Chapter 25


    “Turn it off, turn it off!” rissa could no longer contain herself, shrieking on


    stage, nearly fainting. Meanwhile, her bridesmaids stood by indifferently, enjoying the spectacle as if they were watching aedy act. “You love showin


    The giant screen went dark. The emcee was sweating profusely, thinking to himself how truly challenging this job was.


    “Marc, those photos were photoshopped! The woman in those pictures isn’t me. Someone’s trying to frame me!” rissa clung to Marc, her face in panic


    Marc could tell if those photos were genuine or not. Although puzzled about how things had turned out this way, he could not help but be concerned abo


    rissa, now realizing the situation, softened in his arms. She clutched her stomach, biting her lip hard, swaying as if she might faint any moment. “Marc


    Can we speed things up?”


    She no longer cared about the ceremony. She just wanted the wedding to end without


    further incidents.


    Feeling the pressure, the emcee rushed the ceremony and asked rissa and Marc to exchange rings. But, yet again, there was another interruption.


    “Wait a minute!”


    The ceremony was disrupted again, but it was not Caleb this time. It was Amanda, the older sister of Caleb. She had picked up the discarded material, re


    Unlike her brother Caleb, who was more impulsive, she walked up to the stage in her peach–


    colored dress with confidence andposure. Amanda confronted rissa calmly, “Miss Santos, do you really have stomach cancer?”


    This unexpected questionnded like a thunderbolt, causing rissa to jolt in shock.


    MA


    Amanda’s voice, without a microphone, was only heard by those on the stage. The bridesmaids watched in confusion, all turning their attention to their fr


    “rissa, when did you get stomach cancer? Wasn’t it anorexia?”


    it?


    “Anorexia?” Marc furrowed his brow and also nced at rissa. “Wasn’t it stomach cancer?”


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    The bridesmaids and Marc were clearly on different pages in their understanding of the situation. The emcee, standing awkwardly on stage, wasple


    Lies could only be concealed for so long, and the truth has a way ofing to light.


    As rissa’s secrets were on the verge of being exposed, she felt like each twist and turn during the day was stripping away her facade, leaving her alm


    eyes.


    She could not help but wonder who was behind all of this and why they were so determined to ruin her special day.


    “Marc..


    rissa clutched Marc’s arm, her face filled with


    pleading desperation. “Can we please finish the wedding first? I’ll exin everythingter. Please, don’t let me embarrass


    myself before all these people. I’m begging you.”


    With a solemn expression, Marc looked at rissa, who had


    held a special ce in his heart for so many years, For some reason, she seemed like a stranger to him at this moment. It was as if his heart had stoppe


    Watching the video of Marc and rissa locking eyes, Pearl suddenly stood up from the couch, startling Hubert.


    “What’s wrong? Aren’t you watching anymore? The real drama is yet to unfold. It’s going to get even more exciting.” Hubert teased.


    Pearl rushed into the bathroom, mmed the door shut, and began venting her frustration, throwing punches into thin air. She was furious. She could no


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    man of his stature, would marry such a


    trashy person like rissa. She even doubted his sanity. She could not understand why Maked such discernment. It was evident to everyone how


    The bathroom door was knocked, and Pearl shouted angrily, “I’m not watching anymore!”


    Hubert opened the door with a serious expression. “Something has happened. We just received news from the scene. Marc’s mom is on the rooftop, thre


    “What?” Pearl turned pale with shock. She hurriedly ran outside.


    Hubert followed, saying, “Hey, don’t tell me you’re going to go there! We’re in Nanston, and Machodean is a two to three–hour drive away…”


    “People’s lives are at stake! We have to get there!” Pearl eximed.


    The wedding scene had descended into chaos.


    The guests were bewildered by the sudden interruptions. The ceremony had inexplicably halted, and then the doors to the banquet hall burst open, lettin


    The flying paper hit people in the face, and as they picked it up, they saw a list of “rissa’s Top Ten Crimes” in painstaking detail. The usations seem


    Written above were usations of her promiscuity, lying, showing off, vanity, hypocrisy, superficiality, pretentiousness, ying innocent, being a home–


    wrecker, having a malicious heart, and belittling other women even though she herself was a woman.


    “Is this all true? And she always acted so elegant and refined? The Santos family’s upbringing must be reallycking!” a guest jeered disdainfully.


    rissa’s parents, sitting in the audience, had lost allposure. They did not care about propriety anymore and rushed onto the stage. Holding the list


    Looking at the paper filled with usations against her, rissa trembled with anger and pointed toward the audience.


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    “Who is responsible for this? Who wants to harm me? If you have the guts,e forward and exin everything!”


    “Exin everything? Are you even capable of that?”


    Caleb, who


    had managed to free himself from the restraints, returned to the stage. He took. the list from Amanda and red at rissa with a cold smile. “Perhaps y


    called illness of yours. You imed it was stomach cancer when, in reality, it was anorexia. I even felt sorry for you, thinking you were a terminally ill pati


    really think you could marry Marc? Dream on!”


    He wanted to throw the documents at rissa’s face, but Marc intercepted them halfway.


    As Marc flipped through the documents, he saw a clear record of rissa’s medical condition, documented in differentnguages.


    The “stomach cancer” diagnosis was also analyzed from various angles, revealing it to be


    a forgery.


    All he needed to do was send someone to investigate, and uncovering her lies would have been easy. However, he had been kept in the dark until now.


    Marc’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. It was unclear whether he wasughing at rissa or himself.


    He raised the documents and looked at rissa. “No wonder you never agreed to go to the hospital for an examination. Every word you said was a lie fr


    to the co


    “No, Marc, please listen to my exnation!” rissa’s eyes reddened, and tears welled up as she approached him, holding her wedding gown.


    But Marc did not step forward to support her as he used to. Instead, he stepped back, and his eyes were


    filled with coldness and disdain. He seemed to view her as a poisonous creature, something to be avoided at all costs.


    rissa’s heart sank heavily. It was over.


    M


    At that moment, Thomas rushed onto the stage hurriedly to report. “Mr. Males,


    something’s wrong. Your mother is on the rooftop, and she’s saying she wants to jump.”


    Marc’s expression changed instantly. He descended from the stage and hurried toward the rooftop.


    On the rooftop, Phoenix sat in her wheelchair perilously close to the edge. One wrong move, and she could plummet to her death. Yet, she appeared utt


    A crowd had gathered below, and safetys were set up while a negotiation expert with a megaphone


    attempted to calm the situation. “Ma’am, please don’t do anything rash. Let’s talk it out. If you have any grievances, we can discuss them.”


    Marc, Caleb, and others reached the rooftop and saw Phoenix sitting on the edge. She looked as if she could fall off at any moment. No one dared to sp


    Marc tried to call his mom.


    Marc’s voice choked up, and he tried to shout, but his mouth moved silently, producing no


    sound.


    “Aunt, what are you doing? Can’t you just talk to us? Why scare us like this?” Caleb was in a state of panic, his words jumbled, as he pleaded with Phoe


    Phoenix sat in her wheelchair, turned to look at Marc, who was approaching, and said, “Marc, do you know why I didn’t want you to marry rissa?”


    Marc finally found his voice after a long pause. “I know. Because of Lisa Santos.”


    Phoenix sneered coldly. “Back then, because of Lisa, your father insisted on divorcing me when you were just ten years old. I struggled for ten years to s


    father still left me and went to be with Lisa. And now, my son, you’re about to follow in your father, Edward Hayes’s footsteps, marrying Lisa’s niece. How


    Marc struggled to speak, but his words were caught in his throat.


    “I’ve always had a strong sense of pride throughout my life, and I’ve had enough of being


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    humiliated by Lisa once. I won’t ept bing


    family with rissa. I know you love her, and I don’t want to put you in a difficult position. I’ll leave on my own terms.”


    Phoenix maneuvered her wheelchair forward, but suddenly, the wheelchair would not budge. Perplexed, she looked around and saw several people in b


    rooftop and immobilized her wheelchair.


    Lucas climbed up from below, covered in dirt, and smiled at Phoenix. “Auntie, it was Marc who forced me to do this. Please don’t me me.”


    Marc, with aposed expression, pulled Phoenix back. Just then, a helicopter roared in the sky not far away, hovering as if conducting aerial reconnais


    Soon, the rooftop was cleared of all personnel, and the onlookers felt the gust of wind as they watched the helicopter slowly descend.


    A slender figure emerged from the pilot’s seat. She was dressed in a simple white shirt and ck pants, with a sharp and stylish short haircut. Swiftly and


    Not just any woman, but a beautiful one.


    As Marc got a clear look at the woman’s face, he was shaken to his core. Every step Pearl took as she approached felt like a heavy blow to his heart.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.