Five Years a Secret, Now I Deny We Ever Met Chapter 05

Five Years a Secret, Now I Deny We Ever Met Chapter 05

That voice was like a bullet, shattering the banquet hall’s fragile peace.

The music stopped. Every conversation died. More than a hundred pairs of eyes shot toward the door, searching for the intruder who would dare make such a scene on Sebastian’s family turf.

I looked over, too.

The newcomer wasn’t some drunken fool. It was Julian.

A tech mogul who had shot to prominence in just a few years with his AI patents, forcing his way onto Auden’s board of trustees. He was also the competitor who gave Sebastian’s father the worst headaches.

He wasn’t furious, as his words suggested. He held a glass of champagne, a playful, almost provocative smile on his lips, as he moved leisurely through the stunned crowd and straight toward the stage.

“Sorry to interrupt.” He took the microphone from the emcee as if he owned the place. “Before we bless the happy couple, I’d like to add one thing.”

His gaze landed lightly on Sebastian, his tone full of false regret. “I just think it’s a shame. Sebastian, to give up Miss Chloe—the brightest jewel of our art history department—for a flawless family alliance… was that trade really worth it?”

Sebastian’s face went white. He lunged forward, trying to grab the microphone. “Julian, you’re drunk!”

Julian sidestepped him elegantly. Behind his glasses, his eyes were sharp as knives as they cut straight to me.

“Not at all. I just remembered that when my foundation wanted to provide Miss Chloe with independent research funding for her thesis, someone personally warned me off.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried through the dead-silent hall. “He said, ‘Chloe Jones is mine. Anything concerning her academic future must go through me.’ At the time, I thought it was an unusual sort of… claim. I never expected—”

“Julian! Shut your mouth!”

Sebastian lost it completely, roaring like a wounded animal.

“What is going on?”

An furious, authoritative shout came from the head table. Sebastian’s father, chairman of Auden’s board of trustees, rose to his feet, his face ashen. His eyes, accustomed to giving orders, were fixed on his son.

At the same time, another gaze—shocked, confused, and deeply disappointed—turned to me.

It was Professor Albright, my advisor.

She looked at me as if she’d just discovered a terrible stain on her proudest work. Her voice was laced with disbelief as she demanded, “Chloe, your five years at Auden… have you been Sebastian’s girlfriend this whole time?”