The slideshow on the screen finally faded away.
Seething with indignation and anger, Leona cried out, "Who did this? Who!" With all eyes on her, eating away at her insides, Leona failed to keep her calm anymore. In her mind, every single person there was deriving pleasure by making a mockery out of her.
Out of desperation, when she rushed to see Magee, she found him standing in one place, still unnervingly calm. It was almost as if he did not care about what had just happened. His cold-hearted indifference stabbed at Leona's bleeding heart.
'Why isn't he saying anything?' Leona wondered.
She would rather have him question or confront her instead of abandoning her with cold, harsh apathy.
"Magee, listen! I can explain this! Magee..." implored Leona. Leona stood in front of Magee, almost down on her knees, as the last glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes, waiting for his response.
Magee cast a cold glance at her helpless eyes and remained silent. Instead, he turned to the guests and apologized, "I'm sorry for what happened just then. I declare this engagement dinner canceled until further notice."
Everyone acknowledged Magee's apology in silence, and not one person said anything in Leona's defense.
After all it was Leona who cheated on Magee before their marriage. How could anyone stand such a betrayal? It was only natural that this engagement dinner was canceled.
The only positive outcome of this was the fact that her infidelity was discovered before their wedding. If not, a scandal such as this could have been disastrous to Magee's reputation on a much grander scale had they already been married.
Dumbstruck, Leona shook her head in disbelief. Leona's face was stuck in an incredulous expression and she said, "What? What did you say? No! I won't let you do this! I've been waiting for this day for a long time! Cancelled? How could you..."
"Well? Do you think I will still marry you after this?" he asked.
"Magee! Don't believe these pictures! I was framed! Trust me!" Leona incoherently explained, "I know who did this! It was that bitch! It must have been her!"
The next moment, she turned and rushed towards Emily. The flames in her stomach rose up to her chest and crawled through her veins to take over the rest of her body. She was going to kill Emily!
Forced to act in self defense, Emily splashed red wine on Leona's face even before she got close enough to touch Emily.
Red wine trickled down Leona's hair, dripping over her face and smearing the exquisite make-up she had on. As if that weren't bad enough, her once beautiful dress was now stained with the giant blots of red all over.
This was supposed to be her day. Leona was supposed to be the most beautiful woman at this engagement dinner, but Emily snatched everything away from her. Leona was utterly mortified.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Miss Lin! You caught me by surprise just then. I am so sorry about this. It was an accident. I didn't mean it. I'm really sorry!" said Emily, feigning guilt, but she was unable to hide the pleasure in her eyes. "You can wear my dress if you want to?"
"Bitch! Stop pretending to be nice! You are such a phoney!" Leona shouted. Waves of fury rolled off Leona as the blood rose to her cheeks. She was thirsting for Emily blood.
Her engagement dinner was in ruins. She was certain there wasn't going to be a wedding anymore.
What did she have to lose? "You insufferable bitch!
I know it was you! You are the one behind those pictures!" screamed Leona. By then, she had lost her mind completely. Her rage held all the power of a wildfire, ready to ignite anything that she came in contact with. With a loud cry, she charged at Emily, reaching out her hands towards her face.
Emily, however, kept steady and calm. Her noble and graceful disposition was a stark contrast to Leona's vulgar display of insanity.
"What the hell are you doing?" Magee exclaimed. Just before Leona's nails touched Emily's face, Magee grabbed her arm almost immediately and pushed her away.
Leona couldn't keep balance and fell to the ground at once. With an unblinking stare, she looked at Magee with disbelief.
"Magee, I'm your fiancee! Why did you help her instead of me? Can't you see what this bitch has done to me? Because of her our engagement is..."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Call That Changed Her Entire Life