Chapter 19
Elizabeth's POV
A suite of jewelry, crafted from top-tier emeralds, was unveiled. The design appeared simple at first glance, but a closer look revealed the subtle, ingenious details woven into the metalwork.
"Elizabeth, you have impeccable taste," Grandma said immediately, slipping the bracelet onto her wrist. She turned her arm this way and that, her satisfaction absolute.
I lowered my gaze, affecting a modest, almost shy expression. "I just hope you like it, Grandma."
"Like it? Of course, I like it. I love anything Elizabeth picks out for me."
She gestured for me to stand beside her, and I obediently complied.
My hand was enveloped in her warm, firm grip as she faced the crowd. "Everyone," she announced, her voice ringing with authority, "I'd like you to meet my future granddaughter-in-law, Elizabeth. Her wedding to Aiden will be held very soon."
A jolt of genuine surprise went through me. I turned to look at her, but she hadn't given me any warning that she would announce our engagement so publicly tonight.
Beside me, Aiden's face had become a thundercloud. His eyes were glued to Bianca, a raw, undisguised worry churning in their depths.
He was hurting for her, watching as her own gift was so openly dismissed. Bianca looked utterly crestfallen, her posture slumping with disappointment.
"Mrs. Smith, do you really not like the jewelry I chose for you?"
Bianca's voice was a pathetic whisper. Her gaze drifted to my hand, held fast in Grandma's, and a sharp, undisguised envy flashed in her eyes.
I knew exactly what she was thinking.
Marrying into the Smith family required the matriarch's blessing above all else. Even if she managed to charm Cleo and win her support, Bianca's path to Aiden was blocked as long as Grandma remained opposed.
Having this extravagant, costly gift rejected was a blow so profound it seemed to have deafened her to the world around her.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Grandma asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
Just as I suspected. Bianca hadn't heard the whispers rippling through the guests, the comments about Grandma's well-known aversion to dandelions.
"Mrs. Smith," Bianca pressed on, her voice gaining a desperate edge, "Aiden and I chose this gift for you together. To just ignore it like this… isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
A sudden, sharp silence fell over the room. The guests' expressions shifted from confusion to outright bewilderment.
Grandma shot Bianca a displeased glance before turning her steely gaze on her grandson. "Aiden, why did you bring her here?"
The undisguised contempt in her tone was too much for Bianca. She took a step forward, her composure cracking. "Mrs. Smith! Are you deliberately targeting me?"
A collective gasp went through the audience. The looks directed at Bianca had now curdled from confusion into disdain.
I found myself staring, too, unable to hide my astonishment at her foolishness.
"I do not like the gift you brought. Please take it back," Grandma said, clinging to the last shred of her civility.
Her grip on my hand tightened, and I could feel the tremor of barely suppressed rage traveling up her arm.
"Grandma! How can you say that?" Aiden lunged forward, planting himself in front of Bianca in a protective stance. "Bianca's gift is clearly more luxurious than Elizabeth's! Why are you only wearing hers?"
I watched the scene unfold, fighting back a laugh that threatened to bubble up.
Was he serious? Was he actually going to champion her cause right now? As a direct grandson of the Smith family, could he truly be so ignorant of his own grandmother's preferences?
"Aiden!" Grandma's face was flushed a dangerous shade of red. I quickly moved to her side, gently rubbing her back. "Grandma, please don't be angry. I'm sure Ms. Johnson and Aiden didn't mean any harm."
Grandma's anger was completely ignited at this moment, and she said directly to Bianca, "This is a Smith family event. How did you get in here? Who allowed you in? Now, get out. Immediately."
No one in the audience objected. A murmur went through the crowd, suggesting that Bianca must have brought the offensive gift as a deliberate provocation.
Bianca's head drooped, her entire form radiating a pitiful, defeated air.
Aiden, however, completely lost it. He shoved Bianca behind him, his reddened eyes locking onto me with pure venom.
He pointed a trembling finger in my direction. "This is all your fault! Elizabeth! I told you not to bring a gift! It's because of you that Grandma doesn't like what Bianca gave her!"
The sheer audacity of his logic was stunning. How, in this twisted reality, had the blame landed back on me?
"Aiden! Can't you be reasonable for once?"
The moment he approached, I immediately hid behind Grandma, adjusted my state in a second, and put on a wronged expression.
It was within my expectation that a fuss would be made over the gift. At such times, it could most attract everyone's attention and also create certain opportunities.
"The reason Grandma doesn't like Ms. Johnson's gift is because the design is based on dandelions. Have you forgotten that she dislikes them, too?"
Aiden and Bianca both froze, their shock visible. They scrambled to look down at the exquisite jewelry set now lying rejected in its box.
"They really are dandelions," Aiden muttered. When he looked up, his eyes were still filled with a wild fury. "You knew. Why didn't you tell me beforehand? You did this on purpose!"
The pent-up emotions couldn't find an outlet, and in Aiden's world, I clearly became that outlet. When he was angry with me, he even forgot that he was being watched by everyone.
I took a deliberate step forward, my hand resting protectively on my lower abdomen. I bowed my head, my voice thick with manufactured sorrow. "I'm carrying your child, Aiden. I've been resting at Grandma's estate. How could I possibly know what kind of gift you and Ms. Johnson were preparing?"
The room erupted. An audible wave of shock and outrage washed over the guests. The whispers turned into loud, accusatory statements.
"Is Aiden even human? His fiancée is pregnant, and he's publicly berating her?"
"I saw him getting cozy with that Bianca woman at that last gala. You can't tell me there's nothing going on between them."
"Didn't the Smiths initiate this engagement with the Spencers in the first place? Now that the Spencer family is in trouble, they're trying to back out?"
"Exactly! Ms. Spencer is pregnant, and instead of planning a wedding, he's here defending another woman. Is Aiden cheating on her?"
"What a scumbag! And he can't even remember what his own grandmother likes? So ungrateful!"
The condemnations grew louder, the atmosphere spiraling into chaos.
Aiden's eyes were locked on my stomach, a storm of complex emotions—disbelief, horror, and perhaps a flicker of something else—passing over his face. "Elizabeth, explain it to them! Tell them it's not like that!"
I let out a weak, theatrical cough. "Aiden, I honestly don't know if you care about this baby or not. Every time you take me to the hospital for a check-up, I feel weaker afterward. If you don't want it, you can just say so. I won't… I won't hold it against you."
By revealing the pregnancy in front of this audience, I had woven a temporary net of security around myself. If I were to suddenly disappear, Aiden would be the first person they would suspect.
My gaze swept across the room and snagged on a pair of dark, unreadable eyes that seemed to absorb all the light around them. A pang of guilt, sharp and unexpected, made me quickly look away.
A sudden gasp sounded from beside me, followed by Aiden's frantic shout.
I turned my head just in time to see Bianca's body tipping sideways. She was collapsing right toward me.
She had fainted.