I Called Off My Wedding Chapter 05
All the friends who’d once joined her in mocking me quickly looked away, terrified of getting dragged into the mess.
Brandon spun around sharply and stared daggers at Lynette, his eyes blazing with shock and the fury of being lied to.
“Lyn? You lied to me?”
Lynette shook her head frantically and tried to grab Brandon’s hand.
“Brandy, please listen to me! I’m really sick.”
I watched them turn on each other right there, and I felt completely calm inside.
“Terrence, let’s go. This place is disgusting,” I said quietly.
A soft look crossed Terrence’s face. He shielded me carefully and turned toward the helicopter.
Brandon shoved the bodyguard in front of him aside roughly. His eyes were red-rimmed and his voice shook slightly, but it still held its usual authority.
“Kimberly, how long are you going to keep this up? Come back with me, and I’ll forget everything that happened today.”
I stopped at the cabin door and looked down at him from there.
“Brandon, spend the rest of your life with your precious childhood friend. You two deserve each other.”
I climbed into the helicopter without looking back.
The rotors roared to life again, and the helicopter lifted off slowly.
Through the window, I watched Brandon screaming in rage on the red carpet.
His phone buzzed nonstop on the red carpet as calls about the company’s collapse poured in.
“Kimberly! If you leave today, don’t even dream of coming back to me.”
Brandon stood in the courtyard, his fists clenched tight.
For the first time, a flicker of panic showed in his eyes — panic he didn’t even realize.
The helicopter touched down smoothly on the private helipad of the Herring’s manor on the outskirts of New York.
Terrence jumped out first, then turned and lifted me down carefully and steadily.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Herring,” he whispered in my ear, his breath brushing against my cheek.
A faint blush rose to my cheeks, and I didn’t correct him.
For the next few days, I stayed at the manor under Terrence’s care, with the best doctors and treatment around me.
He canceled all unnecessary business engagements, walked with me every day, sat with me while I read, and even cooked meals for me himself.
Three years hadn’t created any distance between us. He was still the same young man who could never take his eyes off me.
Meanwhile, the Faulkner family was already falling apart.
The Herring Consortium’s withdrawal of investment triggered a domino effect, and the Faulkner Group’s funding dried up completely in just three days.
Banks demanded immediate repayment of loans, suppliers showed up demanding payment, and the company’s stock plummeted day after day.
The company Brandon had once been so proud of was teetering on the brink of collapse.
Terrence’s assistant gave me daily updates on the Faulkner family’s downfall.
I’d just sip my coffee and listen coldly, completely indifferent to their suffering.
By now, the Faulkner family’s courtyard was a total mess.
All the people who’d once fawned over Brandon turned on him the second their own businesses suffered.
They smashed the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Faulkner’s villa and splashed red paint all over the walls.
“Brandon, you cursed bastard! You got yourself into this mess, and now you’re dragging us down with you.”
“Give us our money back, or I swear I’ll kill you today.”
Brandon sat in the living room, shards of broken glass in his hair, his clothes disheveled and his eyes hollow.
He looked nothing like the arrogant CEO he’d once been.
Lynette cowered in the corner, trembling with several fresh cuts on her face from being shoved around.
The people who’d once respected her now only cursed and threw punches at her.
“Brandy, I’m scared.” Lynette crawled toward Brandon, sobbing, and tried to grab his pant leg.
Brandon’s head snapped up, his eyes dark and menacing.
He spun around and slapped her hard across the face.
The sound echoed through the empty living room.
The blow sent her head snapping to the side. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and she stared at him in disbelief, clutching her cheek.
“Brandy, you hit me?”
Brandon’s eyes turned ice-cold. He grabbed her jaw roughly, his fingers digging into her skin.
“Lynette, did you really think I’d never lay a hand on you?
“Who gave you the courage to fake that medical report and drive her away?”
His voice was cold and full of unspoken threat.
“I always thought you were just spoiled. I had no idea you could be so disgusting.”
He roared, shifting all the blame onto Lynette.
Lynette snapped, dropping her weak, helpless act entirely.
She wrenched her jaw free from his grip and lunged at him, scratching at his face.
“Don’t you dare act like the victim, Brandon. You’re the selfish one! You wouldn’t let Kimberly go because you wanted her money, and you just happened to enjoy my adoration as well.
“You were so arrogant that you thought she’d never leave you. Remember when she had a high fever? You left her alone in the villa just because I called you.
“And now you’re blaming me? You’re a coward.”
Lynette tried to attack him again in a frenzy, but Brandon kicked her away without mercy.
He didn’t even glance at her.
He pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket and slowly wiped the back of his hand where she’d touched him, as if her touch had disgusted him.
His bodyguards stepped forward immediately and pinned Lynette to the floor.
Brandon stared down at her, his eyes filled with pure disgust.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, turned on the video recorder, and pointed it at Lynette’s bruised face.
“Look at the camera.”
Brandon tossed the phone down in front of her, his voice hoarse but commanding.
“Tell everyone everything about how you faked depression to frame her. And apologize to her.
“This is the least you can do for her.”
He stared at the shattered glass on the floor, his eyes red, and muttered to himself.
“I’ll get her back, even if it costs me the entire Faulkner family fortune.”
Lynette struggled wildly, but Brandon’s hand closed around her throat.
“You think recording this video will make Kimberly forgive you? You’re delusional,” Lynette shrieked.
Rain poured down, hitting the heavy gates of the Herring’s manor with a dull sound.