Chapter 8 - The Ultimatum
The blinding stadium lights cast long, terrifying shadows across the empty football field.
Daniel froze completely, his eyes wide with sheer panic as Vanesa waved her phone in the air.
I stood up slowly, positioning myself firmly between my completely exhausted brother and his deranged fiancé.
I demanded to know exactly what kind of video she was threatening him with.
Vanesa smiled wickedly, explaining that she had secretly recorded Daniel during a severe mental health crisis a year ago.
In the video, he was heavily intoxicated and aggressively complaining about his corporate boss's illegal business practices.
She promised that sending that video to the company board would not only get him fired, but utterly blacklisted.
She looked Daniel dead in the eye and demanded he make his final choice.
He could either come home, marry her tomorrow, and maintain his perfect life, or he could choose his sister and lose everything.
The absolute cruelty of her ultimatum hung heavily in the freezing night air.
I turned to Daniel, softly placing my hand on his trembling shoulder.
I told him that I loved him unconditionally, but I absolutely refused to play her toxic game anymore.
I promised him that no corporate job was ever worth living in a permanent hostage situation.
Then, I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life.
I turned my back on both of them and slowly walked away across the vast field.
I didn't look back, even when I heard Daniel sobbing uncontrollably into his hands.
The next morning, the day of the grand wedding officially arrived.
I sat in my apartment living room, drinking black coffee and staring at the clock on the wall.
I had absolutely no idea what Daniel had chosen to do.
By two in the afternoon, the ceremony was supposed to be officially starting at the luxury botanical gardens.
My phone suddenly buzzed with a massive influx of notifications from various family members.
Fiona had just sent me a live video feed directly from the wedding venue.
I tapped the play button, entirely expecting to see my brother standing miserably at the altar.
Instead, the video showed Vanesa standing entirely alone at the altar in her incredibly expensive white gown.
The priest looked highly confused, and the hundreds of guests were loudly murmuring in absolute shock.
Suddenly, the massive venue speakers crackled violently to life, overriding the soft classical music.
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An audio recording began echoing throughout the entire botanical garden, and it was undeniably Vanesa's voice.
She was laughing maliciously, clearly stating that she absolutely despised Daniel and was only marrying him to steal his future inheritance.
