CHAPTER 221: AUGUSTINE IS MY FIANCÉ.

Charles couldn’t believe his ears and neither could Augustine.

They both froze at the grand entrance, their eyes locked on Mr. Edison, who had just dropped a bombshell disguised as a celebration.

The hum of laughter and clinking glasses around them only intensified the storm brewing in Charles’s chest. His throat tightened. He turned to Augustine, whose expression had gone blank, almost unreadable.

Mr. Edison, still holding his glass high, tilted his head slightly with the ease of a man in control.

A warm, practiced smile curved his lips as he whispered into the mic, "Cheers."

Everyone present raised their glasses high, echoing the word "Cheers" with bright smiles and clinking glasses.

Laughter buzzed through the air like champagne bubbles which was effortless and blissfully ignorant.

But in that same moment, Augustine and Charles stood stiff at the threshold, hearts pounding, expressions frozen.

To the crowd, it was a celebration. But to them, it felt like betrayal.

Charles swallowed hard, his pulse drumming in his ears.

Augustine’s jaw tightened, and he slowly shook his head, disbelief and fury mingling in his eyes.

"This is not what I expected," he muttered silently, the weight of the moment crashing down like a cruel joke.

Meanwhile, at the far end of the room, Freda stood frozen, her lips slightly parted and her eyes wide with disbelief.

She hadn’t seen that coming not in the slightest.

"Babe, can you believe what I just heard?" she whispered to Reginald, her voice laced with shock.

"Gosh..." Reginald muttered under his breath, his eyes locked on Me. Edison.

Reginald knew his CEO had something important planned for the night. Something big but now, Mr. Edison’s unexpected announcement had hijacked the moment, crushing whatever surprise Augustine had in store.

"Dad! How did you know he propose to me?" Aubrey squealed, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she rushed over and threw her arms around her father.

"Information can’t get past me, darling," Mr. Edison said with a knowing smile, gently patting her back.

The crowd melted at the touching father-daughter moment, smiling and raising their glasses again in celebration, completely oblivious to the truth.

The man Mr. Edison had just declared as Aubrey’s soon-to-be fiancé stood at the entrance, stunned and frozen, with no idea that such an announcement was ever going to be made.

After some seconds, Aubrey pulled away from her father as she stare at the young man who had addresss the crowd earlier concerning the gifts presentation.

With a stumble nod, the young man walked over to Aubrey and he handed over a microphone towards her.

"Umm... umm," Aubrey cleared her throat, placing some strand of hair behind her ear.

Her lips curved into the most gracious smile as she began to speak up. "Good evening, everyone." She whispered, her voice sounding high pitch which is quite different from her actual voice.

"So, last night, my boyfriend’s mother called and gave me a very interesting tip," Aubrey began, pausing dramatically to catch her breath. "She told me her son was going to propose to me... at my father’s birthday party!"

A soft gasp rippled through the crowd, their curiosity piqued, while at the entrance, Augustine’s jaw clenched, and Charles’s heart dropped to his stomach.

"Woahhh!"

"You go girl!"

"Congratulations!"

"You deserve the best!"

"Woah!"

The crowd began to cheer for Aubrey in excitement making blush to creep onto her cheeks.

At the far end of the room, someone stood frozen, mouth agape in utter disbelief, the only thought racing through the persons mind was: What the hell is she doing?

Meanwhile, Aubrey swallowed hard, her eyes glistening as she fought back tears of excitement or perhaps nerves.

"Before I... before I end up tearing up more than I already am," she began with a trembling smile, "I’d love for you all to give a round of applause to my fiancé who was clearly in such a rush to make me his that he proposed this afternoon!"

With a dramatic flair, she flung one hand into the air, flashing the dazzling diamond ring glittering on her finger, while the other hand extended toward the entrance.

All eyes followed her gesture toward the very man standing beside another man: Augustine.

Following Aubrey’s dramatic declaration, the entire room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

Gasps echoed around the space as the only remaining light shone directly from above the doorway, casting a spotlight on Charles and Augustine, who stood frozen, their hands tightly clasped together.

The unexpected attention hit Charles like a thunderbolt.

His knees buckled slightly, a wave of panic rushing through him.

He turned his gaze to Augustine, eyes wide with disbelief, and instinctively tried to pull his hand away but Augustine’s grip didn’t loosen.

"I’m not letting you go, Charles. Not now, and not ever." Augustine whispered, his words audible for his ears and that of Charles alone.

Despite the fact that other lights were all turned off, Charles could feel the intense gaze of everyone and he just wished to disappear right on the spot.

Inhaled!

Augustine draw in a deep long breath as he parted his mouth open to speak up. "I... I and Aubrey aren’t..."

"Augustine and Aubrey aren’t lovers!" a sharp female voice cut through the silence, laced with cold intensity. "Augustine is in love with one of his cleaners."

"Wait-what did she just say?"

"Did she say cleaner?"

"Oh my God... is that true?"

"I knew something was off with that engagement story."

"This can’t be happening right now... not at Mr. Edison’s birthday."

"That’s Augustine Wales... and he’s holding hands with that guy!"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"So, all this time... he was hiding it?"

"I knew I recognized that boy... he served me wine earlier."

"How scandalous... and bold."

"Mr. Edison must be furious!"

"Poor Aubrey... or maybe she knew?"

"Imagine being proposed to in your head, then publicly dumped in front of the entire elite circle."

Gasps rippled through the crowd like a crashing wave.

"No... no!" Charles screamed inside his head, his thoughts spiraling. This is not how I expected Augustine to come out of the closet...

Before Charles could finish that panicked thought, the same voice rang out again, louder and bolder this time, drawing every eye in the room toward the figure now stepping forward.

"And the name of the cleaner who Augustine wales is in love with is Freda Logan."