Alice watched Mary, calm andposed at the microphone, and rxed. Mary had cried the night before, but she''d pulled herself together. Seeing Alice in the audience calmed her nerves. Mary, a lifelong follower of her aunt''s wishes, had thought changing boyfriends would be easy. Instead, she''d been berated. She realized her aunt hadn''t been kind; any deviation from her aunt''s ns brought a swift change in attitude. She wasn''t ying puppet anymore. The festive atmosphere cooled. Everyone knew Ethan was supposed to be Mary''s fiancé, introduced by Mrs. Parker. Now, Mary was iming they were just friends?


    Mrs. Parker''s smile faltered. She whispered, "What are you doing?


    Mary ignored her, speaking confidently into the microphone. “Thank you all foring to my birthday party. Enjoy yourselves!" She left the stage. Mrs. Parker followed, catching up to her.


    Mrs. Parker turned her around. "You''ve gotten bold, haven''t you? What''s wrong with Ethan? Weren''t you two doing well?"


    "I told you I don''t like him anymore. You were the one who disapproved,” Mary retorted.


    Mrs. Parker was furious.“Did Alice say something to you? Why do you believe her and not your boyfriend, Ethan?"


    “Aunt, I have my own eyes. And if I marry him, he''ll manage thepany''s shares - I don''t want


    — that.” Mary knew her aunt wanted the shares; Ethan was just a pawn. She''d been busy investigating.


    Mrs. Parker tried to argue, but Mary pushed past her and left. No one dared stop her


    Alice approached Mary, who was surrounded by well-wishers."Congrattions."


    "Thanks."


    Ethan quickly arrived.“Mary, is there a misunderstanding between us?" He''d waited a long time for this moment. He''d endured ridicule, but Mary had pped him in the face!


    Chloe worriedly intervened.“Miss Parker, did Brother do something wrong?” “You seem to know yourself pretty well, I dislike you." Mary was equally blunt with Chloe.


    Chloe''s eyes welled up. Finn jumped in.“What does Chloe have to do with this?”


    Mary was direct,“Because I dislike your family''s atmosphere." They were all so biased.


    Mrs. Parker arrived. “Mary, you should go to your room and change." They couldn''t cause a scene.


    Alice took Mary''s arm."Let''s go." Mrs. Parker didn''t say anything.


    In the restroom, Mary changed her outfit and hairstyle, undisturbed.


    When she reappeared, everyone parted to let Ethan approach with arge cake, surrounded by people singing.


    Alice felt a chill. Ethan hadn''te in earlier because he was preparing this. The Windhams always thought they knew best.


    Ethan presented the cake to Mary. Mrs. Parker smiled."Whatever your problems, work it out. Look how sincere Mr. Windham is! He prepared this surprise."


    Mary felt morally ckmailed. Mrs. Parker handed her the cake knife, whispering, “You can be Chaper 335


    selfish, but what about your mother and brother overseas? Your brother needs money for Ke


    treatment."


    Mary''s face paled; her aunt was ckmailing her. The main branch of the Parker family woode broke, but no one would help, The second branch controlled everything, Alice, standing beside Mary, heard everything and felt furious. They were dearly bullying, Mary Mary took the knife, cutting into the cake to reveal a red box. Ethan opened it, presenting a fing, He knelt “Mary, I know I''m not perfect, but please give me a chance, I''ll give you a happy home


    Mrs. Parker urged, "He''s 60 sincere! He prepared this for you, Sveg


    Say yout


    Everyone chanted, "Say yes!" Ethan looked at Mary with feyped uncerry, Alice found it repulsive. In her past life, Ethan and Mary had gotten engaged, and he''d used the Parkers to gain a foothold in California. She shuddered thinking about Mary''s fate after the was used. Her brother, so concerned with appearances, would never tolerate a wife with a dubey, Alice nced at a certain spot. A video appeared on arge screen. A couple was passionaly kissing, almost undressed. It was Chloe, her skirt hiked up by Garrett Yates, her legs spread as she moved on hisp.


    The video captivated everyone. Ethan''s face turned livid. He called Chloe, but got no answer. She was clearly caught up in the moment.


    Ethan wanted to kill Chloe, that slut! His carefullyid ns were ruined Mrs. Parker''s face paled."Turn off the screen!" The screen went ck, but the video was already the talk of the party,


    Mrs. Parker red at Ethan.“What a wonderful family you have!"


    Ethan was furious, turning to


    Finn."Where''s Chloe? Wasn''t she with you?"


    “She said she was going to the restroom. How could this happen?” Finn''s eyes were red with anger."Brother, we need to find them! I''ll kill that bastard!"


    Chloe, blushing, appeared, her voice


    Ethan pped her.


    soft."Brother, why are you calling?