Their Cruelest Joke Cost Them Everything Chapter 05

Their Cruelest Joke Cost Them Everything Chapter 05 No Return Ticket

Celeste’s POV:

My plane touched down at Bellamont International Airport five hours after the party began.

The moment I switched on my phone, missed calls from my parents, Bianca, and Alessio flooded the screen.

I ignored them, wheeled my suitcase out of the terminal, and found a nearby cafe.

The phone kept ringing on the table.

Of course leaving hurt. Yet once I was truly gone, I discovered there was very little about them I still wanted.

My only regret was missing the moment they saw what I had put on the ballroom

screens.

Eventually, I accepted a call from Mother.

“Have you lost your mind, Celeste?” she shrieked.

“The most important people from both families were there. Were you trying to make us a public disgrace by showing them those files?”

I watched strangers pass along the unfamiliar street outside. “It was only a joke. There is no reason to take it so seriously.”

Her anger spiked.

“A joke? You destroyed the family’s reputation!”

“That is what you always told me when Bianca was the one humiliating someone.”

The other end went quiet.

Mother recovered quickly. “Bianca is young and does not understand limits. You

are her sister. How could you deliberately retaliate?”

I ended the call rather than repeat the same argument yet again.

Father rang a second later.

“Where are you?”

“Bellamont.”

He paused when he realized I had already left, then addressed me like one of his soldiers. “Come back immediately. Explain yourself to every guest and apologize to Bianca in public.”

“I am not coming back.”

Refusal had apparently never occurred to him.

“Do you understand what you have done? If you cannot restore this family’s honor, you will never set foot on the estate again.”

Once, that threat would have terrified me.

Now it held no power at all.

I was about to hang up when Bianca’s sobs rose in the background.

“How could you do this to me? Everyone is talking about me. How am I supposed to face any of them again?”

Through her tears, she told our parents I had nursed a grudge and planned the entire scene to embarrass her.

So she did understand how cruel it felt to become everyone’s joke.

Alessio called soon afterward.

He said nothing about the evidence on the screens. Instead, he forced down his fury and asked, “You are in Bellamont?”

“Yes.”

“This is a tantrum. Book the next flight home, apologize to Bianca, and explain what happened to our guests.”

After a pause, his familiar arrogance returned.

“Do that, and I may agree not to end our engagement.”

Even now, he imagined marriage to him was a privilege he could withhold.

“What if I refuse?” I asked.

His voice hardened.

“Then the engagement is over. You know exactly what you will lose without my protection or your family’s.”

I caught my reflection in the cafe window and smiled.

“You still do not understand, Alessio.”

“I came to Bellamont because I never intended to be your fiancee again.”