Solmaris was Williams family territory. The Fordham brothers had dared to cause trouble here; they couldn''t be allowed to leave alive.


    If he could get them under control, today''s disaster wasn''t entirely irreversible.


    Just as Skyler gave the order, Perry, who had been silent in his wheelchair, suddenly lifted his shirt.


    Perry''s voice was even hoarser and more grating than Waylon''s, like a broken bellows.


    He curled his lips into a sinister, terrifying smile. "If anyone dares to touch us, we don''t mind taking everyone here with us.


    "To die with so many distinguished people... it wouldn''t be a loss."


    Only then did the crowd see that Perry''s torso was wrapped in explosives.


    In his hand, he held a detonator.


    The scene descended into even greater chaos.


    Ste hadn''t expected the Fordham brothers to be so unhinged as to strap bombs to themselves.


    If those explosives went off, almost everyone here would die with them.


    Joshua gently squeezed her hand. "Star, don''t worry. I won''t let anything happen to you."


    Ste was suddenly reminded of how Joshua had shielded her during a past explosion, keeping herpletely unharmed.


    Her heart settled.


    Seeing the explosives on Perry, no one dared to make a move.


    Skyler, noticing that the video was still ying after all this time, roared in fury,


    "Didn''t I tell them to turn off the screen? Why is it still on after so long?!"


    The Fordham brothers had not only switched the video but had also been talking for a long time.


    Even the slowest response team should have shut it down by now.


    Skyler''s assistant ran over, drenched in sweat.


    He was trembling, his voice on the verge of tears.


    "Mr. Williams, it''s not that we won''t turn it off... we can''t!"


    Skyler''s face was ashen. "What do you mean, you can''t?!"


    The assistant exined, shaking, "Thework... thework in the control room


    has been hacked. So... so we can''t shut it down..."


    Skyler''s vision went ck, and he nearly fainted from rage.


    He growled, "Can''t you just pull the plug?"


    The assistant''s face was a mask of misery. "We already tried, but the power system switches have been sabotaged... They came very prepared. It will probably take some time..."


    Meanwhile, the Chapmans, seated in the front rows, looked absolutely thunderous, their expressions grim with fury.


    This engagement party was a humiliation not just for the Williams family, but for the Chapmans as well!


    McCoy had been publicly humiliated... no, it was worse than that. With the entire world seeing his fiancée like this, he was the ultimateughingstock.


    His expression was beyond ugly; he looked like he was about tomit murder.


    He ground his teeth, staring at the Fordham brothers. "So, what do you want?"


    Waylon said, "I''ll give you two choices. One, you hand over Aurora, we take her and leave, and everyone is safe.


    "Two, you protect Aurora, and we all die together."


    The moment he said it, almost everyone cried out, "Is that even a choice? Hand over Aurora, of course!"


    "Get rid of that jinx, Aurora, before she gets us all killed!"


    "Is a cheap woman like her worth protecting?"


    "Williams family, Chapman family, if you can''t get your priorities straight and want us


    to die with you, don''t me us for turning on you first!"


    "Get that trash out of here! She''s a disgrace to this entire room!"


    "A slut like that deserves to die!"


    In an instant, Aurora was once again at the center of the storm.


    At first, people had been mindful of their image, their words somewhat restrained.


    But when


    their own lives were at


    stake, when it looked like they might


    be dragged down by Aurora,


    everyone''s words became vicious and their ugliest sides were


    revealed.


    They stared at Aurora on the stage with red eyes, as if looking at their parents'' murderer, wanting to tear her limb from limb.


    Who cared about appearances when their lives were on the line?


    Although McCoy couldn''t ept it, as the head of the Chapman family, he had a


    certain sense of responsibility and was not a coward who feared death.


    He was about to say something more when Lauretta''s father stopped him.


    "McCoy, are you really going to let everyone die for her?!"


    Lauretta''s father looked at him with heavy eyes. "McCoy, everyone here is our family and friends from the Chapman family. Are you really going to abandon all their lives for one woman?!"


    Aplex mix of humiliation, anger, and helplessness shed across McCoy''s eyes.


    Finally, he closed them.


    He didn''t look at Aurora, allowing others to drag the pale, lifeless woman off the stage.


    Skyler, Israel, and Coleman watched silently as Aurora was taken away, none of them saying a word to stop it.


    Only after Aurora and the Fordham brothers had disappeared did the crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.


    However, just as everyone began to rx, two sharp screams were heard from outside.


    A momentter, someone ran back in, trembling.


    "Someone''s... dead... The Fordham brothers have been killed!"


    Ste, who had been watching the drama unfold, was slightly taken aback.


    She whispered, "No wonder the Williams family didn''t stop them. So they already had a n in ce?"


    Hearing Ste''s words, Joshua, who was beside her, suddenly said, "No, they didn''t have a n. The person who killed those two brothers was someone I arranged."