Chapter 280 Rushing Toward Her Future

Chapter 280 Rushing Toward Her Future

Charles finally snapped back to reality and walked up behind her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Now I finally get why kings would throw everything away just to make their beloved smile. If I ruled a kingdom, I'd give up the whole realm just to have you by my side."

Catherine burst out laughing at his words and playfully tapped the back of his hand. "Alright, alright, keep sweet-talking me like this and today's engagement party is going to end up with just me showing up alone."

Charles laughed and stepped back, extending his hand toward her, palm up.

"Are you ready? My fiancée."

Catherine gently placed her hand in his palm, and his fingers immediately closed around it, holding her firmly.

The two walked out of the dressing room side by side.

Inside the banquet hall, crystal chandeliers sparkled brilliantly, and guests filled the space.

Today's engagement party had practically shaken up the entire capital's elite circle.

Business tycoons, political figures, academic leaders, military representatives—even several reclusive big shots who rarely appeared in public had made rare appearances. The media section was packed with cameras, with live streaming across all platforms.

Everyone was waiting to witness the engagement ceremony between the young master of the Davis family and the baby daughter of the Montgomery family.

But suddenly, the banquet hall doors were violently burst open from outside.

"Let me in! I'm the daughter of the Montgomery family's benefactor! What gives you the right to stop me!"

Everyone turned toward the sound.

They saw Yvonne wearing a filthy hospital gown, hair disheveled, barefoot, charging in.

Several security guards followed close behind, but Yvonne seemed possessed, with surprising strength, barging through until she reached the center of the hall before stopping abruptly.

The media section instantly erupted, all cameras turning toward her in unison.

Charles's expression darkened immediately, and he turned to shield Catherine behind him.

At the same time, Leonard had already strode forward, shouting sternly, "Yvonne, today is Cathy's engagement party. Get out!"

"Me, get out?" Yvonne whipped around, facing the hall full of guests, her face breaking into a crazed smile. "Why should I get out! I'm the one who should be the center of attention in the Montgomery family! Do you know who I am? My biological father is Gilbert! He saved Leonard's life! A debt paid with his life—the Montgomery family owes me!"

The hall erupted in shocked murmurs.

The media's flashbulbs went crazy, and the live stream comments exploded across the screen.

"Let me tell you all." Yvonne turned and pointed at Catherine. "What is Catherine anyway! Just some wild girl who spent twenty years wandering outside! But me, I have the blood of the Montgomery family's benefactor flowing through my veins! Sure, the Montgomery family raised me for twenty years, but did they dare not to? If they kicked the benefactor's daughter out, let the whole world see—this is how the elite Montgomery family operates!"

The more she spoke, the more pleased she became, feeling she had seized the moral high ground.

"Today I'm going to ask in front of everyone—Leonard, Elizabeth, you owe my biological father a normal, healthy life. Now I want you to give me half of the Montgomery family fortune. That's not too much, right? And this engagement party..."

She suddenly turned to look at Catherine.

"A country bumpkin like you—you think you're worthy of marrying into the Davis family?"

The banquet hall fell silent for a moment.

All eyes converged on Catherine.

But Catherine's face showed not the slightest panic—she didn't even furrow her brow.

A fierce killing intent was already surging in Charles's eyes. Just as he was about to speak, Catherine gently pressed his hand and stepped out from beside him, walking down the steps one by one, unhurried and composed.

"Who told you that you're Gilbert's daughter?"

Yvonne's heart contracted under that gaze, but she still stuck her neck out defiantly and shrieked, "I heard it with my own ears! Do you dare deny it?"

Catherine smiled faintly.

She raised her hand, and Hatty immediately handed a sealed document envelope into her palm.

She opened the envelope, pulled out a sheet of paper, unfolded it, and held it up in front of Yvonne.

"This is the paternity test report between you and Uncle Gilbert. Black and white, crystal clear. You are not his daughter."

Yvonne's pupils contracted sharply.

"You—you forged it! Impossible!"

"Forged?" Catherine didn't even lift an eyelid as she pulled out another document from the envelope.

"This is a genetic testing report issued by a third-party forensic identification agency. Your genetic comparison results with everyone in the Montgomery family all show exclusion. In plain terms, you have zero blood relation to the Montgomery family. Oh right, there's one more."

Catherine pulled out another document. "Since you ran out here, you must have heard about Gabriel, right? Too bad for you—you're his daughter."

She threw both documents directly in Yvonne's face.

Papers scattered across the floor. Yvonne picked them up with trembling hands, scanning through them rapidly. Her face turned deathly pale, and her lips began to shake violently.

"No... impossible! Those two servants said so! They said it themselves!"

"How ridiculous that you'd think servants would know about such private matters." Catherine's tone was flat and indifferent.

"Uncle Gilbert only has one son, currently studying abroad. What you heard was just gossip from the staff, exaggerated and taken out of context. Only an idiot like you would treat hearsay as a lifeline."

Yvonne's whole body seemed to have its spine removed. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed directly onto the floor.

She had bet everything on this identity—used it to negotiate with the Aldridge family, to threaten the Montgomery family, to hate Catherine, to try to step on Catherine, fantasizing about taking her place.

In the end, it was all fake?

She had nothing—she was even the daughter of a criminal?

However, before Yvonne could recover from this devastating blow, an aged, authoritative voice rang out from the guest seating.

"I came today to personally thank Miss Catherine."

Everyone turned toward the voice. The speaker was none other than Dominic Sanchez, highly respected in military circles.

Old Mr. Sanchez stood up with his cane, nodding slightly toward Catherine. "Three years ago during that border conflict, if you hadn't personally led the Black Hawk Unit on that cross-border rescue mission, none of the children from the Sanchez family would have made it back alive. The Sanchez family will hold this kindness in our hearts forever."

The entire room was shocked.

Black Hawk Unit—everyone present had heard of it.

That was the code name for the highest commander of the Northern Military Region's direct special assault team. The identity was top secret, never publicly revealed, yet a legend throughout the entire military world.

And she—she was actually this glamorous Miss Catherine of the Montgomery family?

Before the crowd could digest this information, another voice spoke up.

"So Dominic also came to give thanks." Business magnate Samuel Sawyer stood up, holding a glass of wine, raising it toward Catherine from afar.

"Miss Catherine, last year when Sawyer Group faced malicious overseas acquisition attempts, if Aurora Capital hadn't stepped in to help, Sawyer Group would have changed hands long ago. I searched for a whole year and only yesterday finally discovered who was behind Aurora Capital. Miss Catherine, this drink is for you."

Aurora Capital.

One of the world's top three private equity funds, controlling enough capital to leverage a small nation's economy.

And its leader was actually a young woman in her early twenties!

Yvonne collapsed on the floor, her eyes widening more and more, her whole body beginning to shake violently.

No, impossible, this can't be!

"You're all being fooled by her! She grew up outside, never even had a proper education—how could she be some Black Hawk Unit leader, some fund manager! You're all helping her put on a show!"

But no one paid her any attention.

Because a third, fourth, and fifth person stood up.

Thanks to Yvonne, the secrets Catherine had planned to reveal to Charles only after marriage were being exposed one after another.

The entire banquet hall completely erupted.

Someone in the media section accidentally knocked over a camera, and the comment stream was so dense the screen was completely obscured.

Some gasped, some excitedly covered their mouths, some couldn't help but start applauding.

One honor after another came crashing down, each one enough to make everyone present look up in awe for a lifetime, and their owner now stood there quietly, her expression so calm as if all of this were merely ordinary.

Yvonne had completely broken down.

She knelt on the ground, her whole body shaking violently, muttering continuously, "Fake... it's all fake... you're all conspiring to trick me... you're all helping this bastard..."

She suddenly raised her head sharply, her eyes erupting with extreme, crazed hatred, staring fixedly at Catherine.

"You should die!"

She screamed and sprang up from the ground, grabbed a dinner knife from a nearby table, and with all her strength stabbed viciously toward Catherine's chest.

The entire hall cried out in alarm.

Elizabeth nearly fainted from fright. Charles's pupils contracted sharply as he rushed forward, but Catherine was faster.

No one saw clearly how she moved.

It seemed like just the blink of an eye, and the knife in Yvonne's hand flew out, clattering to the ground.

Yvonne herself was flipped over entirely, falling heavily to the ground, with a sharp stiletto heel pressed against her chest, making her unable to move.

Catherine looked down at her from above.

"Try to stab me with a knife? Yvonne, who do you think you're dealing with?"

She withdrew her foot and turned to look at Charles, who had already rushed to her side, smiling at him to show she was fine.

Charles's face was ashen, and he pulled her into his arms, his muscles trembling slightly from the aftershock of fear.

The banquet hall doors were pushed open again as Lanny and Ian rushed in with their people.

"Boss!"

Catherine nodded slightly. "Assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder. The entire incident was live-streamed as evidence. The proof is solid. Take her away."

Ian waved his hand, and immediately two people stepped forward, lifting up Yvonne, who was collapsed on the ground, completely deranged.

As Yvonne was dragged out, her hair disheveled, she was still laughing maniacally, repeating the same phrase over and over incoherently.

"Whose daughter am I... whose daughter am I really..."

No one answered her.

What awaited her would be forced treatment in a psychiatric hospital and the criminal trial she would soon face.

The banquet hall fell quiet for a moment, then erupted in thunderous applause.

The applause continued endlessly, wave after wave growing louder.

Charles gripped Catherine's hand tightly, lowered his head, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth near her ear, "Don't ever make such dangerous moves again."

Catherine looked up at him, curved her lips into a smile, stood on tiptoe, and lightly pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips.

"Okay, I'll let you handle it from now on."

Charles took a deep breath, cupped the back of her head with one hand, and deepened this fleeting kiss into a passionate one that made the entire hall erupt again.

When the kiss ended, Charles released her, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Catherine, from now on, through mountains and rivers, through fire and ice, I'll walk with you."

Catherine's eyes curved into crescents, with starlight and tears glistening in them.

Those abandoned years, those nights of fighting alone in the mud, those scars and medals unknown to anyone—they had all finally become the steps leading her to happiness.

She had walked through those thorns, never bowing her head, never backing down, finally arriving at today.

The hall full of guests stood up, witnessing this perfect couple exchange engagement rings amid everyone's blessings.

Flashbulbs fell like a river of stars, applause surged like tidal waves.

From this day forward, through mountains and rivers, someone would walk beside her.

(The End)
Author's Note:

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