Chapter 4A Bone Marrow Lie, A Husband’s Ruin

The grand ballroom of The Grand Majestic Hotel was dazzling.

Gideon had booked the entire top floor, decorating it with an opulence that screamed new money. I made my entrance in a custom-tailored, wine-red haute couture gown, my hair swept up, my heels clicking purposefully on the marble floor.

Every eye in the room turned to me.

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

"So that's Mrs. Blackwood. I heard Gideon is giving away half his fortune to his ex-girlfriend's sister tonight."

"And he's forcing her to donate bone marrow, too. How tragic."

"I know, right? But she looks so powerful. It's hard to believe she's such a pushover at home."

I ignored their probing, pitying stares and walked directly to the main table.

Gideon, looking smug in an expensive bespoke suit, was schmoozing with his guests. Felicity sat beside him in a specially designed wheelchair, dressed in a white tulle gown that made her look like a saintly, pure angel. If you ignored the sickly pallor she'd so carefully applied, she was the very picture of tragic beauty.

His eyes flashed a warning as I approached. "Good, you have some sense. When you get on stage later, play along. Don't embarrass me."

I shot him a look of pure ice and said nothing.

Felicity, meanwhile, tugged timidly at the hem of my gown. "Aurora, thank you for coming. I promise I'll repay your kindness for the rest of my life."

I snatched my dress away from her touch. "I wouldn't be able to bear your 'repayment'. Save it for when you're in hell."

Felicity's face went white, her eyes instantly welling with tears.

Gideon immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her like a guard dog. "Aurora, what the hell is wrong with you? Do you have to cause a scene on such an important night?"

"I'm not causing a scene. I'm just stating a fact." I picked up a glass of champagne, swirling the golden liquid, my gaze as cold as a winter morning. "Gideon, I'm asking you one last time. Are you absolutely sure you want to transfer those shares to her?"

He scoffed, his voice resolute. "I've already signed the papers. I'm announcing it tonight in front of everyone. You'd better not try any tricks, or I swear you'll regret it."

"Good. That's very good." I nodded, then drained the champagne in one swallow. "Since you're in such a hurry to greet your damnation, I'll be happy to send you on your way."

Soon, the gala reached its main event. The host took the stage, recounting the touching, tragic love story of Gideon and Seraphina, painting Gideon as the most devoted, heartbroken man in history.

Then, to a round of thunderous applause, Gideon pushed Felicity's wheelchair onto the stage.

He took the microphone, his gaze sweeping across the audience with manufactured emotion. "Thank you all for being here tonight."

"As many of you know, years ago, Seraphina gave her life to save mine. It's a debt I can never truly repay."

"Now, her only sister, Felicity, is battling a terminal illness. As the man who loved Seraphina, it is my duty and my honor to care for her."

"Therefore, I have decided to gift thirty percent of my shares in the Blackwood Corporation to Felicity, unconditionally."

Gasps echoed through the ballroom. Thirty percent of the shares was a fortune in the billions.

Gideon paused for effect, his eyes finding me in the crowd. "And I must also thank my wife, Aurora."

"She has graciously agreed to donate her bone marrow to Felicity, to use her love to give Felicity a new lease on life."

The spotlight swung, pinning me in its bright glare. The entire room was looking at me with a mixture of awe and pity.

On stage, Gideon extended a hand toward me, beckoning me to join him. "Aurora, come up. Let everyone witness your selfless generosity."

Slowly, I set down my glass. Under the watchful eyes of hundreds, I walked, step by deliberate step, onto the stage.

Gideon thought I had surrendered. A triumphant smirk spread across his face.

But the moment I took the microphone from his hand, that smile froze solid.

I scanned the faces of the guests below, my voice ringing out, crisp and clear.

"Good evening, everyone."

"The story Mr. Blackwood just told was indeed very moving."

"However, it seems he forgot to mention one, even more moving, detail."

I turned to Gideon, my eyes like daggers.

"The truth is, I never agreed to donate any bone marrow."

"And what's more, the lovely Miss Felicity Monroe here... doesn't have leukemia at all."