He Called Me ‘Jealous’ While She Hanged Off Him in a Bridal Party Chapter 06
Cody’s voice boomed, echoing through the entire ballroom.
“Wait–the Hayes heiress is pregnant?”
“So it’s a shotgun wedding. No wonder they rushed it…”
“But the baby’s Cody Barlow’s. What’s Sterling doing here? Picking up another man’s wife?”
The whispers turned into open jeers, louder and more vicious by the second.
Cody cleared his throat and faced the crowd.
“Everyone, I’ve been with Elena Hayes for ten years.
She got pregnant. We were about to get married. And now?”
He whirled around and jabbed a finger at Nathaniel.
“Now Mr. Sterling–the billionaire’s son–shows up at my wedding to steal my bride!”
He turned back to me. “You want to climb the social
ladder? Fine. But you don’t get to do it by stepping on my neck.”
Someone in the crowd gasped.
Cody’s voice grew louder, laced with fake tears. “Yeah, I’m poor. No money, no connections. But does that mean poor people deserve to get stomped on? Does that mean a poor man’s wife is fair game?”
Tiffany immediately jumped in, even pulling out her phone and going live. “Everyone, look at this! Ten years with my boy, and on her wedding day she runs off with some rich guy!”
She spun toward the camera, her face twisted. “No
shame at all. Girls like her used to get what they deserved.”
Cody’s relatives were the first to chime in.
“That’s right! Absolutely shameless! Knocked up with our Cody’s kid and she thinks she can just run off? Disgusting!”
The voices grew. The stares stabbed at me from every direction.
Nathaniel opened his mouth, but Cody cut him off.
“Mr. Sterling, I know you’re rich and powerful. I can’t fight you. But I’m asking everyone here–does having money mean you can do whatever you want?”
“So what if the Sterling and Hayes had an arrangement once? That was broken off ages ago. The ten years Elena and I spent together? That’s real.”
He looked at me again. “Elena, I know you just got
caught up in the moment. But ten years is ten years.
You’re carrying my child. Apologize, and I’ll forgive you.”
In that moment, everyone praised him. Devoted. Loyal. A one–of–a–kind good man.
The insults aimed at me doubled.
My temples throbbed. Waves of morning sickness rolled through me, but I held it down.
I took a deep breath. “I’m shameless? I cheated? Then what are you and Tiffany?”
“Why don’t you tell everyone how my wedding dress and my ring were both sized to fit her?”
The crowd’s mood began to shift.
“Whoa, that’s insane–the groom and the maid of honor have something going on too?”
“That explains why they all walked on stage together.”
Cody saw the tide turning and immediately changed
course. “We’re just friends. She only helped because you were too busy. You’re blowing up our wedding
over one female friend? Elena, isn’t that a little hypocritical?”
Tiffany added, “And now he’s about to walk out of here
with you. That’s proof you two had something going on the whole time. Honestly? I’m not even sure that baby is Cody’s.”
Those words hit like gasoline on a fire.
The room ignited.
“Oh my god–you think the kid isn’t his?”
“So she’s been lying to him for ten years?”
“That’s cold.”
Cody’s relatives started screaming curses.
I dug my nails into my palms. The pain kept me sharp. I held out a hand to stop Nathaniel.
This relationship started with me. It was going to end with me.
“What if I have proof of your little side relationship?”
Tiffany laughed. “If you had proof, you would’ve whipped it out already. Stop bluffing, Elena. It’s pathetic.”
I didn’t waste another breath. I pulled out my phone
and mirrored the screen onto the giant display behind us.
The second the first message hit the screen, all the color drained from Cody’s face.
His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the floor.