Heiress' Househusband is a Secret Billionaire - Chapter 81

Chapter 81: The Wedding’s Off Unless He Wants to be My Stand-In
Instead of listening to a poignant vow recited by Matthias, what came out from his mouth stunned the hall into silence before gasps rippled through.

“My lovely bride, how was it sleeping with another man right before your wedding?”

Stephanie froze, her blue eyes widening in fright. Matthias’ sudden accusation was like a slap on her face. Her mind rapidly tried to process his question.

…what?

What did he say?

P-please… He… He knew?!

Disbelief plastered on the faces of family and guests alike yet, their reaction seemed to delay out of shock. Their surprise kicked in when Matthias made an announcement, his voice clear.

“The wedding’s off.”

Louder gasps echoed from the gathering crowd. The quintet awkwardly paused the bridal music. Murmured whispers and the soft rustling of fabric filled the air as everyone processed his words.

“The bride’s cheating?”

“With who? Is he so sure about this?”

“Whoa… this is a scandal!”

The ambient inside the glass hall suddenly seemed too bright yet cold.

Stephanie’s face paled to a ghostly white, the immaculate makeup on her face did nothing to retain her previous radiance. Her pride and confidence shattered like fragile glass.

How…

How did he know?

She had been careful!

Matthias’ frosty gaze seemed colder than usual. Stephanie abruptly shook her head, frantically trying to deny the accusations.

“M-Matthias, that’s a slander! Who… who accused me? I—”

Matthias didn’t let Stephanie finish. His gaze unyielding, he exclaimed through the microphone, his tone was as cutting as the surf crashing against the rocks.

“The evidence is enough. Stephanie Elsher, you’re having an affair behind my back.”

Stephanie’s blood ran cold, her knees buckling up. She forced more words out of her mouth, all sounding incoherent, “…what? What evidence? Please! Matthias, this… this is a misunderstanding.”

Watching the scene unfold on the altar, Jonathan and Samantha stiffened in disbelief. Declan, Alaric, and Rafael were just the same.

Across the glass hall, the Elsher and Silvera families and friends exchanged mortified glances and more hushed speculations. Some covered their mouths while the others shifted uneasily in their seat.

Until…

Bzz!

Bzz! Bzz!

A sudden hum of vibrations faintly echoed through the hall as phones, mostly tucked away in clutch bags and pockets, buzzed at the same time. The guests exchanged confused glances while the others quickly reached for their devices.

Stephanie stiffly turned her head toward the guests as she noticed the particularly weird activity. For some reason, she sensed something more ominous was closely approaching.

“Hey! Check the wedding page!”

“Oh, gosh!”

“…this is the evidence?”

The faint murmurs sank Stephanie’s heart further, her stomach churning in fright.

The guests gasped at what they saw once they unlocked the phones. All of them received notifications from the wedding page that both families used to communicate about the wedding as well as hyping it.

Matthias’ side sent a compilation of incriminating photos to the page dashboard. The images were not something too damning but, scandalous enough to confirm his words.

The photos showed Stephanie cuddling and kissing a man whose face was obscured. In a few of them, he even was captured touching her curves inappropriately.

Who was that man?

Someone outside high society? Or, one of the young masters?

“How shameless!”

“Whoa… She still claims she’s innocent.”

“Isn’t she just a fake heiress? How dare she forget her place and act like this.”

“Oh! Have you seen it? It said the affair has been going on for a year!”

The guests, either families or friends, whispered in outrage and disbelief. Their eyes moved from their screens to Stephanie, whose once posture filled with pride, crumbled under their collective scrutiny.

Jonathan and Samantha also looked at the images, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Silvera. None of them expected such a thing to happen on this supposedly blissful day.

“What does it mean? Stephanie! How dare you cheat on my son!”

Mrs. Silvera abruptly stood up, her hand shaky as she held her phone. Gritting her teeth, she charged forward, her face twisted in anger.

Mr. Silvera and Alana hurriedly stopped Mrs. Silvera. Despite the surprising revelation, they still shouldn’t show unsightly behavior to the guests.

“N-no! This is fake! I didn’t cheat on him!”

Stephanie abruptly and repeatedly shook her head, her mind racing for a way to salvage the situation. She tightened her clench around the bouquet, her entire body shivering in fright.

Matthias still stood motionless at the altar. His expression remained unreadable and cold amidst the unfolding chaos.

Bringing the microphone close to his lips again, Matthias spoke, his chilly gaze directed to someone, “The wedding’s off unless Leon Holt wants to be my stand-in.”

Louder gasps rippled through the hall. Heads quickly whipped around in disbelief, searching among the crowd for the man mentioned by Matthias as Stephanie’s affair partner.

The guests didn’t take long to spot the man, Leon Holt. He was sitting in the third row on the Elsher family’s side, just behind Alaric who was known as his best friend.

“W-what?”

“That man is Leon?”

“Oh, gosh! Isn’t he Alaric’s buddy?”

Leon froze, his face turning an alarming shade of red. Before he could say anything, a blaring shout and a yank at the collar surprised him.

An enraged and shocked Alaric grabbed Leon by the collar. His eyes widening and nostrils flaring, his whole face radiated anger.

“Leon! How could you! What have you done to my sister?”

Blinking, Leon seemingly forgot the initial embarrassment he felt. His lips parted, only to say something that made the crowd more surprised and Alaric angrier.

“Phanie enjoyed it. No need to be mad at me.”

“The hell?”

Raising one fist, Alaric struck a punch to Leon, sending him sprawling on the floor. He marched to beat the latter but, was quickly restrained by Declan and Rafael.

“ERIC! Don’t do it!”

“Let me go! This bastard is done for!”

Everyone watched the scene in horror. No one expected the lavish wedding would turn into a disaster right before the ceremony began.

At the altar, Stephanie staggered backward, her pale as pale as death as she watched the altercation between Alaric and Leon. She parted her lips but, no words came out.

“N-no… this isn’t true…”

Stephanie stiffly turned from the fight to Matthias, whose unflinching gaze bore into her. The bouquet slipped from her trembling hands, landing near the voluminous layers of her wedding gown with a soft thud.

“Happy wedding, Mrs. Holt.”

A sneer was finally carved on Matthias’ emotionless face. Turning around, he walked down the altar before heading to the side door of the hall.

Matthias exited the place, leaving behind a storm of chaos.

“No… NOOO!”

Stephanie’s legs could no longer hold on. She fell to the floor, her hunching figure was a sorry image to everyone who saw it.

“P-Phanie!”

“Phanie, are you okay?”

“Oh, my dear!”

Across the hall, a quiet Lariette watched as Jonathan, Samantha and a few bridesmaids finally rushed to the pitiful Stephanie on the altar.

Everything didn’t escape Lariette who was as shocked as everyone else.

This…

This wasn’t something she ever foresaw to happen, but…

How oddly satisfying to witness the exact moment Stephanie was publicly humiliated during the wedding she had been waiting for, all because of her own bad choices of infidelity.