"Wasn't what you did in the IFA enough that now you pulled this stunt also, Miss Elena?" Layla said, her voice deceptively calm, but her eyes sharp like blades as she scrolled through the glowing screen of her phone.
On it was the announcement Silas had made just an hour ago, cold, absolute, and impossible to refute. He had declared Avery Vale as his wife and dismissed the photographs as fabricated attempts to slander her.
The words burned in Elenas's chest. She had expected Avery to be humiliated, drowning in gossip and hate, but instead Silas's single post had turned the tide completely, leaving Layla holding the wreckage of their failed scheme.
Elena shifted nervously in her seat, her palms pressed tightly against her skirt. "Miss Vale, how could I have known that Miss Avery was married to Mr… Mr. Blackwood?"
she stammered, her voice desperate, cracking under the weight of her own impulsive mistake.
