“Yarden!”

The loud slam of the door still echoed across the set. Whitney’s eyes were teary as she grabbed my arm.

Her voice carried a trace of anger.

“Yale, I went through all that trouble and even did it for real just to keep the shoot on schedule. Now, you’ve driven Yarden away. We can’t finish filming this scene. This will delay the wedding. And how am I supposed to spend time with you after we’re married?”

Spend time with me?

Even at this point, she was still lying to herself.

As I watched her, her eyes kept drifting toward the door. My throat suddenly felt dry.

She grabbed a piece of clothing and threw it over herself. Then, she pulled me toward the door.

“Come with me. We need to bring Yarden back.”

We had barely taken a few steps when the door opened.

Whitney’s parents walked in. They were carrying several bags of goodies. Their faces were full of excitement.

“We asked Whitney to hand these out to everyone, but she forgot to bring them. So, we had to deliver them ourselves. Oh, Yale. You’re here too.”

They sensed the awkward tension on the set. They also saw the dark looks on Whitney’s face and mine. Whitney’s mother, Natalie Bennett, slowly lowered her voice.

“What’s going on? Did you two have a fight? The wedding is tomorrow…”

“Mr. Lockwood. Mrs. Lockwood.”

I pulled my arm out of Whitney’s grip. I rubbed the spot where she had grabbed me.

“Perfect timing. I have something to tell you. The wedding tomorrow is canceled.

“From this moment on, Whitney and the Lockwood family will have nothing to do with me.”

Whitney’s father, Ivan Lockwood, stumbled back two steps. His legs seemed to give out under him.

Natalie stared at me in disbelief. She rushed over to me.

“Mr. Foster… Yale, you must be joking. We’re family. Everything was fine. What happened?”

“She hasn’t married me yet. We’re not family.”

I glanced at Whitney and let out a scornful laugh. “Besides, the Foster family has never had a wife who wasn’t chaste.”

Ivan and Natalie froze in shock. “That can’t be possible. Whitney was raised very strictly. She even had a curfew. How could this happen…”

At those words, Natalie seemed to realize something. She rushed toward Whitney in a panic.

She grabbed the coat Whitney was holding tightly and pulled it open. The marks on Whitney’s body were impossible to miss. Natalie froze immediately.

Whitney quickly wrapped the coat around herself again.

“Yale, why are you so old-fashioned? If you hadn’t set the wedding date so soon, I would never have had to do this.”

I laughed.

Over the years, I invested in more than a dozen films and gave Whitney the lead role each time. That was how she reached her current position.

Ivan and Natalie also benefited from the billions I invested in their businesses. I opened doors for them and helped them step into high society.

They understood the situation very well. Whitney’s sudden fame would fade quickly without me.

They also knew that the Lockwood family would be worth nothing without my support.

That was why they once knelt in front of me and begged me to set a wedding date with Whitney as soon as possible.

Even then, Whitney used her so-called acting career as an excuse. She kept delaying the wedding. She also tried her best to hide our relationship.

It was clear what those excuses and secrecy meant. The truth was simple. She had already fallen for someone else.

Ivan and Natalie dropped to their knees in front of me. They cried as they pleaded, “Mr. Foster, Whitney just got carried away with this scene. She wasn’t thinking clearly. We’ll make sure she learns her lesson. You’re a generous man. Please give her another chance.”

Whitney stood to the side. She was already preoccupied; her eyes kept wandering to the door.

I sneered. Of course. This family had been treating me like a fool.

They really thought that scolding Whitney could fix what we had.

“Enough. In the Foster family, one betrayal is unforgivable,” I said.

I turned and walked away resolutely.

I picked up my phone to check on the progress of blacklisting Whitney and Yarden.

Then, a trending news alert appeared.

[Whitney Lockwood, the Innocent Award-Winning Actress, Goes Too Far on Set with Rising Star, Yarden Stein.]

“Ah!”

A moment later, Whitney, who had run out to comfort Yarden, let out a sharp scream.

Her face burned with anger. She rushed up to me and smashed the phone against my head.

“Yale! Are you trying to ruin Yarden by doing something like this?”

A dull pain throbbed at my temple. Warm blood ran down past my eye.

I was nonchalant about it. I simply wiped the blood away. Then, I looked at Whitney quietly and slapped her across the face.

I said in a flat voice, “If I really wanted to ruin you two, it would only take a flick of my finger.”

Whitney froze in shock after the slap.

Yarden quickly rushed over and pulled her behind him. He looked as if he was trying to be reasonable.

“Mr. Foster, no matter how much I offended you, you didn’t have to expose your own wife’s scandal. It doesn’t matter if you ruin me, but what about Whitney?”

What a touching scene. They cared about each other so much. They looked to be deeply in love.

I wiped the blood from my temple and looked at Yarden with a smile.

“You may not know this yet. Whitney and I have called off the wedding. She is not my wife. You should be happy. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

There was no need to guess. Yarden must have leaked the news.

His eagerness to latch onto Whitney was obvious to me.

Only Whitney could not see it. She simply thought I was trying to get revenge.

“Yale, that’s enough!”

Whitney was furious. She jabbed a finger at my nose and spat, “Why are you going after Yarden? You did something disgusting, and now you’re trying to pin it on him?

“Get your people to take that trending topic down. I’ll act like none of this ever happened.”

She paused for a moment, then added, “I’ll reflect on my mistakes. The wedding will go on as planned tomorrow.”

Even at this point, she actually thought I would marry her.

“That has nothing to do with me. Deal with it yourselves.”

I did not want to waste words on her. I turned to leave.

However, Yarden suddenly stepped in front of me. I threw him to the floor.

“Yale! Can’t handle your own scandal being exposed, so you hit people? I never knew you were like this!”

I looked at Whitney’s twisted face and laughed.

Yeah. She had always seen me as someone who loved her unconditionally.

That was why, after getting all my love, she did not value it at all.

That was why she dared to yell at me over some pretty boy.

At that thought, I glanced at Yarden on the floor and kicked him hard.

He curled up in pain.

I gave Whitney a cold look.

“This is what hitting someone looks like. Since the wedding is canceled, give back the Foster family crystal bracelet my grandmother gave you.”

Whitney froze.

“You’re… really canceling the wedding?”

Her eyes flashed. A moment later, her gaze turned steady again. She sneered.

“No way. You love me so much. You put so much effort into the wedding. A wedding this grand doesn’t just get canceled. You’re just trying to threaten me!”

She yanked the bracelet off her wrist and held it high. Her voice was laced with a threat.

“Then, I’ll threaten you too. Take the trending topic down now, or I can’t promise your grandmother’s bracelet will stay undamaged.”

My heart clenched.

The bracelet in Whitney’s raised hand wobbled. It looked like it could fall at any moment.

I gritted my teeth and spoke each word through my clenched jaw.

“Whitney, that bracelet is the token passed down to the wives of the Foster family. Have you ever considered the consequences of something bad happening to it?”

“What of it? You’re the one who did something wrong! If you just do what I say, the bracelet will be fine!”

Whitney looked completely unconcerned. She even sounded a little impatient.

She hooked the bracelet with her finger and started spinning it. My heart was in my throat.

“Fine. I’ll take the trending topic down.”

I took out my phone and made a call.

In less than half an hour, the trending topic that had been blowing up disappeared.

A new one replaced it.

[Foster Family’s Grand Wedding Canceled. Innocent Award-Winning Actress to Be Blacklisted.]

The smile that had just appeared on Whitney’s lips froze.

Her body trembled. She shoved the phone screen at my face.

“Yale… What does this trending topic mean? Aren’t you done yet? Do you know how much damage a fake rumor like this could do to my career?”

I looked at her. Even at this point, she still had not realized the truth. I suddenly found it ridiculous.

Without the rose-colored glasses I once had for her, I saw how foolish she really was.

“It means exactly what it says. What’s wrong? Have you played dumb so many times that you can’t even read anymore?”

My voice was cold. “Now, give the bracelet back. I might still consider not taking this any further.”

“How could you?!” Whitney flew into a rage. “You just want to ruin my career, so I’ll quietly retire after we get married! Yale, how can you be so selfish?”

“Selfish?” I laughed. “Before the wedding, you insisted on changing the script just to satisfy your own desires. You wanted to turn a fake scene into something real. So, which one of us is truly the selfish one?”

It seemed I had struck a nerve. Whitney lost control. She screamed and slammed the crystal bracelet onto the floor.

My eyes widened.

I watched the bracelet shatter into pieces. My eyes turned red with anger. I rushed forward and tried to gather the fragments.

The sharp edges cut into my hands. Blood began to ooze out of my wounds.

However, I felt no pain in my hands. Only my heart ached as if it had shattered too.

My mother died early. After that, the bracelet returned to my grandmother.

I insisted on marrying Whitney no matter what. Only then did my grandmother agree to give the bracelet to her.

I never expected it to end like this.

I looked up and glared at Whitney.

“How dare you…”

“It’s just broken. What of it? You can buy me another one another day. I won’t blame you.”

Whitney sounded a little guilty for a moment. Then, she spoke as if she were completely in the right.

I scoffed.

Suddenly, Yarden stumbled and stepped hard on my hand.

The broken crystal pieces I had been trying to gather burrowed into my palm.

“Ah!”

The sharp pain shot through my fingers, and I finally cried out.

Yarden let out an exaggerated gasp, followed by a stiff, fake apology.

I raised my head and met Whitney’s gaze. There was a flicker of pity in her eyes.

“Good. At least you know what pain feels like. You hit Yarden just now. It’s only fair that you suffer a little too. Take care of your wound yourself. Don’t make it so I can’t put the ring on your finger at the wedding tomorrow.

“A wedding happens only once. If you ruin it for me, I won’t forgive you.”

Her words were as cold as the winter wind. They almost made my anger flare.

I stared at the crystal shards in my palm. My heart felt ice cold.

“Whitney, you and Yarden have no tomorrow.”

At that moment, both Whitney’s and Yarden’s phones rang at the same time.

They picked up their phones at the same time. Their agents’ voices thundered through the line.

“What did you do to anger Mr. Foster? Do you know all your scheduled events have been canceled?”