Chapter 120: Does she truly not love me anymore?
Noah’s fingers curled into fists, his jaw tightening. He wanted nothing more than to punch Elias. Instead, he grabbed the front of Elias’ suit, bunching the expensive fabric in his fists.
"Listen carefully," he hissed. "Divorce Elena if you want to save your company. Otherwise, I’ll destroy you completely."
Elias looked down at the hand gripping his collar before lifting his cold gaze to Noah. Rage simmered beneath his calm expression.
Noah actually dared to lay his hands on him. For that alone, Elias could have broken every bone in his hand. Yet he remained composed.
A faint smile slowly curved his lips.
"Destroy me?" He brushed Noah’s hand away as though it were nothing more than dust. "Do you really have the power to do that?"
The contempt in his voice struck Noah’s pride like a knife. His face darkened.
"Who do you think you are?" he growled. "You are nobody."
He sneered. "Your company will go bankrupt within days. The board will kick you out, and then what?"
He took a step closer. "You won’t survive in this city if you make an enemy of me. I can blacklist you. No company will dare hire you."
He lifted his chin arrogantly. "But if you divorce Elena, I might be generous enough to give you a job."
Before he could finish speaking, a sharp slap echoed through the banquet hall.
Everyone froze.
Noah’s head snapped to one side. A burning pain spread across his cheek, leaving his mind momentarily blank. Slowly, he raised a hand to touch the reddening mark before looking at Elena in stunned disbelief.
He couldn’t believe she had slapped him in front of everyone.
Even Elias was momentarily taken aback. He hadn’t expected Elena to defend him so fiercely.
A warmth spread through his chest. His admiration for her only deepened.
"Who are you to tell my husband to divorce me?" Elena demanded, her chest rising and falling with anger. Her eyes blazed. "You came to this gala just to humiliate him. Who gave you that right?"
Noah stared at her speechlessly. His mind went completely blank.
The hostility in her eyes struck him harder than the slap. He had always believed Elena was simply angry with him, that deep down, she still loved him.
But looking into her eyes now, he saw nothing but disappointment and disgust. For the first time, doubt crept into his heart.
’Does she truly not love me anymore?’
Tessa rushed to Noah’s side. She gently touched his reddened cheek before glaring at Elena.
"You actually hit him?"
Elena didn’t even spare her a glance. Instead, she walked over to Elias. Not because she needed protection, but because she didn’t want him to misunderstand.
She noticed the wrinkles Noah had left on his suit and carefully smoothed them away. Emotion tightened her throat. She forced back her tears and smiled softly.
"You look much more handsome when you are perfectly put together."
Elias smiled warmly. His thumb gently brushed against her cheek.
"Then I’ll make sure to stay impeccable for you."
Their eyes met. For that brief moment, it was as though the noisy banquet hall had disappeared, as if only the two of them existed.
Watching them exchange such tender looks, Noah felt as though someone had driven a knife straight into his heart.
The pain was unbearable. Beside him, Tessa was equally consumed by rage.
"You slapped Noah, the sole heir of the Sinclair family," she shouted. "Do you think you can simply walk away after that?"
She turned toward the guards. "Call the manager. How did these impostors even get inside? They came here to cause trouble. They should be punished severely."
The two guards immediately lowered their heads.
"Yes, ma’am." One hurried off to find the hotel manager.
The other pulled out his phone. "I’ll notify the chief security officer."
He quickly dialed a number.
"Sir, we have intruders causing trouble in the banquet hall. Please come immediately."
After ending the call, he looked at Elias with undisguised smugness. "Our chief is a retired army officer."
A mocking smile spread across his face. "He’ll crush you."
Elias remained completely unfazed. "Let him come." His voice was calm, yet commanding. "I’d like to see who has the courage to offend me."
"You arrogant fool," Tessa scoffed. "You still insist on pretending to be someone important. You are only digging your own grave."
Then she turned to Elena. "And you... you are clinging to this delusional man as though he is some emperor."
She let out a sarcastic laugh. "Noah tried to save you. But you slapped him in front of everyone. You humiliated him. And you still chose this loser."
She tilted her head, smiling victoriously. "So tell me... Who is going to save you now? You’ll be dragged down with him."
Inside, she was already celebrating.
At last, she had defeated Elena. Even if Noah wanted to protect her now, it was too late. Surely, he wouldn’t dare oppose the Rowan family over Elena.
Elena looked at her steadily. She smiled faintly. "Soon, you are going to regret every word you just said. You have no idea who you’ve offended."
"Enough!" Tessa snapped, finally losing her composure. "I don’t know what kind of lies this man fed you. You actually believe every word that comes out of his mouth."
She sneered. "Do you even have a brain?"
"I do," Elena replied calmly. Her gaze swept over Tessa. "But unfortunately, you don’t."
"You—" Tessa lunged forward, ready to claw at Elena.
Before she could take another step, a commanding voice thundered across the hall.
"Who is creating trouble here?"
Everyone instinctively turned toward the entrance.
A tall, broad-shouldered man strode into the banquet hall. His sharp eyes swept across the crowd with practiced authority.
The moment Tessa saw his uniform, her eyes lit up.
The chief security officer had finally arrived.
She hurried toward him. "Officer... Thank goodness you are here."
She pointed straight at Elias and Elena. "Those two sneaked into the gala. They even pretended to be Mr. and Mrs. Rowan. The audacity. You must punish them severely."
The officer followed the direction of her finger.
The moment his eyes landed on Elias, he froze.
How could he ever forget that man?
Five years ago, he had nearly lost his life in a devastating accident. Elias had been the one who saved him.
Later, to repay that life-saving favor, he had personally trained Elias in hand-to-hand combat. During those months, Elias had introduced himself as the heir to the Rowan family.
After Elias completed his training, they went their separate ways. They hadn’t met since.
After all these years, they were standing face to face once again.
"They even humiliated the distinguished guest," Tessa continued, completely oblivious to the officer’s expression. "Throw them out and hand them over to the police for trespassing and impersonating the Rowan family."
Smack
The crisp slap echoed through the silent banquet hall.
Tessa staggered backward. The force of the blow made her jaw throb, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
She stood frozen, unable to process what had just happened. Slowly, she turned toward the officer. Her eyes were filled with shock, anger, and disbelief.
"Why did you slap me?" she screamed. "They are the troublemakers. Why are you hitting me?"
The officer’s face turned icy. "Because you chose to insult the one person you should never provoke."
He grabbed her arm and forcefully turned her toward Elias. His voice rang through the banquet hall.
"Open your eyes and look carefully. This is Mr. Rowan, the heir to the Rowan family."