CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28: ZACHARY HESTON’S REGRET

Isaac Heston was an experienced media person, well-versed in the tricks of the trade, knowing that things made up from thin air had no factual basis, yet they made big headlines online.

Isaac watched Ivana Monroe under the lights, her elegance and noble demeanor radiated from her, destined to make her different. A woman with such inherent pride could never cruelly harm her own child.

Instead, Isaac thought it was someone deliberately selling false information to the media, intentionally framing Ivana.

"I would be jealous of her? Ridiculous. Only a cousin like mine, who isn’t picky, would find her pretty." Susan Heston hadn’t even started the banquet but was already so irritated by Isaac that her stomach ached.

Her cousin was really something else, choosing not to help his own cousin and instead speaking up for this trash Ivana.

Susan was fed up with anger; she stared intently at Ivana, her lips curling into a cold smile. Watching her ex-husband marry her own sister, Ivana would surely be crazy inside, having to go up to congratulate them!

Serves her right.

She was waiting to see what kind of joke Ivana would make when she went up on stage.

Michelle Monroe, clad in a white wedding dress, adorned with a dazzling three-carat engagement ring, was today a princess marrying her prince. Yet, seeing Ivana enter the room, an undercurrent of resentment flickered in her eyes.

Ivana was in a black, tight-fitting dress with a V-neckline, the snowy white curve of her chest resembled a natural beauty. Her exquisite face bore light makeup, with a few wisps of slightly curled hair hanging over her smooth, full forehead. Her demeanor was noble, as if she were the true dazzling focal point of the day.

Michelle felt Zachary Heston’s amazed gaze lingering on Ivana. She clenched her fingers secretly, the newly done sharp and delicate manicure almost piercing the flesh of her palm.

Caleb Monroe and Jean Shaw were also on stage. Jean, the bride’s mother, stood beside Michelle. Seeing Ivana deliberately dress so flamboyantly, instantly stealing the spotlight from her daughter, Jean was filled with hatred, clenching her teeth.

Jean Shaw wished she could tear Ivana’s dress to shreds so she would lose face in front of everyone.

"Caleb, look at her. Does she look like she’s here to congratulate? She looks more like a vixen unwilling to let go, here to seduce Michelle’s groom." Jean Shaw complained to Caleb Monroe.

"Alright, today’s Michelle’s wedding, say less." Caleb, too, disapproved of Ivana, but he cared more about saving face in front of others, and he warned Jean sternly.

Jean was full of grievances, seeing Caleb upset, she dared not say more.

Ivana seemed oblivious to the hateful or lingering gazes directed at her from the wedding stage. She straightened her back and walked to the main table adorned with lilies, kneeling before an elderly man in a wheelchair.

Everyone present was taken aback, including the host.

Gavin Monroe, his hair white and face wrinkled with age, teared up on seeing Ivana. When she knelt before him, his aged tears couldn’t help but fall. He reached out to support her, "Child, get up, speak standing up."

Ivana clasped the old man’s trembling hand, feeling her heart tremble as if struck. Her eyes welled up with mist, her voice quavering, "Grandfather, I’m sorry."

She had been gone for six years, leaving the only person in the Monroe family who cared for her to worry for six years.

She felt she had let her grandfather down.

Gavin clenched his fingers, pulling her up, "It’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re back."

Butler Chaucer bent down, respectfully handing Gavin a handkerchief, gently saying, "Master, the doctor said you shouldn’t be too emotional. Now that the eldest miss is back, you must take good care of yourself; there are many days ahead."

Ivana’s heart tightened suddenly, "Uncle Chaucer, how... how is my grandfather?"

Feeling Gavin’s hand tighten around the handkerchief, Butler Chaucer replied to Ivana, "Miss, don’t worry. The master is just getting older, and at this age, every elder experiences some minor issues."

"Ivana really has a way, kneeling and admitting her mistakes the moment she returns. If she truly cared about the old man, why didn’t she visit even once in these six years? It’s just a show, and only the old man eats it up."

"The old man spoiled her since she was little. When everyone thought she was dead, did you see how heartbroken he was? Now that she’s back, crying and kneeling, he’s just going to be worried to death, and you’re expecting him to blame her?"

"Hmph, the old man is too biased. Out of so many grandchildren, he favors Ivana the most. My Ashley is also his own grandson, yet he never talked about leaving him a bigger share of the inheritance."

"Oh, you still dream of getting more of the inheritance? Don’t fantasize about it. The old man hasn’t distributed it till now precisely because he intends to leave it for that vixen Ivana."

"That wench should never have returned. Why didn’t she die outside? If she had, the old timer wouldn’t favor anyone over another."

The women speaking were either the Monroe family’s daughters-in-law or daughters. Despite their filial devotion to the old man, they couldn’t understand why he seemed bewitched into favoring Ivana so singularly.

The host said into the microphone, "The bond between Ms. Ivana Monroe and Mr. Monroe is so profound that even as the host, I can’t help but feel moved to tears."

Four cold, venomous glares shot forward.

The host was startled, too afraid to meet the murderous eyes of Jean Shaw and Michelle Monroe. He quickly changed his tone, "The wedding must go on, so let’s invite Ms. Ivana Monroe to come up and give her matrimonial blessings to her younger sister, the bride, Ms. Michelle Monroe."

"Grandfather, after the wedding, I’ll bring someone to the old house tomorrow for you to meet. You’ll surely like him," Ivana said, ignoring the host.

The host was left awkwardly hanging.

"Good, good," Gavin said twice, using the handkerchief from the butler to wipe his teary eyes.

Ivana turned around, her eyes no longer misty with sentimentality. She walked onto the wedding stage, regaining her aloof air. Seeing Michelle and Zachary standing together as a couple, she suddenly smiled.

Michelle found Ivana’s smile blinding, desperately wanting to ask, "Why are you smiling?"

Ultimately, she suppressed it. This was her wedding; she wouldn’t let Ivana, that wench, ruin it.

From Ivana’s advent, Zachary Heston’s gaze had fixated on her, unmoving. The present Ivana felt both unfamiliar and familiar to him—the unfamiliarity in her gaze, cold and devoid of warmth, yet familiar in her demeanor, reminiscent of their campus days: aloof and noble, dismissive of all men. That’s the aura he favored, as if no man was worthy of her gaze.

He had persistently pursued her, and when he finally won her over, he felt as if he’d gained the entire world, because he knew that from then on, in Ivana’s eyes, Zachary Heston was the only one.

Suddenly, Zachary regretted it. He didn’t want to marry Michelle anymore; he had the urge to chase after Ivana all over again.