Chapter 227

The waiter stood frozen, the tray of wine still in his hands. It took him a moment to process what was happening, but when he did, he wasted no time in snapping a photo of the stunned Harper and Bennett families before uploading it online.

Katrina's flawless hairstyle had completely unraveled, with strands of hair falling messily around her face. She stared, wide-eyed, at the disaster unfolding before her, before turning to Caiden.

A chill ran down Caiden's spine as he pulled his phone from his pocket, his fingers shaking uncontrollaboly.

Joyce stood there with her arms crossed, her voice dripping with disdain. "Huh! Who cares if they leave?Let them go! Do we really need their money? Right,darling?" She copied Katrina's flirtatious tone, raising her voice on purpose and leaning against Alexander's arm.

Richard, witnessing the absurdity of it all, nearly choked on his anger.

Was this woman out of her mind? Flirting with her husband in the middle of all this chaos-and in front of everyone?

His stomach dropped with the ominous feeling that this woman would bring about the downfall of the entire Bennett family.

Katrina was devastated over the expensive gifts they had lost, not taking any responsibility for her own actions, but instead grumbling, "These people are so ungrateful. They can't even recognize a golden opportunity when they see it.They'll regret this!"

Caiden was about to say something, but before he could get a word out, Alexander lost his patience."Enough!" he shouted.

A tense silence filled the hall. Joyce blinked in confusion. "What's with all the yelling? Why are you so angry?"

"Why am I angry?" Alexander's gaze blazed with fury as he fixed her with a heated stare. On their very first day of marriage, regret had already begun to settle in. "I'm angry because your family lied to me!"

Joyce stiffened.

Katrina's face drained of color, as if something suddenly clicked in her mind.

Alexander gave a cold, humorless laugh, his piercing gaze shifting from Caiden to Katrina before locking onto Joyce. "You told me you had fixed things with Daniela. You said she'd always be part of the Harper family. You promised that after this marriage, Daniela would back Bennett Group without hesitation. Those were your exact words, right? And today, you used her name at this wedding, parading her reputation to trick people into coming and giving away their expensive gifts."

Katrina opened her mouth, desperate to find an excuse, but no words escaped her lips.

Alexander wasn't done. "Just a few days ago, you told me that Daniela felt guilty for neglecting Joyce and willingly transferred company shares to her as some kind of compensation. Isn't that what you said?"

Katrina recoiled, stammering, "But Daniela really did transfer the shares to us..."

"Really?" Alexander's eyes burned with fury. He grabbed his phone and hurled it at Joyce's face."Daniela just made a statement online. She said she has no connection to the Harper family. She never promised to come to this wedding, and in her eyes,Caiden isn't her father, and Joyce isn't her sister. She even said she'd take legal action against anyone spreading lies about her."

Katrina froze, completely taken aback. Her hands shook as she bent down to pick up the phone,her eyes quickly scanning the statement.

Alexander was seething. The shame of being so thoroughly deceived gnawed at him, threatening to consume him. He felt humiliated, his pride crushed by the lies that had been fed to him.

Joyce, still utterly unaware of what was unfolding,furrowed her brow in confusion. "But Daniela really did transfer the shares to me."

Hearing the mention of the shares only intensified Alexander's contempt. "Oh, she gave you the shares,but why? Why would Daniela hand over something as valuable as that? Tell me, Joyce, what do you think her real reason is?"

Caiden stood there in complete silence, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

Joyce, clearly confused, shook her head. "What are you even talking about, Alexander? We just got married today, and you're talking to my dad like this?The shares are in my hands now, so how we got them doesn't really matter, right?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter, huh?" Alexander's voice grew louder, his frustration boiling over. He let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Take a good look, Joyce! Do you even have the slightest clue how those shares ended up in your hands? Caiden actually kneeled to Daniela just to get them. Do you have any idea how humiliating that is? Caiden begging his daughter for money? That's a new level of disgrace!"

Caiden remained frozen, his body stiff with embarrassment. Alexander's words shattered whatever dignity he had left, laying his shame bare for everyone to witness.

Throughout his life, he had depended on others, bout nothing had ever felt as humiliating as this.

He couldn't even lift his head, too ashamed to face anyone.

His thoughts raced back to the cruel comments he'd read online just moments before-each one digging into him deeper.

"Caiden has earned the title of Olisvine's number one shameless freeloader. This man would kneel and let people trample over him just for cash." "A father kneeling before his daughter? That's disgusting. If I had a dad like this, I'd rather not live.Poor Daniela!"

"Brylee and Daniela really got the worst of it, getting stuck with someone as shameless as Caiden. What a tragedy."

"How is someone like Caiden still walking around?People like him shouldn't even be a thing."

"Caiden's lack of shame is honestly unbelievable.And I heard Joyce's wedding today was just a scheme to take advantage of others using Daniela's name.What a revolting family."

The words replayed in his mind like an unrelenting echo.

Standing there, Caiden felt as though an invisible crowd surrounded him. He could almost feel their fingers poking at his forehead, pointing, and mocking him with laughter.

His fists tightened so hard that his nails dug into his palms.

He wasn't wrong! He couldn't be wrong!

People would do anything for money. That was the reality of the world.

These people were just envious that he had Daniela as his daughter.

But was she even still his daughter?

Caiden recalled the official statement Daniela had posted earlier on the Elite Lux website.

"I hereby sever all ties with Caiden, Katrina, and Joyce. As Caiden desired, I have given him 5% of the shares in my robotics company. I hope they will stop exploiting my name. As for Joyce's wedding, I never promised to attend. If they continues to claim I'm still part of them, I will take legal action to protect myself."

Below that, an additional note read, "One more thing.I'd like to ask Caiden a question. You knelt in my office, yet now you act as if that never happened? Have some dignity, will you? Also, I've attached a video for everyone to enjoy. Consider it my wedding gift to the Bennett family."

Everything was laid bare for the world to witness.

Daniela's words-"Don't mess with me"-burned in his mind. At that time, he had dismissed them,thinking they were just an empty threat. But now,he fully grasped the depth of her warning and the power behind it.