Betrayed and Sabotaged Before Vows Chapter 08

Betrayed and Sabotaged Before Vows Chapter 08The Hale Patriarch’s Botched Damage Control

Mr. Hale has always looked down on me with unbridled disdain. If the twisted secret between Lila and Ethan had never come to light, he would have never greenlit a wedding between his daughter and me to begin with.

He deliberately skipped today’s reception, fully convinced he could bury their sordid family scandal forever-yet now every elite attendee witnessed the whole ugly mess unfold live before their eyes.

He’d intentionally stayed away from the ceremony, never expecting a high-society wedding to devolve into such a catastrophic public scandal. Worst of all, the humiliating skeletons the Hale clan had spent years hiding had been dragged out into full view for everyone to judge.

The second this harsh reality sank in, thick blue veins throbbed violently on his forehead, every inch of him seething with unhinged rage.

Decades of corporate crisis management had sharpened his wits far beyond the childish, impulsive antics of Lila and Ethan; the old man knew exactly how to spin a disaster, something the two youngsters could never pull off.

He strode into the grand ballroom flanked by his team of corporate security aides and immediately moved to guide all guests toward the venue exits.

“Please accept my deepest apologies from the entire Hale household. We take full responsibility for this embarrassing, botched reception we’ve hosted today.”

“We will conduct a thorough internal investigation and issue a formal, comprehensive statement to each of you once we sort out all these messy incidents.”

“As for the rumors surrounding Lila and Ethan, there is zero truth to them-this all stems from a massive misunderstanding on Kael’s part.”

“The photos projected on the screen are altered counterfeits; I am truly mortified that you all had to witness this absurd spectacle.”

“I never viewed you as a fitting match for my daughter when it comes to family social standing.”

“I suspect this explosive outburst comes from crippling insecurity eating away at him. Some unknown third party sent those doctored photos to stir trouble, and he flew into an irrational meltdown as a result.”

“The wedding date was locked into venue contracts months in advance. He refused to show up as agreed, and we could not cancel the event last minute, which led to this entire messy fiasco.”

“Lila and Ethan acted without proper consideration for consequences, and I will deliver harsh disciplinary measures to both of them shortly.”

“Once this matter is fully resolved, I will pay personal visits to every household in attendance to offer my sincere individual apologies.”

Mr. Hale forced a strained, placating smile as he delivered this pre-planned damage-control speech to the 1/3 lingering crowd. Having served as Hale Group’s CEO for over thirty years, he still carried solid clout and

credibility among local upper-class social circles.

While none of the guests fully bought his hollow excuses, they chose to extend basic common courtesy to the aging executive.

Bit by bit, the attendees filed out of the banquet hall one after another.

The moment the crowd thinned out substantially, Mr. Hale dropped all polite pretenses and fixed me with an ice-cold, venomous glare.

Ethan lingered off to one side, a smug triumphant smirk plastered all over his face. When he caught my

r gaze, he made no attempt to conceal the vicious malice burning in his eyes.

“Just you wait till every last guest clears the building. I’m gonna take you out once and for all!”

“Even if I can’t take you down single-handedly, Father will lock you away with no chance of escape. Hahaha, Kael-your entire life is about to crumble to dust!”

Ethan cackled loudly, taunting me without any restraint.

Once nearly all onlookers had vacated the ballroom, Lila finally snapped out of her numb, shell-shocked daze.

Mr. Hale whirled around toward me, his voice booming with unbridled, white-hot fury as he hurled insults at my figure.

“You worthless nobody! The Hale family has treated you with nothing but generosity from the day you stepped foot in our firm!”

“You arrived with zero wealth and no influential connections, yet we still permitted Lila to legally marry you, and even funded this lavish wedding event. This is how you repay our decades of kindness?”

“You’ve dragged the entire Hale family’s good name through the mud and turned us into the universal laughingstock of every high-society social circle! You’ve truly outdone yourself with this stunt!”

His gaze bore into me, overflowing with endless, boiling rage. I let out a sharp, scoffing sneer in reply.

“No matter how extreme my actions may seem, they pale completely next to the depraved garbage your two rotten children have committed!”

“Treated me generously? Spare me that hollow lie.”

“If I hadn’t poured my family’s conglomerate capital and exclusive industry networks into Hale Group, this enterprise would’ve folded years ago!”

I’ve secretly pulled your company back from the brink of ruin countless times, and this humiliating betrayal is all I get in return? Before Lila and I even finalized our official marriage paperwork, she’d already conceived Ethan’s illegitimate child. They used me as a disposable human shield to mask their forbidden romantic liaison!”

“I submitted signed divorce paperwork to Lila a long time ago. She refused to acknowledge it, stubbornly

insisting on throwing this wedding just to prop up her public image using my identity.”

“If he’s suffering this wave of public humiliation right now, every bit of it is well-deserved karma for her

choices.”

My words sent violent tremors racking Mr. Hale’s entire body. He’d spent years putting layers of safeguards in place to block all gossip about Lila and Ethan’s inappropriate bond, yet he never could’ve predicted she would end up carrying Ethan’s child despite all his precautions.