Chapter 3
Each word pierced like a jewel, turning their faces ghostly pale. Fiona White threw off the blanket, revealing her head, and pitifully spoke to the media.
“No, I was supposed to marry Finn Taylor. It’s her…”
“Nora Bennett despises Liam Taylor for his short life and doesn’t want to be a widow, so she announced she would marry Finn Taylor.”
Fiona White pointed at me, signaling me to agree with her. Seeing I wasn’t playing along, she awkwardly wrapped the blanket around herself and approached me.
“We’ve been best friends for so many years. You don’t want to see me ruined over this, right?”
Then she whispered in my ear, “Nora, I didn’t mean to. I was just drunk. Please help me this once, okay?”
“Besides, you also slept with my fiancé. We’re even, right?”
I was stunned by her shamelessness. Failing to harm me, she wanted me to bear the consequences. I’ve been too lenient with her over the years.
Fiona White and I have been friends for fifteen years. During these years, I’ve constantly taken the blame for her. She’s the second child in her family, with an older sister and a younger brother.
She wears her sister’s hand-me-downs and eats her brother’s leftovers, with only a hundred bucks a month for allowance. We met because she couldn’t afford sanitary products.
I lent her money, and upon learning of her situation, I felt sorry for her and made her my best friend. Since then, whenever she was wronged, I’d stand up for her without hesitation.
I never thought it would make her feel entitled.
“Fiona White, this is about reputation. If I admit it, the Bennett Corporation will be scorned because of me.”
“Besides, you’re the one who cheated. How can you slander me and Mr. Taylor like this?”
I glared at her, tears rolling down my face. My pitiful look made the reporters view Fiona White with more disdain.
Seeing the reporters continue to question her, she panicked. She looked to Finn Taylor for help, but he was too scared to lift his head under Liam Taylor’s pressure.
“Nora, now that Finn Taylor and I have no way out, he can only marry me. You’re destined to marry Liam Taylor.”
“I’m begging you. Help me this once, and I’ll compensate you.”
Fiona White pleaded desperately but didn’t get a nod from me. She pushed me back in anger, pointing at my nose, questioning me.
“Nora Bennett, what’s wrong with you? You promised to protect me.
Now you want to break your word? Aren’t you afraid I’ll cut off your financial support once I marry Liam Taylor?”
My heart was stabbed sharply. Over a decade of effort was wasted on someone ungrateful.
We had achieved our goal, so there was no need to listen to her anymore. I gestured for Liam Taylor to leave with me.
Fiona White panicked as I turned to go, desperately clutching my arm and pleading with urgency.
“Mabel, I messed up this time. Please help me. You wouldn’t want to see my child and me getting hurt by my dad.”
She touched her belly as she spoke.
Liam and I exchanged a glance, surprised at her audacity to be pregnant.
The Taylor Family had consulted a fortune-teller to find a girl whose fate matched Liam Taylor’s, believing she could change his destiny.
Mrs. Taylor had spent a fortune searching among the elite families and finally found Fiona White.
To persuade her to marry into the family, the Taylors had agreed to her family’s unreasonable demands.
Now, whether it was her with Finn Taylor or me with Liam, either situation would anger the Taylor Family.
This was why Liam wanted Finn to involve the media, to shift the blame onto them.
However, seeing Fiona White’s desperate gamble, I didn’t dare take the risk. If she revealed her pregnancy, it would not just be about getting the Taylor elders to agree to a marriage swap; it would plunge the entire family into a media frenzy, making Liam and me targets of public scrutiny.
There was no longer an escape. Liam and I were already entangled in this mess, inseparable. As I hesitated, Liam pulled me into his embrace.
“Miss White, you must be joking. Even if you and Mabel are best friends, this kind of joke is unacceptable.”
“My intended wife is Miss Nora Bennett, and Miss White is my niece-in-law. We hadn’t made it public earlier to avoid any schemes before they joined the Taylor Family.”
He explained earnestly, though the crowd remained skeptical. Even though Liam was influential, they didn’t want to miss a headline opportunity. Clearly, Liam was aware of this, so he kissed me.
The media got their story and didn’t linger, rushing back to write it up.
Before we could confront them, the Taylor Family called us back to explain ourselves. With no other choice, we returned home to face the music.
Back home, Liam ignored Mrs. Taylor’s pressure and sat with me on the sofa, holding my hand. Only after I ate the grape he offered did he finally look at Mrs. Taylor.
“Mom, Finn is grown now and has his own ideas. He even drugged his uncle and fiancée.”
“Grandma, I didn’t.”