Betrayed and Sabotaged Before Vows Chapter 09

Betrayed and Sabotaged Before Vows Chapter 09 The Hale Patriarch’s Shameless Frame-up

At that seething thought, Mr. Hale raised his palm and delivered a sharp, echoing slap straight across Lila’s cheek. He’s fully ready to sacrifice anyone to bury his family’s dirty secrets, and he intends to pin every single crime on me without the slightest hesitation.

“You miserable stain on this family’s name!” he thundered at her. “I told you repeatedly to cut off this twisted secret romance-could you not hold back your impulses even a little?”

“Now your sordid affair’s exposed to every high-society guest here, yet you’re only worried about the departing crowd instead of fixing this scandal?”

“Does the Hale household really lack disposable scapegoats to cover up our humiliating mess?”

He turned his head to pin a sneering, disdainful stare right on me once he finished that line.

“Kael Mercer, Hale Enterprises has more than enough staff to operate smoothly, and my daughter doesn’t rely on a husband like you to uphold her social standing.”

“If you’d brought your grievances to me early, I would’ve let you walk away long ago. As for your absurd claim that our conglomerate would collapse without your support?”

“That’s the most absurd mockery I’ve ever heard in my life.”

He shot me a cold side sneer. “You wildly overestimate how much you actually matter.”

“You disrupted the entire wedding ceremony just to force me to hand you a resolution, isn’t that right?”

“Very well. I’ll give you that supposed answer you’re demanding right this second.”

His gaze swept over me, thick with unbridled condescension. Just looking at him churned overwhelming revulsion in my chest.

“By tomorrow morning, Hale Group will issue an official corporate press release dismissing all your accusations as paranoid delusions you conjured up alone.”

“They’ll frame you as a man suffering severe psychiatric episodes who single-handedly staged the wedding chaos.”

“Even after all the trouble you’ve caused, the Hale family is willing to show mercy and overlook your outbursts.”

“The only catch is you’ll need to receive years of supervised inpatient care at a psychiatric facility first.” “And once you finish your treatment, you’ll still be welcomed back as the Hale family’s son-in-law.”

A smug, dismissive smirk tugged at his jaw as he spoke, acting as if the title of his daughter’s spouse were some grand, exclusive honor he was granting me.

Lila stood beside him, utterly overjoyed at this scheme. Her face lit up with desperate hopefulness as she turned toward me.

“Kael, please agree to Father’s terms immediately! This is the most amicable way to resolve everything.

Etan let out a taunting snicker, malice glinting in his eyes. “Yeah, this is the softest penalty you could ever hope for-it’s just a few years locked away in a mental health ward. Sign on without delay.”

“Don’t spurn the mercy we’re offering and bring harsher punishment down on yourself.”

I let out a bitter, icy laugh. “The perfect solution, you say?”

“It’s only the perfect escape plan for the three of you, isn’t it?”

“You dump all blame entirely onto my shoulders, wiping Lila and Ethan’s reputations spotless. You’ve crafted such a convenient lie, Mr. Hale.”

Mr. Hale’s stare turned ice-cold, every trace of fake civility vanishing completely. “So you refuse to abide by the settlement I’ve laid out for you?”

I wore a calm, faint smile on my face. “Of course I refuse. I have zero desire to act as a convenient fall guy for your corrupt household. The Hale family’s circle is nothing but a fetid stagnant swamp-no rational person would stumble into its filth a second time.”

Unbridled rage erupted across the old man’s face. “How dare you speak to me with such insolence! Whether you’re willing to marry into this family or not, you will comply with my demands today.”

“This entire mess stems from your reckless public meltdown, so you alone must bear full accountability for every consequence.”

He lifted a hand and waved sharply, signaling the team of corporate security bodyguards behind him to close in and seize me.

“Don’t you dare lay a single finger on me!” I shouted loud enough to reverberate through the empty ballroom.

Mr. Hale let out a patronizing, mocking chuckle. “You’re just a penniless nobody with zero powerful industry connections backing you. There’s no outsider left in this venue to stand up for you-what real repercussions could there be if I have you restrained?”

“Do you truly believe a stranger will rush over to defend you?”

He tossed his head back and roared with mocking laughter.

Ethan joined in his jeering cackle without a moment’s hesitation.

Only Lila’s expression softened with faint guilt, her eyes swimming with quiet anxiety as she watched my predicament.

I kept a steady, unshaken faint smile on my lips.

The instant the bodyguards stepped within arm’s reach of my body, a deafening crash boomed from the ballroom’s main entrance; the heavy double entry doors flew violently open.

“Who dares lay a hand on the heir of Mercer Conglomerate!”