Chapter 12
All of a sudden, abrupt applause broke out under the stage, sending a shockwave across the guests.
Everyone scanned the venue to find that bold culprit who had clapped at the wrong time.
Similarly, Alex and Lucas were taken aback and turned around in the direction of the sounds.
A figure stood up with a squint and a smile. He sneered. “I guess I have Mrs. Palmer to thank for the entertaining show.”
“Stephen Thompson?” Upon recognizing Stephen, Alex’s expression froze. The fury in his eyes increased.
At that moment, he was blinded by the anger of being lied to by Melody, as well as the irritation at Gabriella for acting out.
Why couldn’t Gabriella just explain to him in private? Why did she have to resort to extreme measures and publicly shame them?
No one had explained anything to him at all.
As for the other guests, they seemed to have understood the situation when they saw Stephen.
The Palmer family had very few enemies in Tramont, but the Thompsons were one of them. Stephen, especially, had never seen eye to eye with Alex from a young age. In fact, Stephen loved going against Alex and enjoyed watching Alex make a joke of himself.
Indeed, only Stephen would have the guts to clap at this moment.
Once Stephen was done enjoying the entertainment, he leisurely walked out of the event hall without offering Alex a chance to get back at him.
Now that the party had ended this way, and with Stephen taking the lead, the other guests made up excuses to leave the party. In no time, only Alex, Lucas, and Melody were left in the previously merry hall.
Even after the birthday party had concluded, Gabriella hadn’t shown up. It didn’t take Alex long to figure out that she had deliberately decided to travel separately from Alex and Lucas, because she never intended to attend the party anyway.
At this point, Alex knew that they had been played by Gabriella. Anger rolled through him.
Only the three of them were left in the hall. He pushed aside the pain and disappointment as his eyes
darkened.
A slap echoed in the air.
lady’s face turned sideways from the unexpected and hard slap. Stunned for a moment, she put on a bewildered look. “Did you just hit me, Alex?”
Tears welled up in her eyes. This time, it wasn’t crocodile tears—she felt indignant.
Alex met her accusatory and pitiful eyes, but they no longer made him feel soft inside.
“I thought you enjoyed being slapped in the face, seeing how you had done that to yourself in the footage.” He put on a fake smile.
Right after that, Lucas immediately lunged at Melody with tears in his eyes. He used up all his energy to hit her across the body, until she screamed in pain. Yet, he did not stop. “You’re lying! You’re an evil woman!”
Lucas had forgotten about the wish he had recently expressed at the birthday party–he’d hoped that Melody could become his mom and stay with Alex forever.
As Alex’s only son, he knew that he was very likely the future heir. He had been pampered and praised by people since he was a child; never had he been looked down upon like today.
Melody finally shoved him aside when she could not tolerate the pain. The five–year–old immediately lost his balance after being pushed by an adult.
Melody buffed and puffed. She endured the pain and got up from the floor by grabbing the table nearby.
Staring at the resentful father and son before him, she abruptly burst into laughter.
Chapter 13
