Chapter 7 - Turning The Tables On The High-Society Elite
Caleb stepped back out onto the grand terrace,
holding the leather journal securely in his hand.
The three hundred guests were still frozen in place,
none of them daring to leave,
none of them daring to speak above a whisper.
Sloane was standing near the exit doors now,
her designer handbag clutched in her white-knuckled grip,
her face burning with humiliation as she waited for Caleb to come crawling back and apologize for her bruised ego.
Instead,
Caleb walked straight to the small raised stage where the jazz quartet had paused their performance.
He tapped the microphone lightly,
producing a sharp, commanding feedback sound that drew every eye in the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen,"
Caleb spoke into the mic,
his voice echoing powerfully through the estate's sound system.
"Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate my birthday.
However,
there has been a slight change in the evening's itinerary."
Sloane froze by the exit,
her eyes narrowing into slits of pure malice.
"Caleb,"
she shouted across the room,
her voice trembling with rage.
"Have you completely lost your mind over a cleaning lady's brat?
You are humiliating yourself and your family name!"
Caleb turned his gaze slowly toward her,
his expression cold,
detached,
and completely merciless.
"My family name,"
Caleb replied clearly into the microphone,
"was built on hard work,
integrity,
and respect for human dignity—qualities that were severely lacking in the person standing by that exit door."
Murmurs erupted instantly through the crowd.
Several prominent businessmen whispered among themselves,
recognizing that the Westbrook alliance was officially dead.
"Sloane Mercer,"
Caleb continued,
his voice ringing out across the terrace with chilling precision,
"our engagement is officially canceled,
effective immediately."
Sloane let out a sharp, breathless gasp,
stumbling back a step as if she had been physically struck.
"You can't do this!"
Sloane screamed,
losing all remaining shreds of her sophisticated veneer as she marched back down the center aisle toward the stage.
"I gave you years of my life!
May you like
I planned this entire party!
You are throwing away a high-society union for a nobody and her bastard child!"
