Before Wendy could finish her sentence, Uriah interrupted impatiently. “Get out!”

He had only stepped away for a short while, but his cousin had already been bullied in his own house. The thought alone filled him with rage.

Stephen arrived at this moment, his unhurried steps at odds with the tension that was thick in the room. “What’s going on?” he asked, frowning as he took in the hostility in the air.

In front of everyone, Uriah gestured toward Tessa and introduced her loudly. “This is my cousin, Tessa Yates, heiress of Yates Corporation. She recently returned to Rivertown, and today’s banquet was hosted specifically to welcome her back.”

His sharp, icy gaze swept over Yanis and Wendy. “And yet, here come these filthy nobodies, daring to slander my cousin by accusing her of theft.”

Uriah signaled to the bodyguards, who immediately understood. They marched over, unceremoniously grabbed Yanis and Wendy, then dragged them to the door before tossing them out.

After Yanis and Wendy were thrown out, Zachary finally came to his senses. Stammering, he turned to Tessa. “I… You… You’re Mr. Somerton’s cousin?”

“Who else?” Tessa replied with an amused look, her tone light and teasing.

Zachary swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his eyes reddened. A deep bitterness surged through his chest. His lips quivered as he struggled to find the right words. “Why? Why didn’t you tell me who you were for the past three years?”

“I wanted to tell you. Remember when I said I’d take you back to my hometown? I wanted to introduce you to my family then, but you refused,” Tessa said flatly, her tone devoid of emotion.

Her calmness felt like a dagger to Zachary’s heart. He closed his eyes in pain. “If you had told me you were the heiress of Rivertown’s prominent Yates family, how could I have refused to go with you?”

Uriah quickly pieced everything together. Zachary Gomez was Tessa’s ex-boyfriend.

Judging by the situation, Tessa must have hidden her identity while dating him. Zachary, thinking she was an ordinary girl without a notable background, had done many things to hurt her.

Uriah’s gaze shifted to Stephen, whose face darkened with stormy intensity. The air around him felt oppressively heavy.

Zachary’s heart clenched painfully at Tessa’s words, his chest tight with regret. “Tessa, if you had told me about your identity earlier, we would be married by now. We could have been so happy together.” Tessa merely looked at him, her expression calm and detached, as if she were a mere bystander. “Have you forgotten, Zachary? You once said you would never marry me. Your mother humiliated me, claiming that a girl like me wasn’t worthy of marrying into the Gomez family.”

Her words were sharp and unyielding, like a dagger cutting straight into Zachary’s chest.

His eyes turned red, and his voice was choked with emotion. “Tessa, back then, the only thing standing between us was the gap in our social status. That gap is gone now. Nothing can stop us from being together.”

As he spoke, he stepped forward,

reaching out to take Tessa’s hand. Before he could touch her, Stephen kicked him hard, sending him sprawling to the ground. The black leather of Stephen’s shoe pressed against Zachary’s face, grinding mercilessly.

The crowd gasped in unison.

Darkness clouded Stephen’s expression and his deep, obsidian eyes glinted with a dangerous light His voice was cold and ruthless. T warned you before. If you dare touch her again, I’d make sure you’re left crippled.”

Zachary ceased all resistance, his body going limp as if his spirit had been completely crushed. He lay on

the floor like a lifeless fish, motionless as Stephen’s shoe dug into his face.

He turned his head slightly, his gaze filled with despair as he looked at Tessa. Pain coursed through his entire being, seeping into every bone and nerve, making him wish he were dead.

The realization of his foolishness settled heavily in his chest. Countless memories flashed through his mind like a film reel. Every moment of their romance recalled in excruciating detail, felt like a dagger slicing into his heart, leaving it wounded and raw.

He had made so many mistakes. Refusing to meet her family, allowing his mother to humiliate her without restraint, flaunting his relationship with Wendy, and telling her in front of Wendy that he would never marry

her.

Every selfish act of his drove her further away from him. He and Tessa could have had a happy ending. But he had destroyed it all with his own two hands.