Devastated

When Emma finally understood Max's words, she felt her soul escaping. She couldn't believe her ears.

'I must have heard wrong' She denied.

'Max might be pulling a prank on me. He wouldn't do this. He wouldn't do this to me.' She frantically stepped towards Max but was harshly pulled by her mother who glared at her.

No matter what, Mrs. Woods wanted to save her daughter's reputation. Her sixth sense told her that Max was here to break off the engagement.

And if that was the case, she wanted Emma to act rationally. They could come up with a lot of ways to clean up this mess, however, if Emma went to Max and questioned him, things would be different.

Emma felt as if her heart was shredded to pieces. She wanted to deny but Max's words carried certainty.

"What do you mean by that brother Max? Everyone has gathered here to celebrate your engagement with Emma," Jennifer chided gleefully. The moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Max remained silent and didn't answer. "Grandfather, I need to talk-"

"What is there to talk about?" Adrian spoke first. William looked at Adrian. Although he was also angry now wasn't the time.

"You must have a reason for this behavior, I'm all ears," William said in an authoritative voice.

If this Davies boy didn't give a reasonable excuse for bringing his girlfriend on the day of his engagement, then only Heaven knows how he'll deal with this self-entitled brat.

"It wouldn't do any good to Emma's reputation if we talk in front of everyone," Max said.

He didn't deliberately lower his voice as he wanted to put pressure on the Woods. But it had the opposite effect.

A half-truth is more deadly than poison. Now that Max had said these double-meaning words, it was up to the guests how they wanted to interpret them.

It wouldn't be a surprise if tomorrow there are rumors that Emma cheated on Max due to which he left her.

"What do you mean by that?" Adrian said hardly maintaining his composure. Max was getting on his nerves today.

Even if they were to talk privately now, due to Max's ambiguous remarks everyone would speculate different things.

The usually sensible boy would make such a mistake. Adrian highly doubted that.

Max also became ill at ease. He wanted Emma to save some face but it looked like everyone in the Woods family loved to act outrageously. He wouldn't care for them also.

"Mr. Woods, do you remember why I agreed to be engaged to your arrogant daughter, who has been pestering me like a fly since we were young?" Max addressed Adrian as Mr. Woods, clearly breaking the familiarity they had.

Emma felt as if her presence was reduced to naught. Did Max consider her a fly? Was she always pestering him? She only displayed her affection for him. Was that how her actions were perceived by Max?

Emma glanced around and tried to control her emotions. Her eyes were eager to shed tears. Only Emma knew how she forced herself to stand up. But her abnormal behavior was unnoticed by Max who continued.

"It was only because she drew "The Seven Seas" painting that I was willing to even look at her," Max spoke slowly, saying one word at a time.

Emma always remembered Max as a kind and caring person who didn't talk much. She never knew that the reason Max agreed to marry her was due to her painting.

She even foolishly thought that he had finally acknowledged her feelings. Emma's thoughts were depreciative. She never knew what Max thought of her and when he revealed his heart to her, she was devastated.

"But what did I get? Another lie. She didn't paint "The Seven Seas". She could never paint it. In fact, she's never even been to an art class. Instead, she stole the artwork of a struggling artist and not only shamelessly called it her own but also scammed me into believing that she was truly talented."

The way everyone looked at Emma changed abruptly. Most of them, if not all, knew how obsessed Emma was with Max, so it wouldn't be too surprising if she did something like this.

But stealing the work of a struggling artist? That was a despicable and heinous act.

Almost half of the people here belonged to the art industry. They looked at Emma as if they were looking at their sworn enemy. Some began to gossip among themselves.

But the most surprised among them was William Woods. He frowned deeply at the revelation. He had taught his grandchildren to do business with integrity. He couldn't believe his ears.

"Do you have any proof to support your claims?" William managed to say between quickened breaths.

William looked at Emma who was standing with her mother, her head hanging down. His eyes flashed as Emma's posture told him everything, he had been thinking was correct but he still once again focused on Max.

"I am certain. I investigated this matter privately and found Emma's actions dubious. I have a detailed report about it with me, which I'm sure you wouldn't mind me showing in front of your esteemed guests," Max said calmly. This was a path the Woods family had chosen for themselves.

They should have been aware of the consequences when they colluded to steal the artwork of a modest girl.

"I would also like to see on what basis you are accusing my daughter and my family of committing such heinous acts and disrespecting your elders as if you have forgotten all your etiquette," Adrian angrily said.

His daughter whom he had raised carefully was insulted in front of him in his own house.

How could he stand still and watch as this mannerless boy ran his mouth as he pleased?

William glanced at his son. He would have never talked about these private matters so openly but the Davies boy didn't understand basic manners and wanted to put pressure on them by discussing this matter publicly.

Did Max think that his thoughts were not clear to him?

'He wants to come clean about his relationship with Emma. As everyone knows about their relationship, it would make things difficult for his sweetheart if he was to outright cheat on Emma. He must've done this to ruin Emma's reputation and gain sympathy for his girlfriend' Adrian pondered.

Max glanced at Adrian and thought. 'You still want to shirk responsibility even at this time. You must be fearless because you think you got rid of all the evidence.'

Max was disgusted by the self-righteous image the Woods family was portraying.

He thanked himself for realizing their hypocrisy sooner. Lest he also became afflicted by their actions.

Emma stared at Max who was labeling her as a thief without even acknowledging her presence.

She couldn't avert her eyes even if she wanted to. She had always looked at him like this ever since she was young.

'This is not the Max I love. He is different.' Emma's heart which had always tried to justify and reason Max's actions lost to her rational brain for the first time.

She looked at her feet as she tried to fight the tears that were begging to drop. She stopped herself from collapsing and bawling her eyes out.

'Why didn't I realize sooner that he could never be mine?' Emma wanted to scream.

She blinked her eyes hastily to get rid of her tears and adamantly raised her head.

She mustn't let her emotions take control and make herself into a laughingstock. She would never be able to forgive herself then.

But her red eyes and pursed lips told a different tale. She looked at the girl that Max introduced as Ana Smith.

It was a petite blonde who had a haughty expression on her face. She looked confident as she held Max's hand and continued glancing here and there as if trying to assess the ball.

Emma stared at her for a moment 'She isn't as beautiful as me.' A single sentence rang out in her mind after a long time.

'But she has Max while you don't' Emma's brain doused a bucket full of cold facts on her.

Jennifer had been observing Emma since the beginning. Her little actions didn't escape Jennifer's eyes.

She smirked as she thought, 'How does it feel to lose to someone lower than you? Are you sad? Angry? Regretful? Now you finally know how I feel when I'm with you. But this is just the start. Wait and see how I tarnish everything you take pride in.'

Susan and Olivia also stood at the side as they watched with glee.

Susan smiled at Olivia who wanted to laugh out loud and quickly adjusted their expressions.

They still needed to "comfort" Emma and it wouldn't be good if she knew about their involvement in this fiasco.

After all, they wanted to see how despaired Emma would be after this.

And they as good friends will stand with her through thick and thin, silently damaging her reputation beyond repair. Even her prestigious family couldn't save her.

"I would like you to play this," Max took out a small USB from his pocket and handed it over to his secretary, who efficiently connected it to the LCD attached to the wall.

Everyone observed his course of actions, some with displeasure, others with delight.

As soon as it was connected, a small voice rang out. The screen showed the same petite blonde.