The threat hit ho, and the dia quickly scattered far enough for the paradics to enter the hall and tow the Hawthorne patriarch away in the stretcher, while Isaac jogged alongside them and rattled off his observations to the paradics. Dimitri looked like he wanted to chase after him, but eventually, he returned to the ballroom.
"They’ve finally transported him to the ambulance. Goddamn, this hotel has too many floors, so the lifts took a while," Isaac said wryly, his forehead beading with sweat. Dimitri dabbed at his face with a napkin, uncaring of the curious glances his gesture attracted.
"His heartbeat was weak, but it was still there. The ambulance should be able to stabilize things further, and the hospital has already been prepared for his arrival."
"We need to go to the hospital," Alia said imdiately, "Where’s the car―"
"Do you want to change out of the dress first?" Cherry pointed out, and Alia realized belatedly she was still clad in her wedding gown. "You and Matteo can go, I’ll handle things here."
"You can’t handle it alone," Matteo pointed out, but it wasn’t as though he wanted to be an. The hall was filled with prestigious families and dia vultures, and every single one of them would turn down their noses at Cherry trying to corral them into a semblance of civility.
In their eyes, she was a bastard child from the Montgory family, and not worth any consideration. When she was picked as Alia’s bridesmaid over other more eligible ladies, Cherry was also faced with petty vitriol that she had, of course, hidden from Alia, since Alia already had enough on her plate to worry about.
Also, if Cherry couldn’t deal with playground nastiness, she would never have made it this far.
"It’s okay, you can stay here and handle this while I go check on my grandfather," Alia said, patting Matteo’s arm. "I’ll feel better knowing that at least things are resolved on this end."
"I’ll accompany her," Michael Kentwood added, his face darker than a thundercloud as he stared at the place where Horace Hawthorne’s body was lying. "You better resolve this ss by the ti we get back, or I’ll be rethinking my support of this entire relationship."
"Dad!" Alia scolded, but Michael Kentwood only snorted derisively, his patience was at his limits.
"Millie, let’s change and go. There’s no reason to stay here any longer," he said, grabbing her arm to leave.
"Let escort you," Matteo offered, but her father shook off his arm.
"I’m perfectly fine, no thanks to you! Settle the matter of your unborn child first!" He barked out.
Alia shot Matteo an apologetic look as she helped her father out of the room, with security guards flanking them, but Matteo only gave her a reassuring glance.
He wasn’t upset with Michael Kentwood’s harsh words, because he could understand his feelings. His only daughter, the crown jewel of his eyes, had just been humiliated in front of everyone on a day when she was supposed to be her happiest.
If his daughter’s wedding had ended in such a circus, he would not have been as kind to the groom.
Now, he had to fix things. With Cherry, Ronan, and Dimitri’s help, he managed to get the guests to leave the wedding hall and clear out the dia. There were protests because of course those people wanted to stay on and watch the show, but with half of the main cast being absent and the threat of possibly being sued by Matteo Montgory, they had no choice but to leave.
Aiden patted Matteo’s arm as though he was sorry for him before he left with their father.
The orphans were shell-shocked at the turn of events, and so of the younger ones burst into tears at how the event turned out. Carlo in particular was nearly beside himself, oscillating between horror and anger.
"Is this normal?" Carlo asked when he was led outside the doors. "Does this always happen at rich people’s weddings?"
"No kiddo," Cherry said tiredly. "This is just a very terrible exception. Thanks for coming though. Alia was happy to see you."
In the end, the necessary goodbyes were said. There were only a handful of people left in the banquet hall, along with the staff who were frantically cleaning up, taking down the wedding decorations, and clearing the tables.
Ronan slung an arm around Matteo’s shoulders as they finally sank into the chairs to catch their breaths. "What a fucking wedding. Was all that true?"
Matteo scoffed. "What do you think?"
"I think Emline is full of horseshit," Ronan confessed easily. "So what’s the plan? Are you going to wait until she gives birth to do a DNA test? Because that’s gonna take a long ti."
"Did you actually sleep with her?" Cherry added. "I know you would never have done it sober, so―"
"But you weren’t sober," Ronan continued, his face paling as he recalled the drugging incident that ended with Emline’s tasteful nudes spread all over social dia. "Oh god, Matteo, did you actually do it with Emline when you were out of it? Can you rember anything?"
"I... I don’t know," Matteo said, covering his eyes with his arm in exhaustion. There was a pulsing pain at his temples as he tried to recall the specifics of the incident, but so far it was still a blur. He could not guarantee he had not slept with her. "Like you said, I was out of it. Back then, I don’t think I would have rembered my na, let alone what I was doing."
"Fuck. So she could be telling the truth?" Ronan scread into his hands. "This is a disaster."
"You’re a doctor right?" Cherry turned to Isaac hopefully, "Is it possible to do a DNA test on a fetus to check paternity?"
Isaac nodded. "It’s possible. If Emline is indeed at least two months pregnant, we can get a noninvasive prenatal paternity test. To do that, we need Emline’s blood and a cheek swab from Matteo. It’s ninety-nine percent accurate."
"Okay, let’s do that," Ronan said, squeezing Matteo’s shoulder in comfort. "If Emline refuses to let her blood be drawn, then we’ll know she’s lying. In fact, since you’re going to the hospital anyway, let’s get it done. We’ll grab Emline and go!"
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