Chapter 204
Michelle shot to her feet.
Her chair scraped harshly against the marble floor.
Bang!
Her hand struck the edge of the table, knocking over the wineglass beside her.
Red wine spilled across the white tablecloth before splashing onto the front of her elegant dress.
She didn't notice.
Didn't care.
Her eyes remained locked on Nick.
He...
He hadn't been bluffing.
He hadn't been trying to protect Khloe with a convenient lie.
They were really married.
Legally married.
The realization hit Michelle like a blow to the chest.
Her face turned deathly pale.
Around her, several members of the Keller family frowned.
One of the elders cleared his throat in obvious displeasure.
"Michelle."
The warning in his voice was unmistakable.
Realizing she had drawn everyone's attention, Michelle's mother hurriedly tugged her daughter back into her seat.
"Compose yourself," she whispered urgently.
Only then did Michelle realize the wine was soaking into her clothes.
But the cold stain felt insignificant compared to the emptiness spreading through her heart.
Across the ballroom, Ethan quietly observed the entire scene.
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Nick's announcement had caught him completely off guard.
He had been certain tonight would destroy Khloe's place in the Hunt family.
Instead...
Nick had done the exact opposite.
He hadn't distanced himself.
He hadn't hesitated.
He had openly declared before the city's elite that Khloe was already his lawful wife.
It was a move Ethan hadn't anticipated.
Then...
His gaze drifted toward Michelle.
Her reaction.
The disbelief.
The heartbreak she had failed to conceal.
An intriguing thought surfaced.
Over the years, he had heard countless rumors about Nick and Michelle.
Childhood friends.
An inseparable pair.
For years, despite his status and countless admirers, Nick had never been linked to another woman.
People always assumed Michelle was the reason.
The Hunt family had guarded their privacy so carefully that Ethan had never uncovered anything substantial.
But rumors often contained fragments of truth.
And no matter how well someone hid their feelings...
A woman in love rarely hid it perfectly.
Michelle's reaction wasn't that of someone merely watching an acquaintance get married.
It looked...
Personal.
Painfully personal.
Ethan slowly swirled the wine in his glass.
Could it be...
Nick's sudden devotion to Khloe wasn't born entirely from love.
Perhaps...
It had begun as a way to provoke someone else.
His eyes lingered briefly on Michelle before returning to the stage.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Meanwhile, Clarice's smile had nearly cracked.
Nick's declaration had completely disrupted her carefully arranged plan.
Instead of exposing Khloe...
She now appeared to be the villain attempting to destroy a married couple.
Still, Clarice recovered with remarkable speed.
Her elegant smile returned as though nothing had happened.
She looked at Nick with mild surprise.
"So..."
"You've already registered your marriage."
She nodded thoughtfully.
"In that case, it seems the gentleman's accusations were indeed unfounded."
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"But Nick..."
"Don't you think the two of you were rather... impulsive?"
Her tone remained gentle.
Almost concerned.
"Marriage is such an important milestone."
She glanced toward Khloe.
"Yet none of us in the Morrison family knew anything about it."
"Khloe never mentioned it."
A brief pause.
Then she looked toward George and the others.
"...Could it be..."
"...that even the Hunt family elders weren't informed?"
The atmosphere shifted once again.
In only a few sentences, Clarice had expertly redirected everyone's attention.
The issue was no longer Khloe's past.
It was a secret marriage.
Among families like theirs, a marriage wasn't merely a personal decision.
It represented two households.
Two legacies.
Two powerful alliances.
Registering the marriage without informing either family...
That was undeniably improper.
More importantly—
Even if Nick trusted Khloe completely...
The Hunt family might not.
George remained silent.
His expression revealed nothing.
Beside him, Arista glanced anxiously at her husband.
She knew exactly what Clarice was doing.
Everyone in the ballroom did.
Clarice had just handed the Hunt family a perfect excuse.
If they wished to distance themselves from Khloe...
They only needed to say they hadn't approved the marriage.
Or that Nick had acted on his own.
If the alliance between the Hunt and Morrison families eventually collapsed...
Every ounce of blame could be placed on Khloe.
Nick would simply become another victim.
A man supposedly blinded by love.
A respectable heir deceived by an illegitimate daughter with a complicated past.
George's thoughts remained impossible to read.
His silence weighed heavily over the room.
Arista's heart clenched.
Unlike George, she had long since accepted Khloe.
What if Khloe had loved someone before?
She had grown up without protection.
Without family.
Without anyone to teach her what trust truly looked like.
Even after falling in love with Nick, perhaps she hadn't found the courage to reveal every painful chapter of her past.
Wasn't that understandable?
Besides...
Arista had never seen her son care so deeply for anyone.
The look in Nick's eyes whenever he was with Khloe...
That couldn't be faked.
She refused to become someone who humiliated the woman her son loved.
Unable to remain silent any longer, Arista prepared to stand.
Before she could—
Another voice interrupted.
"Well..."
A warm chuckle spread through the ballroom.
"If we're assigning blame..."
"I suppose our family should accept it."
Loretta rose gracefully from her seat.
Smiling, she walked toward Nick and Khloe.
Her gaze settled on Khloe's uneasy face with unmistakable affection.
The older woman's expression softened.
"Our grandson has always been rather impulsive."
She sighed dramatically before shaking her head with amusement.
"When he sets his mind on something, no one can stop him."
She looked at the guests.
"I'm afraid he simply couldn't wait."
"So he whisked poor Khloe away and registered the marriage before anyone could object."
Laughter rippled softly through the ballroom.
Loretta reached over and gently patted Khloe's hand.
"If anyone was wronged in all of this..."
"It was our granddaughter-in-law."
She smiled apologetically.
"She didn't even receive a proper proposal."
Her eyes turned toward the Morrison family.
"To be honest, our family has felt rather guilty about it."
"We've been discussing the best time to visit formally and apologize."
"After all..."
She squeezed Khloe's hand affectionately.
"Khloe has only just returned to her family."
"She deserves every courtesy and every blessing."
"So naturally, we wanted to handle everything with the respect she deserves."
Her words were gentle.
Sincere.
Perfectly measured.
In a matter of moments, Loretta dismantled Clarice's carefully sharpened attack.
Not only did she acknowledge the secret marriage...
She transformed it into proof of how deeply Nick cherished Khloe.
And in doing so...
She made it unmistakably clear to everyone present.
The Hunt family had already accepted Khloe as one of their own.