My Fiancé Let Her Ruin Our Wedding but Insisted It Was Just a Joke novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Gala

The Hallett Hotels gala was held in the lodge ballroom, where my wedding reception had been.

I knew every inch of it.

The chandeliers were the same, and the champagne tower had been rebuilt in the same corner.

Three hundred employees sat at round tables in black tie, with bankers and investors in the front rows, and a stage at the far end with a lectern and a white screen.

I wore a plain dark green dress and my mother's pearl earrings.

Tobias stood beside me at the back doors.

"Last chance," he said, low. "Nobody would blame you for leaving."

"I've left a wedding already," I said. "I'm good at staying now."

On his other side, in a long black coat with her braid pinned up, his sister stood with both hands on her cane.

She was grey in the face.

"I can't feel my feet," she whispered.

"You don't have to," I said. "Just walk."

"Will you stay where I can see you?"

"I'll be beside you."

She nodded once.

On the stage, an emcee read the program, and then lifted a card.

"And now, to present this year's regional leadership award, a man who has had a difficult season and has asked the company's indulgence."

Applause, uneasy and thin.

Conor walked out in a black tuxedo, and he was smiling.

He took the lectern in both hands.

"Thank you," he said. "I'd like to begin by saying that I've made mistakes. Many of you saw some of them online."

A murmur.

"I'm not here to excuse them. I'm here because I believe in forgiveness. And I believe in honesty, and tonight I'd like to be honest about someone who is in this room."

He looked down the aisle and found us.

"Someone Mr. Hallett has brought as his guest."

Three hundred heads turned.

The doors opened.

His sister walked in.

She did not hurry, and she did not look down.

The rubber tip of her cane tapped on the floor, and her left leg dragged, and the whole room watched.

I walked at her side.

Tobias walked half a step behind, with his hands empty.

"A long time ago," said Conor, gently, into the microphone, "a young woman made a very sad choice. She wandered onto a road. I'd like you to hear her, in her own voice, because I think she's finally ready to tell you she forgives everyone."

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