Chapter 261
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Chapter 261:
“The drugging… the attic…” he stammered, his eyes wide and pleading. “Is it true? Did she really p>
“She tried to drug me,” Jocelyn finished for him, her voice devoid of emotion. “And she locked me in that attic for hours. She failed at one and succeeded at the other p>
“But… why?” Kieran looked back at Aspen, who stood alone on the stage, looking small and vicious.
“Because she’s a predator who can’t stand competition,” Jocelyn said. “She wanted me humiliated and out of the way before her perfect wedding. Just as she wanted me out of the way when we were fifteen, so she could play the damsel for you p>
“No! She’s lying! Kieran, look at me!” Aspen ran down the stairs, tripping on her dress. She reached for him.
Kieran recoiled as if she were a snake. “Don’t touch me p>
He stared at her with undisguised horror. “You tried to poison her? You locked her in that attic? My whole life… our whole story… it was a lie p>
“I was protecting us!” Aspen screamed. “It was just a sedative! She was trying to ruin everything — to steal you! And the attic was a stupid childhood prank p>
A murmur rolled through the crowd. An admission of guilt.
“And what about me?” Gaston asked, his voice cold and precise. “Was that part of your plan as well? To discredit a major investor in her hotel p>
“She deserved it!” Aspen jabbed a finger at Gaston, her face twisted. “She was throwing herself at you! Flaunting your partnership! Trying to make Kieran jealous! She’s a whore p>
𝘚h𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘺𝗈𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝗵𝗼𝘶𝗀h𝗍s оո
Gaston almost laughed. The accusation was so absurd, so utterly pathetic.
“An attack on the CEO of Wolfe Hotels is an attack on my investment,” he said, his voice dropping to something glacial. He drew Jocelyn slightly behind him — a subtle, deliberate gesture of protection. “And I protect my investments p>
The implication hung in the air. This was not personal. It was business. And Aspen had just declared war on Gaston Collins.
Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence.
Kieran’s eyes moved slowly from Gaston’s protective stance to Jocelyn’s face. He really looked at her — perhaps for the first time in years. He saw the diamond necklace. He saw the confidence in her posture. He saw the way she stood beside Gaston: not out of weakness, but out of partnership.
He understood then that he had lost her long ago.
“You… you chose him?” Kieran whispered. The raw pain in his voice was an admission of his own failure.
“I chose a man who sees me,” Jocelyn said quietly. “A man who doesn’t need a video to know what kind of person I am p>
Kieran’s legs gave out. The physical pain of his injury and the weight of emotional devastation converged at once. He sank to his knees on the polished floor, surrounded by the ruins of his own making.
Aspen was gone. The room buzzed with shock, guests whispering behind their hands, phones recording everything.