Chapter 64:

Lanny hung up the phone, a frown furrowing his brow. Learning Mabel had been withholding information had enraged him. He stormed to find her.

Mabel looked like a ghost, staring blankly ahead. Glenda wept beside her, tears streaming down her face.

"How could you be so stupid, Mabel?" Lanny scolded, his face dark. "What's so appealing about Theo? If you were open-minded for even a moment, you'd see how wrong you are about him."

Mabel, a faint mark still visible on her neck, had desperately sought her parents' approval to marry Theo. Clearing her throat, she pleaded weakly, "Mom, you have to understand. My heart belongs to Theo. I can't be happy without him."

Lanny entered the room, his face stern. Approaching Mabel, he asked coldly, "Tell me exactly what happened between you and Theo before you slept with him."

Stunned, Mabel swallowed hard, nervousness etched across her face. Her father's unexpected question caught her off guard. "Nothing happened, Dad," she replied feebly. "Besides, you shouldn't be asking me such things when I'm so upset."

Lanny scoffed sarcastically. "Upset? Why would you be upset after getting what you wanted? Are you really on the hook for millions to pay for some red wine?"

Shocked that the truth was about to be revealed, Mabel cringed, visibly distressed. Glenda stopped crying, confusion clouding her face. "Who do you owe millions to? How is that even possible?"

Feeling her charade crumbling, Mabel confessed everything to her parents. She'd contacted Theo to deepen their relationship and arranged a meeting. She'd pretended she'd never been to a bar to convince him to take her to one. There, she'd accidentally knocked over several expensive bottles of wine.

To save her, Theo had paid for the wine without asking for reimbursement. Believing his actions stemmed from goodness, she'd concluded he was her ideal lover. She'd offered to repay him by sleeping with him, and he hadn't refused.

Afterwards, Mabel realized she hadn't achieved what she wanted, experiencing the pain of her loss.

Trembling, she asked Lanny, "You can't honestly say you're not affected by the fact that I lost my virginity to someone who isn't my husband? Dad, I want nothing more than to be Theo's wife. Just imagine the benefits for our family by marrying into the Ward family—one of the city's wealthiest and most influential."

Lanny shook his head in disgust. Mabel, spoiled and misguided, hadn't considered the consequences of her actions. Worse, she still dreamed of marrying Theo.

Despite his own cunning and greed, Lanny knew Mabel's chances of marrying into the Ward family were virtually nonexistent. The Wards had shamelessly resisted Theo's marriage to Elyse. Mabel, arrogant and less attractive than Elyse, would be rejected without hesitation.

"Even if she married Theo," Lanny fumed, "Mabel would suffer a fate worse than Elyse. Who do you think you are? How could you delude yourself into thinking Theo wants to marry you? If he took you seriously, he wouldn't have slept with you—his ex-fiancée's sister! He treated Elyse poorly despite some affection; how do you think he'll treat you, a girl he feels nothing for?"

After a pause, he added, "You're trying to blackmail him with your virginity? Does he care about sleeping with women? Plenty would do so without hesitation. Do you think you're any different from those women?"

Mabel bit her lip, anger clenching her jaw. Her father had essentially called her a loose woman.

"Why are you saying these hurtful things instead of supporting me, Dad? Have you forgotten I'm your daughter? I need—"

Lanny interrupted firmly. "Because you're my daughter, I refuse to sugarcoat your stupidity. Wake up! Theo doesn't love you."

Glenda placed a hand on Lanny's shoulder, attempting to calm him. "Be gentle with our daughter, Honey. She deserves a break."

"Gentle? You're the root cause of this! She wouldn't have acted this way if you hadn't raised her to be spoiled and entitled," Lanny retorted, shaking his head. Pointing at Mabel's nose, he continued, "Theo said we have to repay him for your debt before he'll talk to us. He slept with you because of the millions he spent. To him, you were just another woman."

Mabel refused to accept this. Through gritted teeth, she said, "Then pay him. I can discuss marriage with him then."

Lanny sneered. "So easy? Can you pay back several million dollars?"

...