Secretly Mine

"Her! It must have been my sister, Leslie! She's engaged to Karl! They were in on this together!" she shouted, pointing her finger directly at me.

Everyone in the hall turned to look at me. Each of their expressions was full of hostility. Some of the closer guests started walking towards me with disgust.

I didn't cower, nor did I run away.

"It brings me a great amount of shame that my family has been involved in something so twisted. And it brings me even more pain to see that the people who are supposed to be family shirk all of their wrongdoings onto me, again and again."

My eyes scanned the entire hall, looking everyone in the eyes. "From this day forward, I am no longer a part of this family!"

Seeing my confident and resolute stance, the crowd began to have mixed feelings. They looked at my father and then at me, trying to figure out which one of us was speaking the truth.

"I can vouch for Leslie," Christian's voice rang out.

Everyone's attention immediately snapped over to Christian. Morgan looked at him with wide eyes as her hands trembled.

"Christian? What do you mean?" she asked, horrified.

"What I mean is that Leslie helped me in this investigation," he said boldly.

I lowered my eyes, feeling guilty. I did no such thing. In fact, when he tried to tell me about it, I didn't believe him, even thinking that he was trying to mess with me.

Christian turned to look at my father, "Our deal is off. Enjoy prison."

"No! No!" Morgan screamed. She ran up to Christian, clinging to his arm. "What about your child? Yes! Your child that's growing inside me?!"

The crowd gasped. Such a development was unexpected.

"Child?" Christian asked, arching his brow. "I'm unsure how you could possibly be pregnant with my child. I've never even kissed you."

Another wave of gasps and snickers spread through the hall.

My father ran up to Morgan and slapped her, "You stupid girl! You weren't supposed to mention that until after the wedding!"

I couldn't help it and broke out into laughter. It was the first time I've ever seen my father treat Morgan like he treated me. The look on her face was one of utter shock and surprise.

"Father? You hit me..." she said, unable to accept what had just happened.

I walked down the aisle, making my way over to Christian's side. He quickly placed his arm around my waist, sending another wave of gasps and murmurs throughout the entire hall.

Morgan's eyes widened. "YOU WHORE! YOU DEMON! You seduced my fiancé!" she screamed, pointing her finger at me.

A soft smile appeared on my face as I looked at her. "It's true."

Christian's grip on my waist tightened. "No. You did nothing wrong. It was my fault for not making our relationship public." He turned to look at Morgan. "I love Leslie, that's the truth. I would say I feel bad, but after seeing the way you treated her, I don't."

Christian then turned to face the crowd. "There's another announcement that I would like to make today. This woman, beside me, is the love of my life. I wish to make it publicly known that Leslie is my future wife."

"No!" screamed Morgan. Her hair and makeup were all messed up, making her look frightening. She lunged over to try and grab hold of my hair, but Christian quickly pushed her away.

"She's ruined! She's a slut! You may not know this, but she's no longer a virgin! She doesn't deserve you!" Morgan screamed over and over. With each new accusation, the crowd held its breath in suspense.

Christian frowned. "I think I know best whether she's ruined or not. Please do not falsely accuse my future wife of anything, or I will bring you to court."

"No! It's true! Just recently, she went out with Karl! She was drugged and used! She's nothing but a whore!" Morgan continued. She was desperate to throw me under and completely ruin my image in front of Christian.

His expression turned angry. "So you're saying you knew that she was sent to get drugged and taken advantage of? And you did nothing to help her? Thank you for admitting to this so boldly. I will see you in court."

A few people in the crowd let out a small laugh, making fun of Morgan's stupidity. But there were also others who began to whisper about me.

"She's a ruined woman. Even though it wasn't her fault, having a ruined woman be the next Mrs. Vittoria will be damaging to the company's image."

More and more of these discussions erupted, and I felt the cold stares of hundreds of people.

"I can attest that Leslie was not ruined by anyone. I was there that night and happened to save her from the fate that awaited her," he explained. "It just goes to show how evil this family really is. A rotten core."

My father looked at me and Christian. He fell to his knees. "Christian! If you liked Leslie, you should have just said so! Our deal can continue, I'll happily wed Leslie to you!"

I raised my hand and placed it on Christian's chest. "Mr. Moresi, I believe you've forgotten that I'm no longer part of your family. I'll never acknowledge you or anyone else in the family as mine. My only regret is that I didn't do this earlier!"

His face turned red from anger. "Shut up, girl! I wasn't talking to you! You can't just walk away from your family! We raised you, you have no right!"

Suddenly, the doors to the wedding hall swung open, and dozens of police officers came marching in.

They were led by two older men, one of whom resembled Zachary.

"Actually, she can. By the rules of our nation, anyone over the age of 18 can legally sever ties with their family," the man who resembled Zachary spoke up.

"Georgio Moresi, you are under arrest for engaging in human trafficking. There has been undeniable proof of your involvement as the head orchestrator of this human trafficking ring."