The Goldmaster

004. Tension

The tension in the air was palpable, and Lucas could understand why people were shocked about her being here.

Bruno and Rebecca turned toward the entrance and saw her, their expressions changing immediately.

“Did you invite her?” Rebecca asked Bruno in a low voice, eyes wide with surprise.

Bruno hesitated. The truth was—he hadn’t, but this was his moment to shine. So he straightened his shoulders and nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure she’d actually come to the wedding.”

Rebecca’s face lit up. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly in front of everyone. “Thank you, Bruno,” she said sweetly, then turned and shot Lucas a smug look.

The crowd stirred. It started with a whisper. Then it spread like wildfire.

“Wait… is that really her?”

“No way—that’s Pamela Bellingham.”

“The Pamela? From the Bellingham family in East City?”

“She’s the eldest daughter, right? I heard she never shows up to public events.”

“She must’ve come to bless the wedding,” Elias said, adjusting his tux with a grin.

The murmurs grew louder.

“She’s the heir to the richest family in East City. She’s like royalty—normal people can’t even get a meeting with her.”

“And she came because Bruno invited her?. He must be really well-connected.”one guest whispered, clearly stunned.

“Rebecca’s so lucky. Marrying him might bring their whole family into East City’s top circle.”

Bruno soaked in the praise, standing a little taller, but even he couldn’t believe she was here. But now that everyone assumed it was thanks to him, he wasn’t going to deny it.

He glanced at Pamela with a confident smile. “Yeah… we’re pretty close.”

Pamela stood at the entrance, staring at her phone. Then she looked up and scanned the room.

Her eyes landed on Lucas, and she smiled. Bruno caught the smile, misunderstanding, straightened his suit with a hopeful grin.

“If she invests in my business, I won’t need this family anymore,” he thought.

Eager, Bruno stepped forward to approach her. But Pamela didn’t even glance his way—she walked straight toward Lucas.

“I am Bruno Mason, the owner of Bruno Fashion Industry,” he said.

He turned immediately, surprised. “Huh? Miss Pamela!” he called out.

Everyone was shocked by her reaction. She stopped right in front of Lucas, who was simply enjoying the chaos.

“Come with me,” she said.

“She must mistake him for Mr. Bruno,” one said.

“But how could she do that? Look at him and Mr. Bruno. There’s no way anyone would mistake them both,” another responded.

“Miss Pamela, there has to be some sort of mistake. He’s Bruno, the one that invited you—not him,” Elias said, pointing at Bruno.

Pamela turned to him, clearly annoyed. “Sorry, I don’t know any Bruno, and I sure as hell don’t plan to.”

“I simply came for him and nothing else,” she said simply, dragging Lucas by the hand.

Lucas was pulled out of the wedding as everyone witnessed it.

“Isn’t she here for Mr. Bruno? Why is she walking off with some other guy?”

“But she said she doesn’t know any Bruno—what’s going on?”

“Right, Mr. Bruno, did Miss Pamela not recognize you?”

Bruno stood frozen, face burning with humiliation. Anger twisted inside him as he watched Lucas leave with Pamela.

Without a word, a dark thought took hold—he would make sure everyone doesn't see Lucas as someone mighty.

“He’s definitely being kept by her,” Bruno muttered to himself, already starting to spread the rumor.

“Disgusting,” Rebecca said under her breath.

“I can see things are getting spicy,” he said, staring at her hand which held his.

She immediately let go of him. “Get in,” she said as they stopped right in front of a well-polished limousine.

He entered into the car as she followed in.

“I see you couldn’t stay a day without me now,” he teased, smirking.

She turned, her expression unreadable. “There you go again.”

“Come on, am I lying?” he continued.

She sighed. “Apparently, I only wished to see you because my grandfather, Alberto Bellingham, is ill,” she said. “Remember when I left in a hurry after my dad called me?”

“Yeah, I remember that,” he said.

“After I met up with my dad, he told me my grandpa wasn’t doing too good—and that subtly reminded me of you, who casually cured my heart problem in just a few moves,” she said.

“And?” Lucas asked further.

“I’ve never seen a doctor diagnose and treat an illness just by looking. Your skills are impressive. Please, treat my grandfather—I’m sure he’ll improve with you.”

Lucas stared at her for a while, unsure of his decision, then nodded. “Alright, I’ll do it. But I have a question though.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“How did you manage to find me?” he asked, staring intently at her.

She pulled slightly at her ear—revealing one of the earrings he had given her that morning.

“Well, I thought if you can track me down with this, then I should be able to do the same to you,” she said.

“Hmm, I see,” he said, smiling awkwardly.

“So tell me who you are—because I checked, and these earrings are not easily affordable. There’s no way a medical student would be able to get it either,” she questioned.

A drop of sweat rolled down Lucas’s face as she asked the question. Then he immediately answered with a lie.

“I was actually a professor, not a medical student. I got laid off because of budget cuts during payment,” he said.

She responded with a sad expression, then asked further, “And what’s this function about? Why did you attend it? No one seemed to welcome you.”

“She’s my ex. My parents arranged our wedding when we still had something tied to our name—before we went bankrupt,” he explained.

She stared at him, not fully believing him, but decided to trust him. “That’s harsh.”

He nodded, as the driver started the car and drove away from the mansion—leaving his ex and her family in utter confusion.