[She felt bad that I had no one to lean on. We did it in the office. So even if you marry her, you’re just getting what I’ve already had.]
Without a flicker of emotion, I closed the message and issued my command with ice in my voice.
“Tell Legal to wrap up all matters related to the engagement. I want it terminated.”
After all, I never had a taste for secondhand goods.
My father had already seen everything. The livestream captured the entire humiliation, the disgrace I suffered during my own birthday banquet.
He brought people with him to the venue to salvage the mess.
He didn’t hold back, not even in front of the reporters he brought.
“My son doesn’t need to cling to anyone to find a wife. This engagement ends today.”
“From this moment on, Jenna is no longer his fiancée. Their lives, their futures, they have nothing to do with each other anymore.”
The moment I saw my father, my vision blurred. My throat tightened, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.
“Dad…”
He walked straight to me, gently helping me off the ground. His face was etched with heartache.
“Come on. We’re going to the Ortega estate.”
Only then did I realize he hadn’t trusted anyone else to handle my birthday banquet. He and my mom had already arranged everything themselves, planning a grand and joyful celebration at the Ortega residence.
With just one phone call, he informed all our friends and relatives of the new location. The celebration wouldn’t stop; it would simply continue somewhere better.
I looked at him, dazed. “Dad, did Uncle Ben and Aunt Martha come back to the States?”
As a child, the family we’d been closest to was the Ortega family. Their warmth had once felt like an extension of our own.
Uncle Ben had been my dad’s sworn brother, and Aunt Martha was my mom’s closest friend. I had grown up side by side with their daughter, Dixie Ortega, and we were childhood sweethearts.
But in recent years, they had been tied up with business overseas and had settled abroad. It had been years since we last met.
My dad gave me a mysterious smile and said, “Not only are Ben and Martha back, your little childhood sweetheart is here too.”
The moment I stepped into the Ortega residence, I was enveloped in a warm, heartfelt welcome.
Ben and Martha had always been fond of me, especially Martha, who took my hand with a tender smile.