One by one, the guests stood.
Applause spread throughout the ballroom.
Arden stepped behind the microphone and waited until the room settled.
“My grandmother taught me that wealth does not create character,” she began. “It simply removes the need for some people to hide who they have always been.”
Blake moved away from the table.
“Arden, please. We need to talk privately.”
She raised one hand.
He stopped.
“Eight years ago, I married a man who sat beside me in a crowded roadside café during a thunderstorm. He told me that kindness mattered more than status and that his family would become my family.”
Her eyes moved toward Lenette and Corinne.
“I believed him.”
Blake’s face tightened.
“I concealed my position because I wanted a real marriage. I wanted to know whether I could be valued without my company, my inheritance, or my family name.”
Lenette stood.
“This is clearly a misunderstanding.”
