Everyone returned to their party mood once Ayla left. Her leaving didn't affect the party much. The party was still lively. Toby, however, looked at the way she went from time to time. Did Lala run away? What if something happened to her? Although he was engaged, and she was married, he still cared for her. What a ridiculous situation they were stuck in! They didn't even get a chance to explain things to each other. Few minutes later, Molly went to the restroom to fix her makeup. When she was about to enter the washroom, Ayla came out and saw Molly. She nodded politely and greeted her, "Miss Smith. "Mrs. Clark, you don't need to be so polite with me. You can call me by my name. Also, since you and Toby are friends, you must. also call me Molly. After applying the face powder on her face, she took out a red lipstick and applied it as well. Then she turned to Ayla and gave her a disdainful smile. "Miss Smith, you've misunderstood. The relationship between me and Toby is nothing like what you've interpreted,” Ayla. explained. Perhaps she had a little hope in her relationship with Toby in the past, but after today's face off, it was gone. "I could only hope so. Anyway, I'm going to marry Toby. You're also invited with Mr. Clark!" Molly smiled. After Ayla smiled back with a nod, they both went back to the banquet hall, pretending to develop a friendship between them. "Molly. When Toby saw Molly and Lala coming back together, he felt uneasy. However, Molly overlooked his reaction and smiled enthusiastically. "Toby, Mrs. Clark just congratulated us! Shall we drink a toast to her?". "Molly, Lala doesn't. Before he could complete his sentence, Molly already had handed a glass of wine to Ayla. "Mrs. Clark, please. For good times’ sake, let's drink. I heard that Mr. Clark is very good at drinking. You shouldn't have a low. tolerance, therefore," Molly said teasingly. Ayla being the polite girl that she was, couldn't refuse her. "Miss Smith, Mr. Brown, I wish you a happy married life together!". Ayla said then raised her glass and drank it up in one gulp. "Mrs. Clark, wow. You really have a high tolerance. I'll join you too. Molly also drank it up in one gulp. The two women found it a way to express their inner turmoil. So they continued drinking glasses after glasses. Asilent war broke between them. Toby realized this would not end soon, and in the worst case, Molly might try something stupid

In order to prevent Molly from hurting Lala, Toby took a hold of Molly's hand and excused themselves from there. Ayla felt thankful when Toby took Molly away. But she felt too weak to stand anymore. Fortunately, she saw an empty chair beside her and immediately held the back of it to steady herself. Her alone time was short- lived as someone came and stood before her right at that moment. She raised her head and saw the familiar handsome face with cold eyes staring right at her. "Mr. Clark. "Did I ask you to leave me and do whateve r you want? Huh? Answer me! Were you wait ing for the chance to throw yourself into . your childh ood sweethe art's arms?" . Brian had been witn essing their intera ction from not afar. They were rea lly attentive to each other. If she was so drawn to this one man, what about her re lationships with other men? . "No, I was j ust. Ayla wanted to explain, bu t she knew it wouldn't mak e any difference to Brian. He didn't even w ant to listen to her explanation. He was indifferent an d sarcastic towards h er from the beginning. Just like Mol ly always misu nderstood her. To Brian, she was nothing but a harlot. Brian grab bed her wri st tightly. "You better chastise yourself, Arlene. Don' t embarrass me here. Ayla’s wrist hurt beca use of his vice grip, but she didn't show it. Maybe, if Toby saw her with Brian, he'd know that she was actually li ving a good life and feel relieved. Looking at her wrist, which was tightly held by Brian, T oby felt a pang in his chest. His heart ached for his Lala. Brian would ne ver be a good husband to her. He would find o ut why she agre ed to marry him. How could Clayton do this to her? Even i f she was not his biological daughter, h e couldn't just let her suffer like this. With a forced smile o n her face, Ayla foll owed Brian everywhere. She didn't get the chance to pay attenti on to what others were doing or talking about. When Hayden announced that Toby and . Molly would get m arried next month, Toby was stunned. He wasn't expectin g Hayden would fix a date that early. But when his eyes shifted t o Ayla to see her reaction, she remained expressionless. Molly observed tha t Toby's entire att ention was on Ayla. Although that bitch couldn't anymore destroy her life, she still had his full attention. Molly g lared a t Ayla. She hated that bitch! Ayla, however, didn't notice any of this as she was feeling too dizzy from the alcohol she consumed earlier. Her face flush ed as she sudd enly felt hot. Her limbs became h eavier, and footste ps became unsteady. She squeezed Br ian's arm that she was holding. Brian notice d that. He didn't want to stay at the party any longer either. He had learned the relationship between her and Toby, so there was no need to stay any longer. Ayla tripped as Brian led her towards the exit and almost fell to the ground. Toby saw that and was a bout to step forward whe n Molly pulled him back. "Toby, she is Mrs. C lark now. Mr. Clark is there to help her. Yes, Mrs

Clark! Sh e was Mrs. Clark. Sh e was married now. Toby froze in his place and watched Brian holding her waist and pulling her close. The two of them then le ft together. "Thank you. ! can walk by myself. As soon as Ayla walked out of the banquet hall, she w anted Brian to release her. They acted int imate only for others to see. Now that they left the par ty, they needed not to con tinue their fake intimacy. Wasn't that what he wanted ? Brian already knew someth ing like this would happen. He wanted Toby to realize that Arlene was his legal wife now a nd he should stay away from her. So, he forced Arlene to act intim ate with him to prevent others fr om approaching her in the future. No one would dare to get close to her after tonight. Ayla didn't know how she should feel. But, she had n o choice but to listen to him. Brian loos ened his g rip on her. Due to the high heels she was wearing , she stumbled forward only after tak ing two steps and fell on the ground. If it weren't for the carp et on the floor, she would have hurt herself severely. "Are you re ally bad at drinking?" . Brian bent over and s tudied her. Her face flushe d while her eyes became blurred. He watched her d rink only three glasses of wine. That shouldn't affect her considering her c onsumption reputation. Without looking at him, Ay la said, "You won't believ e me no matter what I say. He would only think that she was pretending and ac ting to gain his sympathy. Brian put his arm around her w aist and lifted her up, withou t stretching the conversation. As they got into the car, Ayla leaned against the seat and closed her eyes. "I don't want to go b ack to the villa. Can you please let me go?” . Was she drunk? She collect ed courage to request him after drinking the alcohol. Brian didn't answer until the car stoppe d at the red signal. He turn ed towa rds her. "If you tell me the truth, I w ill let you go. But of course, someone has to pay the price. There was no tra ce of considerat ion in his voice. He was liter ally the rul er of death. If anyone would piss him off, d eath was the only consequences that could be expected from him. Of course, she couldn't tell him the truth that she was the adopted daughter of the Wo odsen family, and that she was a substitute . br id e. "You have nothing to say? Then don't expect me to let you go. Because you a re not qualified to request me that!" . As soon as the green light turned on, the c ar continued to drive forward. She had no ri ght to live free! Ayla was not qualified to . control her life. Whether i t was Clayton, Arlene or B rian, they all thought so. Ayla kept silent all the way until they r eturned to the villa. Brian got out of the car and left her alone. She opened the car 's door and fell o n the cold ground. Aterrible pain erupted in her stomach as she trembled, then s he vomited all over the ground