PART 2
My mother was the first to rush over, her eyes darting nervously toward the nearby guests.
“Jessi, go straight to the restroom and clean yourself up! You are ruining the family photographs!”
That was her entire reaction. She didn’t ask if I was alright. She didn’t reprimand my father for his cruel stunt. Her sole concern was the aesthetic quality of the wedding album.
“I am perfectly fine, Wendy,” I said calmly.
Chloe hurried over right behind her, clutching her bridal train. “Please, Jessi, don’t make a pathetic scene at my wedding.”
I looked at my sister. “I didn’t pour the wine, Chloe.”
“Dad was just joking around!”
“Of course he was.”
My father overheard and gestured dismissively. “Exactly. Learn how to take a joke for once in your life, Jessi.”
Dozens of guests were actively staring now, whispering behind their cloth napkins.
Then a sudden murmur began near the grand double doors of the ballroom.
The heavy wooden doors swung wide open. Four large men wearing tailored dark suits stepped into the room. They clearly weren’t hotel staff or standard guests. Two positioned themselves firmly by the entrance doors, one discreetly scanned the perimeter, and the fourth spoke quietly into a wrist earpiece.
The crowd went quiet, turning to watch.
Flynn stopped smiling. His father, Marcus Reed, stood up sharply from his seat.
Then Luca walked in.
He wore a dark navy bespoke suit, a crisp white shirt, and no tie. He had spent six hours traveling across time zones, yet he walked into that room with an unshakeable, commanding authority that made the entire ballroom feel small.
I saw Marcus Reed go deathly pale. “Is that… Luca Vance?”
Flynn turned instantly. “What? Where?”
“Vance Global,” Marcus whispered in shock.
Guest after guest began sitting up straight. Someone discreetly pulled out a phone to search his photo online.
My father turned toward the entrance, frowning in confusion. He didn’t recognize Luca.
Marcus Reed certainly did. He practically sprinted across the marble floor toward him, extending both hands.
“Mr. Vance! What an absolute honor! I had no idea you’d be attending tonight. Marcus Reed, Regional Commercial Banking. Our executive team has been trying to schedule a meeting with your board for months—”
Luca didn’t even slow his stride. He walked straight past Marcus as if the man were made of glass. His eyes were locked entirely on me.
When he reached my side and saw the deep red wine soaking my gown, his jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek.
He stepped close, asking in a low, dangerous tone, “Who did this?”
“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered.
Luca immediately unbuttoned his suit jacket, slipped it off his shoulders, and wrapped it gently around my shivering frame. Then he leaned down and pressed a soft, firm kiss to my forehead.
“I’m sorry I was late, sweetheart,” he said softly.
The silence in the ballroom was absolute and crushing.
My mother’s mouth opened in shock. Chloe dropped her champagne flute, sending glass shattering across the floor.
My father’s eyebrows knitted together in anger. “Sweetheart? Who on earth are you?”
Luca smoothly slid his arm around my waist, pulling me firmly against his side. “Good evening.”
My father eyed him up and down, trying to assert dominance. “I asked you a question, young man. Who are you?”
Marcus Reed closed his eyes, looking as though he wanted to sink into the floorboards.
Luca looked my father straight in the eyes. “I am Luca Vance.”
My father took a few seconds to process the name. When he finally connected the face to the multi-billion-dollar tech conglomerate, every drop of color drained from his face.
Luca continued coldly, “And I am Jessi’s husband.”
My mother let out a high-pitched, nervous laugh. “That’s… that’s impossible. Jessi isn’t married!”
Nobody laughed with her.
“Jessi lives alone!” my mother stammered.
Luca raised his left hand, displaying his platinum wedding band, then gently lifted my left hand. Our rings were identical.
“We have been married for two years,” Luca stated.
Chloe stared at me, her eyes wide with shock. “Two years?! Jessi, why on earth didn’t you ever say anything to us?!”
I looked my sister dead in the eyes. “You never asked.”
My father seemed to have forgotten all about the wine, his mind desperately calculating the social shift. “Jessi, this is utterly absurd. Why would you keep something like this hidden from your own parents?”
“Because,” I said, my voice echoing clearly across the nearby tables, “I wanted to see exactly how you would treat me when you believed I had nothing to offer you.”
His face hardened, but before he could formulate a response, Marcus Reed stepped forward toward Luca, his forehead slick with sweat.
“Mr. Vance, sir… I know this is an improper time, but our firm’s restructuring acquisition is still scheduled for final board approval this coming Monday, correct?”
Chloe turned sharply toward her new father-in-law. “What restructuring acquisition?”
Flynn lowered his head, staring at the floor in utter humiliation.
And right there, the second massive secret of the evening exposed itself.
The “wealthy banking dynasty” my sister believed she was marrying into had spent the last six months desperately trying to stave off complete bankruptcy.
