Chapter 5

The moment I arrived at the Herrera family villa, Jerome shoved an apron into my arms.

"Giselle has been waiting for you for ages. She had a rough day today and just wants to eat a cake you made."

Without a word, I dropped the apron onto the floor and slapped him across the face.

Jerome froze.

For ten years, I had done everything he asked without question. This was the first time I had ever hit him.

"I'm not here to be your sister's maid," I intoned coldly. "Jerome, we're over."

Giselle, sitting on the sofa, burst out laughing. "Sis, you already had the wedding. Who's going to want you now that you're breaking up?"

Jerome touched his reddened cheek and stared at me icily. "Celine, without me, you're nothing."

I couldn't be bothered to argue. My mother was still lying in the operating room. I had only come back to retrieve my belongings.

"Give me my clothes and everything else that belongs to me. And the pocket watch my father left behind."

Giselle curled her lip. "That junk? I burned the clothes a long time ago. The rest is in the storage room."

My expression darkened. "Take me there."

Suddenly, my phone vibrated.

The hospital had sent me an electronic critical-condition notice, along with a video of Mom being resuscitated.

She lay deathly pale on the hospital bed, tubes running into her body as the monitors blared incessantly.

My fingers trembled as I immediately signed the consent form.

Giselle leaned over to take a look. Then she actually laughed. "Is your mother really going to die?"

I grabbed her by the hair and hissed, "Where's the pocket watch?"

"Celine, are you insane?" she shrieked.

"Where is it?!" I pressed.

She screamed in pain. "The storage room!"

I dragged her there.

Sure enough, my father's pocket watch had been thrown inside an abandoned pet crate. Two venomous scorpions crawled nearby.

I grabbed a wooden board and swept the scorpions aside before quickly retrieving the pocket watch. But the next second, I froze.

The back cover had been pried open. It was completely empty.

Before my father died, he had personally tucked a folded piece of paper inside and told me not to open it until after I got married.

I whipped around. "Where is it?"

Giselle rubbed her scalp and answered impatiently, "That stupid piece of paper? I took it out and gave it to my brother ages ago."

"Giselle!" Jerome suddenly shouted, cutting her off.

Giselle's expression changed, and she immediately fell silent.

I slowly turned toward him. "When?"

He avoided my eyes. "It was just some worthless piece of paper from years ago. How would I remember?"

My heart sank.

Years ago?

I had never told Jerome that there was anything hidden inside the pocket watch.

"What happened to the paper?" I clenched my fist.

"I threw it away a long time ago." His answer came far too quickly.

I stared at him. "If it was just a worthless piece of paper, why did you take it from her behind my back?"

Jerome's expression darkened, and he snapped, "Your mother is fighting for her life in the hospital, and you're still going to make a scene here over some worthless piece of paper?"

I tightened my grip around the pocket watch and said nothing more. The more desperately he tried to cover it up, the more certain I became that there was something wrong with that piece of paper.

But right now, my mother mattered more.

Without another word, I turned and walked away.

"Stop." Jerome called after me again. "The wedding video is already trending. It's affecting the Herrera Group."

"Tomorrow at ten in the morning, I've arranged a live press conference."

"You'll explain to the media that the trash cans and rotten eggs were all prearranged wedding activities."

"And as for that video of Giselle, you'll admit that you were jealous of her and used AI to fabricate it."

Giselle immediately added, "And you have to publicly apologize to me."

Jerome stared at me. "As long as you clear everything up tomorrow, I'll let today's incident go. We can even hold the wedding again."

Even now, he still thought I was merely throwing another tantrum.

I was silent for a few seconds. "Fine."

Both of them froze.

Giselle stared at me suspiciously. "You really agree?"

"Of course."

The tension finally left Jerome's face. "That's more like you."

I didn't explain myself. I simply turned around and left.

The moment I got into the car, the Herrera Group's public relations department sent the apology statement to my phone.

They didn't just want me to admit that the video was fabricated. They wanted me to tell everyone that everything my mother had suffered that day had been part of a wedding program we had planned together.

And finally, I was supposed to bow ninety degrees and apologize to Giselle.

I stared at the statement. Then I suddenly laughed.

I forwarded the time of the livestream to my lawyer.

"Tomorrow at ten. Contact as many media outlets as you can."

My lawyer replied almost immediately. "The Herrera family wants you to publicly apologize?"

I ran my fingers over the marks where the back of the pocket watch had been pried open.

"Yes. So the more people there are, the better."

A few seconds later, my lawyer suddenly sent me a photograph.

When I opened it, my breath hitched.

It was a photograph of a yellowed piece of paper. And in the bottom-right corner were two unmistakable words.

Jerome Herrera.

The timestamp on the photograph was from three years ago.

My phone vibrated again, and my lawyer sent only one sentence.

[Celine, do you know what will happen to the Herrera family if this paper is made public?]

I stared at the screen.

So Jerome had gotten his hands on what my father left me three years ago. And he had hidden it from me for three whole years.

I looked up at the Herrera family villa, which was growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

Then I replied with only one word. "Tomorrow."

Since Jerome had already arranged for every media outlet to attend my apology conference... Of course, I wouldn't miss it.