Chapter 790 Damien Defended Cherise
Damien’s voice reverberated through the room, cutting through the tense silence like a sharp knife.
“So, this is Ms. Tanner’s journalistic code? Expose, slander, and then claim the moral high ground?” Gwenn’s carefully constructed facade crumbled under his gaze. Damien was a man of quiet power, his words few but impactful.
“I… I avoid my family to protect them,” she stammered, her voice feeble and unconvincing. “As Cherise’s sister, I only wanted what’s best.” But the defiance in her eyes was a flickering flame, extinguishing in the face of Damien’s unwavering conviction.
“Best for her?” Damien’s smile was a chilling thing, devoid of warmth.
You dragged her through the mud, portrayed her as a villain, and then pretended to be her savior? I find such hypocrisy distasteful. And I spoke with a source at the SumTimes who presents a rather different account of events.”
Gwenn’s breath caught. The weight of his words pressed down on her, suffocating and damning. Damien had exposed the truth, the ugly truth that lay beneath her carefully crafted narrative.
Damien’s voice, a low rumble that resonated through the room, shattered the wedding’s facade of merriment. “My sources at the SumTimes informed me of a journalistic protocol. Before publishing any expose, the journalist must reach out to both parties involved. Even a single interview, a glimpse of the other side, is their minimum standard before unleashing such… accusations.”
He paused, a flicker of amusement dancing in his eyes. “The funny thing is, my conversations with the individual who submitted the news draft to you, along with the esteemed Dean of Lermille Hospital, painted a rather distinct picture. On the night you received this information, you didn’t bother to contact a single person, least of all Cherise. Instead, you rushed to your keyboard, words spilling like a burst dam.”
Gwenn’s face twisted in shock.
Attending this wedding had been a terrible mistake. Armed with meticulous research and unwavering resolve, Damien had come to expose her.
He dissected her public image, revealing the shallowness beneath the carefully constructed facade.
Every attempt to divert the conversation was met with his gentle, yet relentless, return to the truth. Damien was a predator, and Gwenn, his prey, was ensnared in the trap of his logic.
Seeing the tension rise, Beckham furrowed his brow. He tried to steer the conversation away, but Priscilla shot him a steely glare. “Let the kids settle their squabbles!” she snapped.
Beckham, accustomed to deferring to the late Charisa, fell silent. Even with Charisa gone, facing her sister still triggered the old reflex. As Damien and Gwenn exchanged verbal jabs, whispers began to swirl around them.
“A foster child, always a foster child,” someone sighed.
“Raised by the Tanners, yet still possesses such a rotten character. It makes you think, doesn’t it? Better stick to your own blood, I say…”
The gossip buzzed like a swarm of flies. The murmurs grew louder. Gwenn, scoffing, turned to Cherise and Damien. “This is why you brought me up here, isn’t it? Time for public humiliation?”
Moments ago, she had been content to stay hidden away and have nothing to do with them. Now, they were dragging her into the depths of their past. She was certain it was intentional.
Damien’s smile, a flicker of amusement, softened the sharpness of his words. “For me, perhaps,” he conceded. “But not for Cherise.”
He reached out, a hint of tenderness in his touch as he playfully pinched Cherise’s nose. “This silly one just wanted you to change into something more comfortable.”
