The silence in the grand dining room was heavy and suffocating for everyone present.
Richard stood up slowly to his full height, his dark eyes fixed on his fiancée.
Groom: You lied to me for five long years!
Bride: No, wait, let me explain everything before you judge me!
Groom: Speak right now, or I call the police this second!
Victoria began to sweat, her expensive makeup doing nothing to hide her rising panic.
Bride: I loved you so much, Richard! You wanted a family so badly back then!
Bride: I knew you still loved Clara, so I paid that private clinic money to lie!
Clara gasped loudly from the floor and pulled Lily closer to her chest.
Maid: You took my baby away from me for money?
Bride: I gave the doctor fifty thousand dollars to tell you the baby died!
Bride: I took the baby and told Richard she was an orphan from his cousin!
Richard clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned completely white.
Five years of his life had been built on a cruel and calculating deception.
He had raised Lily believing her real mother was gone, while Clara grieved alone for years.
Groom: You are a monster, Victoria.
Bride: I did it for us! We built a wonderful life together with this beautiful girl!
Bride: Look at this mansion! Look at the life I helped you create here!
Groom: You stole a child from her mother to force me into marriage!
Lily looked up at Clara with giant eyes full of deep trust and love.
Child: Are you my real mommy? The one who loves me?
Maid: Yes, my sweet angel. I am your real mommy.
Victoria snapped and pointed her sharp finger straight at Clara's face with rage.
Bride: She cannot raise this child! She has no money, no home, and no power!
Bride: I am her legal mother on paper, and you cannot change that!
Richard stepped directly between Victoria and Clara, his face cold as absolute ice.
Groom: The law does not protect kidnappers and fraudulent adoption rings.