The Forgotten Heir's Payback

Chapter 14: Public Humiliation

The entire ballroom went dead silent for three long seconds. The bright spotlight shone directly down on Lucas, making his sharp black suit and golden dragon ring gleam under the high crystal chandeliers.

Beside him, Victoria Thorne held his arm with a proud smile on her face. Every single rich guest in the room stared up at the stage with wide eyes and open mouths.

Then, the silent room erupted into a wild storm of shocked whispers and loud gasps.

"Is that really him?" a wealthy woman in a blue gown gasped, clutching her diamond necklace. "The new supreme owner of Grand Dragon Financial? He is so young and powerful!"

"Look at that ring on his finger!" an old billionaire whispered to his friends. "That is the master dragon seal! He controls over fifty billion dollars in pure cash! He holds the entire city economy in his palm!"

Standing in the back overflow room, Chloe felt all the blood drain completely from her face. Her knees went soft, and she had to grab the edge of a wooden table to keep herself from collapsing onto the floor. Her breath came in short, jagged gasps, and her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird.

The man standing under the spotlight was Lucas. The exact same man who had cooked her meals every morning. The exact same man who had washed her dirty clothes by hand. The exact same man who had slept on a thin mat on her cold kitchen floor for three long years.

She had called him a useless beggar. Her mother had slapped three thousand dollars at his chest and thrown him out like trash into the freezing storm. She had dumped him so she could chase Julian Sterling wealth.

Now, the poor stay at home husband she dumped was sitting on top of the entire financial world. He was the uncrowned king of the city, holding the absolute power to lift her family to the sky or crush them into dust with a single word.

A deep, burning sense of regret cut through Chloe heart like a sharp knife. Her hands shook violently as tears of shame filled her eyes. She looked at her ten thousand dollar red velvet dress, realizing how small and pathetic she truly was next to him.

Beside her, Julian face was completely twisted in shock and disbelief. His eyes bulged out of his head, and his bandaged hand shook against his leg.

"No... no... this is impossible!" Julian stammered out, his voice cracking with pure terror. "That is Lucas! He is a stay at home loser! He is a cook! How can he be the supreme chief of Grand Dragon Financial?"

Lucas walked down the carpeted stairs from the stage with slow, steady steps. Butler Thomas and six big executive guards walked right behind him, forming a tight shield. Every mayor, city official, and billionaire in the hall bowed their heads respectfully as Lucas passed by, begging for a single handshake from the young master.

Lucas did not look at any of them. His sharp black eyes moved calmly across the room, locking straight onto Chloe pale face in the back corner.

Chloe felt her heart jump with a sudden wave of hope. She thought to herself that three years of marriage could not be forgotten so easily. She believed that Lucas must still have some soft feelings for her deep down. If she went to him right now, dropped her pride, and apologized sweetly, maybe he would forgive her and save Vance Logistics.

Chloe pushed past the small wooden tables, smoothing down her red velvet dress with shaking hands. She forced a bright, tearful smile onto her face and walked quickly toward the main aisle.

"Lucas!" Chloe called out, her voice trembling as she stepped right in front of his path. "Lucas, it is me! It is Chloe!"

The crowd of rich guests went silent, turning around to watch the scene in curiosity.

Lucas stopped walking three feet away from her. He looked down at her through cold, indifferent eyes, as if he were looking at a complete stranger on the street. He did not say a word.

Chloe took another step forward, reaching her hands out to touch his arm. "Lucas, I am so sorry! I was foolish! I was tricked by Julian and my mother! Please, let us talk in private. I know we can fix our marriage. You are my husband, Lucas!"

Before her fingers could touch Lucas sleeve, a sharp red figure stepped between them.

Victoria Thorne stood directly in front of Chloe, her tall heels making her look down at the younger woman with absolute disgust. She raised her right hand and slapped Chloe outstretched fingers away with a sharp sound.

"Know your place, Miss Vance," Victoria declared in a loud, cold voice that echoed across the quiet ballroom.

Chloe stumbled back half a step, holding her fingers in shock. "Victoria! I am his wife! Let me speak to him!"

"You were his ex-wife the moment you threw three thousand dollars at his chest on that rainy night," Victoria said, her sharp hazel eyes flashing like ice needles. "And right now, you are sitting in the secondary overflow room. Low tier guests are strictly forbidden from approaching the Chairman of Grand Dragon Financial without an official appointment."

A few rich women in the audience let out loud giggles, pointing their fingers at Chloe humiliated face.

"Look at her trying to claim him now!" a rich socialite laughed behind her hand. "She treated him like a dog when he was poor, and now she wants to act like a sweet wife because he is a billionaire!"

"How shameless!" another guest sneered. "She dumped him for Julian Sterling, and now she is begging on her knees!"

The harsh words hit Chloe like heavy rocks. Her cheeks burned bright red, and tears streamed down her face, ruining her neat makeup. She looked past Victoria shoulder at Lucas, hoping he would defend her. But Lucas stood there with his hands in his pants pockets, looking at her weeping face without a single trace of pity in his cold eyes.

"Take her back to her seat," Victoria ordered the security guards coldly.

Two guards stepped forward, grabbing Chloe by her arms and pulling her back into the overflow area.

Julian watched the entire scene from the side, his mind completely collapsing under the heavy humiliation. Seeing the woman he stole getting pushed around, and seeing the man he bullied standing high above him like a god, drove Julian into total madness. He could not accept this reality. He refused to accept that a stay at home husband was superior to him in every way.

Julian broke away from the crowd, screaming at the top of his lungs like a wild, crazed animal.

"He is a fraud!" Julian yelled, pointing his bandaged hand at Lucas face. "All of you are being tricked by this loser! He is not a billionaire! He stole that dragon ring! He is using stolen money from Grand Dragon Financial to play a big game! He is nothing but a dirt poor house helper!"

The entire ballroom gasped loudly in shock. News reporters who were live streaming the grand banquet on local media networks quickly turned their big cameras straight toward Julian shouting face. Over three million viewers across the city were watching the scene live on their phone screens.

Lucas turned his head slowly to look at Julian. A small, cold smile appeared on his lips.

"Are you finished screaming, Julian?" Lucas asked softly.

"I will never be finished until you are locked in jail!" Julian roared, taking two steps forward with his fists clenched. "I will expose you to the whole world!"

Lucas did not waste a single word arguing. He raised his hand and made a simple gesture to the hotel head manager.

"Remove this trash from my sight," Lucas commanded quietly. "And make sure the whole city watches how we handle loud fools."

Four massive hotel bouncers charged forward like heavy tanks. Before Julian could run away, two bouncers grabbed his arms, locking them behind his back, while the third bouncer grabbed the back of his dark blue tuxedo pants.

"Let go of me!" Julian shrieked, kicking his legs wildly in the air. "My father is Richard Sterling! You cannot touch me!"

The bouncers lifted Julian high into the air like a heavy sack of garbage. They carried his kicking, screaming body straight down the main carpeted aisle, past five hundred laughing billionaires, and threw him out through the grand glass doors.

Julian flew through the air and crashed hard onto the cold, wet pavement outside the Imperial Hotel entrance.

His dark blue tuxedo ripped down the back, and his face slammed right into a dirty puddle of rainwater. Dazzling camera lights flashed non-stop as dozens of news reporters filmed Julian lying in the mud like a beaten dog, broadcasting his ultimate disgrace live to every television screen in the entire state.

Inside the quiet ballroom, Lucas turned his back on the front entrance and raised his gold champagne glass to the remaining guests.

"Now that the trash is outside," Lucas said calmly, "let the banquet begin."