Chapter 294

Gasps echoed through the ballroom as all eyes locked onto Margaret Sterling's ghostly pale face. The cold metallic click of handcuffs snapping around her wrists sent a visible shudder through the crowd.

The officers wouldn't make such a public arrest without irrefutable evidence.

This could only mean one thing - Margaret's involvement in the murder plot was undeniable.

As the reality of her situation crashed over her, Margaret swayed dangerously, her vision tunneling into darkness. The glittering chandeliers above seemed to tilt precariously as her world collapsed around her.

This couldn't be happening! She'd been so careful - using offshore accounts, hiring professionals abroad. Every precaution had been taken. How had they traced it back to her?

"Margaret! Margaret!" Richard Sterling's desperate cries cut through the murmuring crowd. He lunged forward, only to clutch his chest and crumple to the marble floor in a dead faint.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Leonard Blackwood barked, immediately directing staff to attend to the fallen man.

Julian Montgomery's jaw dropped. "Bloody hell, Nathan! Your ex-mother-in-law just got arrested for murder! This party just became the scandal of the decade!"

Nathan Blackwood's expression remained glacial, his piercing gaze tracking the unfolding drama with detached indifference. "Justice served," he stated coldly. "Crime doesn't pay."

As officers escorted a disheveled Margaret past Victoria Sterling, their eyes met for one devastating moment. The raw terror in her mother's gaze shattered Victoria completely.

"No! You can't take her! She's innocent! Mother!" Victoria's hysterical screams turned to shrieks as she lunged forward - only for disaster to strike.

The precarious tape holding her designer gown in place finally gave way under stress and perspiration.

Gasps filled the air as the dress slithered to the floor, leaving Victoria exposed in nothing but her undergarments before the entire elite gathering.

"Ahhh!" She curled into herself, arms crossing protectively over her chest, humiliation burning through her like acid.

Penelope Whitmore's face twisted in disgust. This disastrous evening would haunt their family's reputation for years. All her careful planning ruined by this disgraceful spectacle.

Meanwhile, Cassandra Blackwood sipped her champagne in a shadowed corner, lips curling in satisfaction as she watched her nemesis' spectacular downfall. Several guests had already discreetly pulled out phones to capture the scandalous moment.

"Honestly mate," Julian quipped, nudging Nathan, "considering what's underneath, you've dodged one hell of a bullet."

Nathan turned away without a backward glance, decades of childhood memories now tainted beyond recognition.

"Nathan, please!" Victoria's desperate cry came as she scrambled after him, momentarily forgetting her state of undress in her panic.

"Good lord! Are those... stretch marks on Victoria's stomach?"

"They certainly look like it!"

"Definitely pregnancy stretch marks - I'd recognize them anywhere!"

"The absolute nerve! Playing the innocent virgin while hiding a pregnancy? Disgusting!"

"Mr. Blackwood's lucky escape if you ask me!"

Victoria's dreams of wealth and status evaporated before her eyes, the whispers cutting deeper than any blade.

Nathan's broad shoulders remained rigid as he strode toward the exit, his expression unreadable.

Julian followed silently, uncharacteristically at a loss for words as the weight of the evening's revelations settled over them both.