Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of the Prescotts
The ballroom had devolved into utter chaos.
Reporters who had been invited to cover the high-society wedding were furiously taking photos and recording videos on their phones. Lord Arthur Montgomery marched up to Vivian, his face red with outrage.
"This is an absolute scandal!" Lord Montgomery shouted, shaking his cane at her. "You lied to us, Vivian! You tried to marry my daughter to a man with a hidden family to cover up your own medical corruption! The Montgomery-Prescott merger is officially cancelled! My lawyers will see you in court tomorrow morning!"
"Father, wait!" Victoria cried out, but her father grabbed her by the arm and forcibly pulled her down the aisle, her expensive Paris veil dragging across the floor as they exited the hall.
Guests began muttering, whispering, and rising from their seats, filing out of the ballroom in a rush to spread the scandal across Charleston.
Vivian stood in the middle of the emptying hall, her posture slumping as she realized the sheer scale of the disaster. Her precious family name, the legacy she had spent forty years protecting with cold ruthlessness, was ruined in a single afternoon.
Julian ignored the chaos around him. He turned back to Clara, his hands trembling as he stepped closer to her.
"Clara... please," Julian begged, his eyes bloodshot with tears. "I didn't know. God help me, I swear on my life I didn't know. If I had known you were pregnant, I would have burned my mother's world to the ground to find you."
"I know you didn't know, Julian," Clara said, her tone cool and measured. "That was your mother’s doing. But your crime wasn't ignorance. Your crime was that when she insulted my dignity six years ago, you stayed silent. You chose her comfort over my heart."
Julian bowed his head, the truth of her words crushing his chest like a lead weight. "I was a coward," he whispered. "I was terrified of losing what I thought was my duty. But I was blind. I lost the only thing that ever mattered."
He looked down at the three children, who were now standing close to Clara, watching him with quiet curiosity.
"Can I... can I hold them?" Julian asked, his voice barely audible.
Clara looked at her children. She didn't want to use them as weapons of revenge. She had brought them to Charleston to reclaim their rightful place in the truth, not to inflict cruelty.
"Ethan, Nora, Sophie," Clara said gently. "This is your father."
Sophie took a step forward first, putting her little hand into Julian’s large, shaking palm. Julian dropped to his knees again, pulling the little girl into a gentle embrace, burying his face in her soft hair as quiet sobs racked his shoulders. Ethan and Nora hesitated for a moment before stepping closer, sitting down beside him on the carpet.
Vivian walked over, her face twisted with a mixture of grief and lingering arrogance.
"Julian," she said, her voice shaking. "We can fix this. We can hire a public relations firm. We can issue a statement saying these children are... an unexpected blessing from a past relationship. We can preserve the company—"
Julian stood up, holding Sophie in his arms while keeping a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. He looked at his mother with an expression of cold, final detachment.
"There is no 'we' anymore, Vivian," Julian said quietly. "Effective immediately, I am resigning as CEO of Prescott Enterprises. You can keep the hotels. You can keep the real estate, the money, and the empty mansion. You built a legacy of lies, and now you can live in it alone."
Vivian gasped, taking a step back as if she had been slapped. "You would abandon your heritage for... for her?"
"No," Julian replied, looking at Clara and his three children. "I'm abandoning your heritage to finally become a father."
Julian turned his back on his mother, refusing to hear another word. He looked at Clara, his grey eyes filled with a desperate, humble plea.
May you like
"Please, Clara," Julian whispered. "Don't disappear again. Let me fix what I broke. Even if you never forgive me... let me be their father."
Clara looked at him for a long moment, seeing the genuine brokenness in his soul. "We are staying at the Harbor View Hotel tonight," she said quietly. "If you want to talk... come tomorrow morning."
