him not to let Bethan know she was the donor of the bone marrow that Nigel would be receiving. Since she did not want to let Bethan know the truth, she naturally must have thought that Bethan would refuse to let Nigel call her godmother.
Therefore, Brettley decided that he would bring this up again after Fiona changed her mind about letting Bethan know the truth. He did not expect that Fiona would blurt this out in front of Bethan.
However, even though it was rude of Fiona to make this request, Bethan still should not have lost her temper and shoved her like that. Bethan had witnessed how weak and sickly Fiona was this afternoon, so how could she have pushed her so forcefully?
“Bethan, Ms. Blake meant no harm. How could you have shoved her like that? Aren’t you being a little rash right now?”
Jude immediately approached them and tried to salvage the situation, seeing how close these three were getting into a conflict. “Besides, she was just complimenting Nigel–she didn’t even say anything bad about him. Don’t you think you’re overreacting a little?”
“Ms. Blake knows full well whether I’m overreacting or not.”
Bethan stood motionless and looked down at Fiona, who was still slumped in Brettley’s arms. “Let me tell you this: I can be a timid little dog and let you and Mr. Morrison bully me all you want, but I draw the line at my children. If anyone dares to hurt or take my children away from me, you won’t walk out unscathed! “
With that, Bethan turned around coldly and disappeared into the hall, grabbing the hem of her dress as she did.
Brettley noticed the anguish and despair in Bethan’s eyes when she said it all. A glimmer of sympathy flashed through his dark eyes, and Fiona picked up on this.
An evil glint flickered through her eyes, but a few seconds after that, she squinted and started crying. “
Brettley…”
She wriggled closer to Brettley and sobbed, “Ms. Bethan misunderstood me… I didn’t mean to provoke her, nor was I trying to show her up… I was just…”
“I know.”
Brettley sighed and gently patted Fiona’s back to console her before they entered the hall with his arm around her.
Following behind them, Jude looked at their retreating figures and let out a sigh.
By the time Bethan and Shannon returned to the hall, the party had already started. Bonnie was onstage, welcoming the guests along with the emcee.
When she caught sight of Bethan, Bonnie immediately leaped off the stage and scuttled toward her. As soon as she reached Bethan, she grabbed hold of her hand and said, “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Go on stage with me.”
Bonnie winked at Bethan and said, “Initially, there were going to be three of us: me, Jason, and the emcee, but now that Jason’s in jail, I want you to take his spot.”
With that, she smiled and could not help teasing Bethan, “Did you genuinely think I invited you here to mooch off my food like Shannon?”
Shannon, who at this moment was mooching off the food at Bonnie’s party, was speechless to hear this.
Bethan lifted her head to glance at the stage. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Bethan did not understand why Bonnie wanted her on stage. The theme of her party was Bonnie’s regained freedom after having dumped Jason, so Bethan did not see the point of her being on stage as well.
“Come on.”
To her surprise, however, Shannon, too, started persuading her. “Since the theme of tonight is freedom, you should join Bonnie onstage so you can regain your freedom as well, Director Bethan.”
Bethan contemplated Shannon’s suggestion for a moment, then finally agreed.
Since Brettley was at the party too, she decided it would be interesting to declare her independence before him, the man she had loved in the past.
Bonnie was delighted that Bethan had agreed to her request. She immediately dragged her onto the stage to stand behind the emcee, whispering in her ear while waiting for the emcee to finish his speech.
When Brettley and Fiona entered the hall, the first thing they saw was Bethan and Bonnie onstage.
Jude glanced at the stage and curled his lips into a disdainful smirk. “She can’t wait, can she?”
He then patted Brettley’s shoulder and added, “I guess Bethan’s already prepared for this.”
Brettley narrowed his eyes and watched Bethan coldly but did not say another word.
The emcee soon finished his speech, and the party officially began.
Bonnie let go of Bethan’s hand and made her way to the center of the stage. She picked up a microphone and smiled at the audience. “Hello , everyone. I know that my face has been on the headline of every newspaper in Banyan City today. Everyone is making fun of me for having fallen in love with a scumbag and laughing at the fact that my fiancé was arrested the day before our engagement party.
“Maybe a lot of you think that I shouldn’t have proceeded with this party because an engagement party without a groom will just become the joke of the town. Contrary to that, I still decided to go ahead with it so that I can announce to all of you that I, Bonnie Craig, have regained my freedom and independence.”
With that, she turned around and glanced at Bethan with a smile. “My good friend Bethan, too, has regained her freedom and independence.”
As soon as she mentioned Bethan’s name, all eyes immediately fixated on Bethan’s face.
Bethan felt a little shy and did not know what to do apart from smiling at the crowd.
“To celebrate my friend’s escape from emotional turmoil…”
Bonnie picked up the microphone and walked toward Bethan, beaming as she grabbed Bethan’s hand and said, “I have a very important announcement to make.
“I’ll be gifting all the properties under my name, worth over ten billion dollars, to my friend right here.”
The crowd in the hall burst into a flurry of activity, as though someone had tossed a grenade right into the room.
Everyone gaped at this sudden turn of events, and some of the audience even screamed in horror.
Was Ms. Craig crazy? Her family had spent generations accumulating their wealth! Even though Bonnie was the only heir to the Craig family wealth, she still should not have gifted it just like that!
This was tens of billion dollars, not a few hundred!
Shannon’s legs gave out beneath her, causing her to almost fall. Was this the shocking news that Bonnie had hinted to them about?
Well, it was shocking, alright…
Bethan, still standing on the stage, felt her head ring. She could not believe her ears.
She watched Bonnie, who was explaining the reason behind her decision animatedly, and suddenly came to a realization.
This was why Bonnie wanted to make her the most charming woman in Banyan City.
Considering she was suddenly ten billion dollars richer, she had indeed become just as she said, but…
Bethan furrowed her brows and interrupted Bonnie mid-sentence, “I reject this gift.”
The audience burst into a hubbub of commotion upon this sight.
It was already shocking enough that Bonnie, the heiress to the Craig family fortune, would be giving out her assets to the woman on the stage, but what was even more appalling was that…this woman rejected it!
However, unlike the audience, Bonnie did not seem surprised by Bethan’s reaction. She lifted her head to glance at Bethan earnestly. “I know you think it’s too extravagant, but I don’t think it is at all.”
She stared in the direction ahead of her, still clutching the microphone, and said, “All this money serves no purpose to me at all. To me, what’s more valuable is the loyalty my friend displayed toward me. She tried to rescue me and warned me several times that Jason was a scumbag , but I was too naive to listen. I didn’t believe her at all and even suspected that she had ulterior motives for doing so.
“Yesterday, I finally realized that I had misunderstood her all along. Not only did she save my love life, but she saved me as well. No matter how much money you have, it can never compare to one’s life.
“I don’t need all this money at all, but my friend does, so I’ve decided to gift all my assets to her ! “
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.