The Househusband Was a Hidden Monarch

Chapter 7

For a split second after Cassian spoke, the hall fell into a strange silence.

Then Fiona and Leon burst into loud mocking laughter meant to humiliate.

“Did you hear him?” Fiona said between laughs. “He said the banquet won’t hold if he leaves. Cassian… do you even hear yourself?”

Leon wiped the corner of his eye dramatically.

“This is the funniest thing I’ve heard all year,” he added loudly. “Brother, are you drunk? Or is this what happens when househusbands stay unemployed for too long?”

The surrounding guests began whispering openly now. Some smiled in amusement and others looked at Cassian with thinly hidden contempt. To them, this was entertainment, just a useless man trying to pretend he still mattered.

Fiona took a step forward, her eyes full of cold disdain.

“You really haven’t changed,” she said. “In three years of marriage, you achieved nothing. You had no ambition, no money, no connections. You couldn’t even support yourself properly. All you did was cling to me and live off my success.”

Her lips curled.

“And now look at you. Still useless and still delusional. You will remain like this forever.”

A few people nodded in agreement and Leon smirked proudly and added fuel to the fire.

“Men like you should learn to stay in the kitchen,” he said. “Big stages are not for people who wash underwear for a living.”

The laughter grew louder and even Zora, who had been standing beside Cassian, slowly turned her face away.

Her brows were slightly creased.

Inside her mind, confusion mixed with disappointment. She had warned him already. This place was filled with powerful figures, business magnates, heirs, hidden investors. One wrong word could destroy a person completely. Yet he kept talking as if he didn’t care about consequences.

Why is he doing this… she thought.

She knew he used to be some rich heir. Everyone had heard the story. The once-prominent Vane family had collapsed overnight. Enemies swallowed their assets. Their name was practically erased from the city’s memory. Cassian himself had disappeared for years and returned as a man with no status, no backing and no reputation.

So why was he still talking like this?

How can she save a man who doesn’t even want to be saved…

Zora sighed faintly.

She didn’t step forward to defend him but she didn’t agree with Fiona either so she simply watched, observed and measured.

Cassian noticed all of it.

The mocking faces, amused whispers and the silent doubt from his newly registered wife.

He smiled calmly 

He owed no one any explanation.

He didn’t argue or even bother to defend himself.

He simply stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking at the crowd like someone watching children fight over toys they didn’t understand.

Fiona let out another cold scoff as she watched Cassian stand there without reacting and she hated it.

“Enough of this bullshit,” she said sharply. “Security, throw him out. I don’t want to see his face here anymore.”

Several guards immediately stepped forward, their expressions turning firm. 

The guests nearby leaned in slightly, sensing the climax of a humiliating scene. Fiona then turned toward Zora with a faint smirk that carried both pity and mockery.

“You should think carefully,” she said. “Cassian is a good-for-nothing. I lived with him for three years, I know him better than anyone. If you’re trying to build something in this city, don’t drag yourself down by keeping him beside you.”

Her eyes swept over Cassian dismissively before returning to Zora.

“Don’t be fooled by his face. Handsome men don’t pay bills. Charm doesn’t build companies. A useless man is still useless no matter how good he looks.”

A few women nearby nodded faintly, clearly agreeing though their eyes were clearly seizing him up.

Leon stepped forward at that moment, his confidence growing with every passing second. He adjusted his cufflinks slowly, then looked Cassian up and down with obvious contempt.

“Today,” he said loudly, making sure the surrounding guests could hear, “I’ll let you understand the difference between our statuses.”

He took a step closer.

“You are nothing. You don’t deserve success. You don’t deserve respect. And you definitely don’t deserve any of the women standing near you.”

His voice became sharper.

“Men like you should learn to stay out of places meant for real players.”

He waved a hand impatiently toward the guards.

“Remove him.”

The guards moved at once.

Shoes scraped lightly against the marble floor as they closed in on Cassian from both sides. The air grew tense and some guests even pulled out their phones openly now, ready to record the moment a once-rich heir would be dragged out like trash.

Cassian remained still, hands in pockets and expression bored.

Just as the nearest guard was about to grab his arm, a sudden commotion erupted near the entrance of the banquet hall.

A staff member rushed in, breathless and pale.

“The… the chairman of the Skyline Dominion Group has arrived!” he announced loudly.

The words spread through the hall and instantly, conversations stopped and faces changed.

Even Fiona’s proud expression stiffened slightly. Leon straightened his back, smoothing his suit subconsciously. The guards froze mid-action, unsure whether to continue or retreat.

The most important figure of the night… had just stepped in.