I would only be inviting trouble if I were to go over now. The reporters would definitely not let me go knowing I was his wife. “You can go if you want to. But I’m not going for sure. I couldn’t care less,” I said, pushing Lyle’s hand away.
“Are you serious?” Lyle was getting impatient.
I glared back at him with my head held high. “I don’t care if you’re gonna get mad. I came to the party because of Grandma. If you’re gonna ruin the event, you’ll have to explain yourself to her then.”
I could tell Lyle was on the verge of losing it. He gritted his teeth, drilling his gaze through me as he thought about what he should do with me. He then grabbed my hand and tugged me out.
Before I could do anything, the reporters already saw us. They swarmed over instantly and encircled me, bombarding me with a series of questions.
“Mrs. Smith, since you’re here with your husband today, does this mean the rumors online are fake? Or does this mean that you’re willing to put up with another woman in your relationship?”
Lyle glanced at me and answered on my behalf. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Crystal is just our cousin. Yvonne and I are getting along phenomenally as you can see from the fact that we’re here at the party together.”
I played along and let him pull me into his arms. I eyed him coldly, wondering where he got his audacity from. He was a greedy man. At work, he was thirsty for power; in private, he wanted his woman to stay by his side, even if it meant covering up his shameful affair.
A gloom settled over Nathan’s face when he saw me outside. “I’ve already said enough at the press conference. Y’all should give Crystal some space now and stop bothering her. She has a bright future ahead of her, so I hope y’all can go easy on her and stop creating trouble for her.”
Yvette came over and chimed in, “Please, could you guys stop making things difficult for Crystal? Everything we said is true, and Yvonne can confirm this. After all, she was also there when Crystal and Lyle were dating back then.”
Yvette was not helping at all. Her standing up for Crystal at this point only made things worse. Seeing how things were going out of hand, Lyle pushed me forward toward the reporters and the crowd suddenly turned on me. I tilted my head helplessly and caught a glimpse of him as he let go of my hand. He was gesturing at Crystal and the others to leave.
I must be stupid to still think he cares for me. Seems like I have expected too much from our two-year marriage.
Indeed, it was true that even animals could grow attached to humans after spending a long time with them, but this was clearly not the case for our relationship. I was disappointed over and over again. Lyle had repeatedly trampled on my dignity just to protect Crystal.
“Things are really difficult for Lyle and Crystal. They did nothing wrong, so please stop condemning them for something they cannot help. It’s partly my fault too, so please just let Crystal off the hook,” Nathan interrupted.
“Yvonne, you know I’m innocent, don’t you? You have to trust me! You know what happened.” Crystal came forward and looked at me imploringly with tears in her eyes as if she was begging me to defend her.
I hated this kind of person the most. People like her were willing to put up a hypocritical front just to twist the truth. Of course, I knew what happened. In fact, I even knew why Sharon wanted Lyle to marry me.
“Eve, say something. You can’t just let these people tarnish Crystal’s reputation like this.” Nathan was desperate. “Do you really want her to bear the blame for something she didn’t do? Please do something, I beg of you.”
My father was willing to sacrifice me for Crystal. Lies were not despicable, the liars were, especially when they were your own family. Everyone took me for the culprit here, and for a split of a second, I almost believed I was one too.
