The large pitcher of red wine fell completely over Brenda, soaking her dress.
She stood up screaming, and the wet fabric clung to her body, Rémeling a curve that was impossible to hide any longer.
Elias ran toward her, his instinct taking over.
“Be careful, are you okay? Is the baby okay?”
Nobody breathed as the confession hung in the air.
Elias’s face turned deathly white when he realized what he had just admitted.
Cynthia stood up suddenly, trying to do damage control.
“He meant… he meant if she is okay from the fall, Ella, you are being incredibly rude tonight!”
I placed my napkin on the table and looked at her.
“Sit down, Cynthia.”
“How dare you speak to me like that?”
“I told you to sit down right now.”
My voice was not loud, but everyone obeyed because of the absolute authority in my tone.
I walked over to the sound system and connected my phone to the speakers.
“For weeks you all called me useless, common, and a starving secretary,” I said to the room.
“Today, I want everyone to hear exactly what I heard on our wedding night.”
The recording began to play.
Cynthia’s shrill voice exploded throughout the dining room.
“We have Ella tied up.”
“Elias will last a year.”
“Brenda and the baby will move in later.”
Brenda started to sob into her hands.
Elias put his head in his hands, defeated.
Cynthia tried to grab my phone, but Rebecca walked into the room at that moment accompanied by two state police officers and a thick black folder.
“Elias Rivas,” one of the officers said, stepping forward.
“You are under arrest for corporate fraud, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds.”
“What?” he shouted, looking at me with pure shock.
“This is just a simple marital dispute!”
“No,” I said, looking him in the eyes.
“This is a criminal investigation regarding the Wilson Group.”
Elias looked at me, completely confused.
“The Wilson Group?”
I took a deep, steady breath.
“My full name is Ella Aranda Wilson.”
“Jonathan Wilson, the owner of the massive company you were robbing, is my father.”
Elias’s face finally fell apart as the reality of his situation set in.
Cynthia had to grip the edge of the dining table to keep herself from collapsing to the floor.
“No… your father has been retired for years,” she whispered.
“Yes, he is retired,” I said.
“Retired from trusting people exactly like you.”
Elias fell to his knees on the rug.
“Ella, please, you have to forgive me, my mother pressured me and Brenda just confused me, I did love you.”
I looked at him with absolute indifference.
“No, Elias, you loved my money when you thought it was a little bit, and then you tried to steal everything I had.”
The officers handcuffed him, and the metal clicked loudly in the quiet room.
Brenda stood trembling by the wall, her dress stained with red wine, her pregnancy exposed, and her long-term lie shattered into pieces.
But before they took him away, Elias looked up and said something that froze everyone in their tracks.
“Ella… there is something else you need to know.”
“Something my mother did so that you would never have a child of your own.”
At that moment, I realized that the truth had not even fully come to light yet.
CHAPTER 3: THE FINAL TRUTH
I did not let Elias speak another word that night because he did not deserve to hurt me again in front of the people I had invited.
The police officers dragged him away in handcuffs while Cynthia screamed that she knew powerful people and that this was a massive injustice.
Brenda ran out of the apartment without looking back, her dress still soaked and the shame of her actions clinging to her like a second skin.
I stood in the middle of the dining room surrounded by broken ceramic plates, wine spilled across the floor, and years of fake, hollow love.
Rebecca hugged me tightly.
“It is finally over,” she said softly.
