Clara: Julian Arthur Sterling. It’s signed by a state judge, Julian. Is this forged too?
Julian: Clara, listen to me, it was a mistake! A mistake from years ago before I met you!
Clara: A mistake? You have a six-year-old child with a woman who cleans your estate's toilets?!
Helena: He forced me to sign a non-disclosure agreement, Miss Clara. He promised he would take care of Leo if I stayed quiet and worked as the house maid.
Clara: He made you work as a servant while raising his heir in secret?!
Helena: He said if I ever told anyone, his family’s legal team would take Leo away from me completely. He used his lawyers to intimidate me!
Mrs. Sterling: Because you're an opportunistic gold-digger, girl! You trapped my son!
Helena: I didn't trap anyone! Julian gave me that ring when we were in college! We were legally married in Nevada six years ago!
The chapel erupted into total chaos. Guests stood up from their seats, whipping out their phones to record the scene. The Sterling family lawyer, sitting in the third row, buried his face in his hands as the realization hit the room like a freight train.
Clara: Wait... married? You're legally married to him right now?
Helena: Yes! He never filed the divorce papers! He told me the divorce was finalized three years ago, but when I checked the public records last month, the case was dismissed because he never paid the filing fee!
Clara: So... if I marry him today... I'm committing bigamy?
Julian: No! No, Clara, that's a clerical error! My lawyers were supposed to handle that years ago!
Clara: You lied to me, Julian! You tried to marry me while you were still legally wed to your maid!
Julian: It doesn't change anything! I love you, Clara! She's just a nobody from his past! We can fix the paperwork tomorrow!
Clara: Fix the paperwork?! You abandoned your own son and treated his mother like trash in your own house!
Leo: Daddy... why are you yelling at Mommy?
Julian: Don't call me that! You're not my son, you're a mistake!
The words slammed through the room, cold and cruel. The little boy flinched, hiding his head behind Helena's neck, his small body shaking with quiet sobs. I looked at Julian, the man I was supposed to pledge my life to, and felt a wave of absolute disgust wash over me.
Clara: You monster. You absolute monster.
Julian: Clara, think about the merger! Think about your family's estate! If you walk away now, your father's business loses the Sterling investment!
Clara: My father would rather go bankrupt than see me marry a coward like you.
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