If Julia is truly the CEO of a listed company in A City, there's no way she wouldn't know that among the guests my family invited were some of the top businesspeople and officials in A City.
Nor would she openly crash someone else's wedding, turning herself into a mistress known to all.
The audience was abuzz with whispers, and countless strange looks were cast our way.
My mother-in-law, rather than feeling ashamed, proudly declared, "Our Jones family can only accept a modern independent woman who owns a company, not someone like Jessie who just stays home living off her parents. Those who are willing to stay for the wedding, feel free to stay and enjoy. If not, you're welcome to leave!" She turned to the emcee, "Let's get started!"
Simon and Julia exchanged affectionate glances while my mother-in-law cheered them on.
At this moment, Wendy finally arrived, hurriedly leading a group of people with the hotel manager in tow.
"I'm sorry, Miss, this is our fault. This group of people claimed to be high-paid managers hired by you, replacing our staff..."
The manager kept wiping the sweat from his forehead, stumbling over his words.
The sharp guests quickly caught on.
My mother-in-law, ignoring our side, loudly berated the motionless emcee, "Did I pay you to just stand there? Did Jessie bribe you? We'll pay you double whatever she offered!"
"Pfft."
Laughter erupted from the audience.
"Does this old hag not know that this entire hotel belongs to Jessie?"
"The Jones family really is something, still brazenly scolding the emcee."
"So the Jones family married Miss Best without giving a dowry, and even the wedding is on the house. I can't stop laughing."
Hearing the murmurs, the three of them turned pale.
Simon looked at me in disbelief, "This hotel is yours. Didn't you say your family was just middle-class?"
Seeing his devastated expression, I felt a sense of relief for the first time that I had hidden my family's true circumstances.
But no matter how much I hid, I never skimped on the gifts I gave him—small ones costing a few thousand, larger ones reaching tens of thousands, and he never complained.
Changing out of my restrictive dress, I gestured for twenty hotel security guards to approach, smiling, "Since Mr. Jones and Miss Smith are having their wedding here, let's settle the bill first."
At my signal, the hotel manager approached Simon with the bill.