The Charismatic Lucas Gray

Chapter 3

Lucas's face was dark as he reached into his pants and brought out a button phone. He calmly navigated to the sound recorder and pressed it. There were two recordings.

"My speaker is too low. It will be hard to hear the recordings. Can I make use of your mic to enhance the sound?" Lucas asked, looking up at the bishop.

"Sure." The bishop stretched the mic to him. He just wanted to see how this would end!

Meanwhile, at Lucas's statement, Linda, Vera, and Kelvin tensed up. Voice recordings? He has voice recordings? They exchanged glances with one another.

One could clearly see the fear in them.

Lucas calmly took the mic from the bishop. He put it to his phone's speaker and played the first voice recording. The first voice that came through the speakers was Linda's.

"Lucas, we have a pressing need. Can you help us with two hundred thousand?" she said. Her voice was so sweet that one would argue if it was really her.

But then, her voice couldn't be mistaken.

The next voice was Lucas's. He complained that two hundred thousand was his five years' worth of salary and that he'd been saving it for he and Ariadne's wedding.

Vera and Kelvin's voices followed.

They joined Linda in pleading with Lucas, promising that they'd pay him back when he was ready to propose to Ariadne. In the end, Lucas reluctantly agreed.

Everything had been just as Lucas said!

Without a single word, Lucas played the second voice recording.

In this recording, one could hear him begging a man to help him get the rest of his money from the Brooks, and the man chasing him away, telling him to give up — that he would never get the rest of the money. The recording ended with the man's haughty statement, "A loser like you cannot go against the Brooks. Except you have the money to pay us just as your lover's mom and siblings did. Now, get lost!"

"I know that voice. That's Detective Theophilus!" an attendee exclaimed just as the recording ended.

"Are you sure?" another asked.

"Yes!" the young man nodded. "Even if I was sleeping and heard the voice, I'd know! It's him!"

This revelation immediately made the cathedral fall silent — so silent that a pin drop could be heard.

The attendees all stared at the Brooks with mixed feelings. They had been supporting them, but it turned out they were the ones in the wrong. But as they thought about it, they could understand where the Brooks were coming from. Ariadne was the most beautiful lady in the county — the county's belle. Every young heir wanted her. She was food for the wealthy and powerful.

How could they let that loser have her?

In an instant, the blame shifted from the Brooks back to Lucas.

He was a loser! A nobody! A lowly commoner! He should have known his worth and left Ariadne alone!

How could he want to have her?

For a pauper, he sure had high taste!

Hmph!

Linda, Vera, and Kelvin's faces were dark, but they could say nothing. Lucas had completely defeated them.

They could claim the IOU was fake, but could they say the same for the voice recordings? After all, someone had already recognized Detective Theophilus!

Ariadne was in tears. For six years, she had believed in her family's lies. For most of those years, she had hated Lucas, but now, it all turned out to be a lie. She could understand now why he chose to run away.

And why he hadn't been able to leave an explanation– he had feared it would cause a rift between her and her family.

"Lucas," she cried, rushing into his arms and hugging him so tightly, as if he would run away again if she hugged him any less.

Lucas was taken aback at first, before breaking into a smile. He inhaled her scent — she smelled like flowers and strawberries. It was intoxicating.

He shut his eyes in pleasure and hugged her right back.

How much he had missed her!

More than Ariadne, Lucas didn't even want to let go.

At the sight of this, Seth's face instantly darkened. This was his bride-to-be. How could she be hugging another man?

Even though he had not wanted to act and leave everything to the Brooks to handle, he couldn't help but bellow angrily, "Ariadne Brook, what is the meaning of this? You are my bride-to-be. How could you be hugging that loser? Do you not take me seriously?"

Ariadne tensed up while Lucas's face turned icy.

"When I'm hugging my woman, the rest of you should keep shut!" he said coldly.

Gasps rippled through the cathedral.

The Millers, Brooks, and the rest of the attendees were so shocked, their jaws literally dropped to the floor and their eyes widened like saucers.

This was Seth Miller, the heir of the Millers. How dare that loser shush him?

He was hugging his bride-to-be, and he still had the guts to silence him?

He must have a death wish!

Sure enough, Seth's face turned frosty. "Punk, do you have a death wish?" he snarled.

Lucas calmly disengaged from the hug and turned to Seth. Since walking in, this was the first time he looked his way.

This punk wasn't even that handsome.

How dare an ugly rich brat like him covet his woman?

"You are the one who has a death wish! How dare you covet my woman?" he said coldly.

"Hah!" Lucas's words were so infuriating that Seth couldn't help but chuckle. "I have a death wish?" He looked at him amusingly.

"Do I have water in my mouth?"

Seth chuckled darkly. "Punk, I can see you are tired of living. I can grant your wish. But later — this is my and Ariadne's wedding. I don't want to dirty my hands right now. If you know what's good for you, get lost now!" He was at his limit.

"Are you deaf or what?" Lucas arched a brow at him. "I just told you she's my woman. We're married. What about that can't you understand?"

"Hmph!" Seth scoffed. "You keep insisting you're married, yet the Brooks know nothing about it. What proof do you have?"

"Seth," Ariadne suddenly whispered, her voice so soft it was almost as if she was afraid to speak. "Lucas is telling the truth. We really are married."