The Hidden Heir: From Rags To Riches

extreme humiliation

Seated around the table where Ethan was sitting were the sons-in-law of the Harrison Family.

Compared to Ethan, however, the other sons-in-law were all wealthy and powerful figures — their statuses in the Harrison Family like day and night.

While chatting merrily and toasting excitedly with one another, they did not even bother greeting Ethan. Handing each other their business cards, they completely ignored him as if he never existed in their eyes.

"Has everyone already arrived? Come, here's a toast to the rest of the day!"

"Brother Derek, that will not do as we should be offering you a toast instead."

As Derek walked over leisurely with a glass of wine in his hand, the other sons-in-law of the Harrison Family stood up in a humble manner to curry favor. One after another, they revealed fawning expressions as they lifted their wine glasses for a toast.

Derek was the son of Charles, the third son of the Harrison Family. As such, he was also the successor of the third branch of the family.

While Charles may be the third eldest in the family, his status in Harrison's Jewelry Corporation was equal to that of his eldest brother, James.

As such, Derek's wealth, influence, social circle, and status were all at an entire level higher than the other sons-in-law.

"What's wrong, Ethan? Are you looking down on me? Why aren't you toasting with us?" Derek asked coldly as he stared menacingly at Ethan.

In the entire scene, Ethan was the only one who chose not to stand up and propose a toast as he hesitated for a second.

*Splash!*

In that split second, Derek splashed his glass of white wine onto Ethan's face without hesitation.

"What is wrong with you? I'm willing to give you face, yet you still act so shamelessly? I'm giving you face by allowing you to drink. Do you still dare to refuse?" Derek said with disdain in a domineering manner.

As the white wine splashed all over Ethan, he felt a burning sensation spreading through his face as the pungent smell of alcohol lingered from his body.

No one present dared to speak up for Ethan. Instead, all of their faces were filled with ridicule.

At that moment, Ethan's patience snapped as his eyes shot towards Derek like a rapier. However, when he recalled Sophia working extremely hard for her father, he held back his emotions to prevent himself from causing any trouble for her.

"Alright, I'll show you some respect." Ethan wiped the wine off his face and slowly propped himself up.

Derek did not expect Ethan to be able to endure his ridicules. In that instant, his mouth slowly waned into a cold smile as he thought to himself, "Do you think you'll be fine just because you endured this?"

Just as Ethan stood back up on his two feet, Derek suddenly took a step backward and flopped onto the ground. During that flop, he purposefully came into contact with the banquet table at the side — filled with expensive red wine and other VIP gifts — and completely flipped it over.

*Crash! Crack!*

In the next second, dozens of bottles of expensive red wine and other exquisite jade accessories shattered into pieces on the floor, causing a huge commotion and attracting the gazes of everyone in the banquet hall.

"Ethan, you piece of trash, how dare you hit me!" Derek shouted loudly to make the matters worse for Ethan.

"What's going on here?"

Natalie walked over with Sophia beside her. Even the groom, Sterling, came over with a serious expression.

At that moment, all the guests in the hall began surrounding them to see what happened.

"Sister Natalie, Brother-in-law, although it is your wedding day, this piece of trash, Ethan, actually dared to cause a ruckus and fight me at your banquet. Is he trying to rebel?" Derek said with a face full of anger before staring fiercely at Ethan as if he had suffered great humiliation.

"Ethan, what is going on?" Sterling asked coldly with an unpleasant expression as he tried his best to suppress his anger.

"Derek fell on his own. I didn't lay a single finger on him." Ethan answered honestly.

"He fell on his own? If so, why did Derek claim that you hit him?" Sterling asked in a deep voice.

Ethan replied, "Everyone here saw what happened. You can ask them if you don't believe me."

"Brother-in-law, Ethan is still making excuses. When I walked over to propose a toast to everyone, he came up and hit me out of nowhere. Everyone here saw it clearly," Derek said angrily. "To be honest, Brother-in-law, if it wasn't for you, I would have already crippled him."

"Everyone, what exactly did you see just now?" Sterling looked at the sons-in-law of the Harrison Family and asked.

"Everything took place just as Brother Derek said. I wonder if Ethan drank too much wine."

"That's right. Seeing how Ethan reeks of alcohol, he must have drunk too much and spilled some over his body. When Brother Derek came over to drink with us, Ethan suddenly walked towards us and hit him in the face."

"Yeah, that's exactly what we saw."

Some of the sons-in-law of the Harrison Family said in a serious tone.

Ethan gawked at them in utter disbelief.

He then revealed a bitter smile on his face. Since Derek was the heir to the third branch of the family — one of the most powerful figures in the Harrison Family — who would dare to offend Derek for the sake of a mere son-in-law like himself?

As such, they all chose to lie through their teeth.

At this point, Ethan did not see a need to further explain himself. After all, the weak did not have the power to reason against the strong.

As the person with the lowest status in the Harrison Family, he did not have the power to speak up and defend himself, even if he did not do anything wrong.

"What a disgrace! To have forgotten his own surname after drinking a few glasses of wine!"

"Has the head of the Harrison Family gone senile? How did he allow such trash to be his son-in-law?"

The surrounding guests discussed animatedly and mocked him without any mercy.

"Ethan, why are you such a useless person?! You are unable to accomplish anything, yet you still look for things to spoil?" Sophia exclaimed as she stomped towards Ethan's side. Her face burned with fury as she felt extremely embarrassed of Ethan.

Having just been talking with Natalie and her husband about her father's factory, how could she continue the conversation after Ethan caused such a huge mess at their banquet?

"You! Apologize to Natalie and Sterling at once!" Sophia looked at him with utmost disappointment as his actions caused her to feel ashamed.

"Sister Natalie, Sterling, I apologize for my unreasonable actions on a day as important as your wedding."

At the side, Derek was on the verge of bursting into gales of laughter. That proud and carefree expression of his seemed as if he stated, "Even if I framed you and caused you to lose all face, who would even speak up for someone like you?"

"Ethan, as a man, it's okay to make mistakes. However, not only did you refuse to take responsibility, but you even dared to frame my younger brother? I despise people like you the most!" Natalie said with a cold expression.

Compared to Natalie, Sterling's face was even more livid after such a ridiculous thing had just taken place during his wedding day. Furthermore, most of the guests were respectable people with great influence in the city, which made things even worse for him.

"Ethan, I will not accept your apology! On such an important day, it also would not be good for me to hit you. As for the gifts that you broke, I don't even want you to pay for them. Just get out of my sights immediately! I never want you to appear before me ever again in the future!" Sterling said coldly.

Letting out a long sigh, Ethan ignored the gazes of the surrounding guests and simply turned around to walk out of the hall.

Just as he turned around, Natalie suddenly exclaimed...

"Sophia, didn't you want me to help your father get through his difficulties? Alright, I don't want to see Ethan again. As long as you get a divorce with that useless scumbag and kick him out of the Harrison Family, I will be willing to help your dad settle the matters regarding his factory right away!"

Although Ethan halted in his steps for a moment, he chose not to turn around as he proceeded to walk out of the banquet hall.

After leaving Grandview Hotel, the location of the banquet hall, Ethan lit a cigarette and wondered what Sophia would end up choosing.

"Let's go home."

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from behind. Ethan felt extremely touched after turning his head and seeing his wife, Sophia — her makeup clearly ruined by the tears trickling down her face.

Ethan then said, "Alright, let's go. As for your dad's matters, what do you plan on doing?"

Sophia said angrily, "I told you we would get a divorce sooner or later. However, I will not allow my decision to be influenced by anyone else as I will ultimately decide if I want to do so myself."

"Let's think of another way to deal with Dad's matter. No matter what happens, we're a family after all. Them bullying you is the same as them insulting me. What else do I even need to talk to them about?"

Ethan murmured to herself, "A family..."

After that, the two of them walked for a while in silence.

"Ethan, I'm sorry for saying the things I said back at the banquet. I take back everything I said about you," Sophia said as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "I was not in the right state of mind by then. After thinking about it calmly, I don't see any reason why you would hit Derek. Furthermore, you never drink."

Ethan said, "You believe me?"

Sophia replied instantly, "I believe you."

"Thank you..."

As Ethan stared at Sophia, he made the resolve to never let anyone who puts this much trust in him down ever again.