After Being Accused as a Mistress, I Married My Ex's Uncle novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Real Mistress

"Turn it off," Tabitha said.

It came out small and high, and the whole room heard it.

On the screens, a man with a camera crept in behind a potted palm.

The time stamp read 8:52.

"Cut it," Stanley said into the microphone, still smiling. "A technical error. Please cut it."

The man at the console did not move.

Stanley looked at him.

Then he looked across the room and found the person who had sent him, standing at the back in a charcoal suit.

At 9:10 the screens showed the slap, and the room knew it before the hand landed.

Four hundred people turned in their gold chairs to the back of the ballroom.

I was standing in the same green dress.

I didn't say anything.

I didn't have to.

The clip jumped forward.

A service corridor, 11:02.

Stanley's hand on Tabitha's back, gentle, the whole way to the lift.

A gasp went through the chairs.

"That's the father," someone whispered. "That's the groom's father."

"It's an old recording," Stanley said, loudly. "Doctored. I will not have my son's wedding..."

"I saw it."

The voice came from the side door.

A young woman in a hotel uniform stood among the catering staff with her hands knotted in front of her.

She was shaking so hard I saw her whole body move.

"I was in that corridor," she said. "I heard what he said to her. 'The boy will take the name. We have the girl.' And I took an envelope to stay quiet."

Stanley went the color of paper.

"Who is this woman?"

"I'm the girl you paid," she said. "I'm giving it back."

Then the double doors at the back of the ballroom crashed open.

Hayden's mother stood in the doorway, in a camel coat, with her gloves in one hand.

And a key in the other.

Hayden stood beside her.

His shirt was untucked, and his hair was wild, and there was a mark on his cheek where someone had struck him.

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend