Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 397: The Reveal

I found myself praying silently that Desmond could bring everything under control, but my prayers probably fell on deafened ears. Instead of Desmond stepping up to the podium, it was my sister who approached it instead.

"What is she doing?" I asked in a shaky whisper as I felt myself breaking into a cold sweat. It felt like my eyes were about to pop out of their sockets as I continued staring in bewilderment and disbelief at my sister, who stood with a beautiful smile behind the podium, the microphone very close to her lips. I turned to stare at Desmond and managed to lock gazes with him. I could tell that he was staring right back at me, and the way he nodded his head reassuringly was supposed to bring me some relief and keep me at ease, but it only made me even more nervous.

I could tell that everyone in the crowd was staring daggers at my sister, even from where I was standing. It wasn’t surprising, considering that everyone thought Diana was me. It felt like tight knots had formed inside me as I waited for my sister to say what she had planned. I thought for a moment that she was going to apologize for what she had done and beg for everyone’s forgiveness. I didn’t think forgiveness would come so easily or that the people would suddenly find it in them to have mercy on me, but it seemed like the easiest way out. With what I had anticipated, I was all the more surprised when my sister began speaking.

"I guess I should thank everyone for your time, for being here, and for all the attention you have paid to this little issue all these years," Diana began, pausing to flash a beautiful smile at everyone in the crowd.

Her attitude was pleasant, and her voice was sweet, but there was something surely hiding just beneath the surface. It felt like I was watching a horror movie, walking down the dimly lit hallway of a haunted house, all the while knowing and waiting for a ghost to jump out at me. That was the anticipation and dread I felt as I waited for my sister to say what she had in mind. The crowd must have felt it too, as they stood there staring at Diana in silence.

"Since it is already quite clear that you’re not here to congratulate your King on his upcoming royal engagement, I would like to take this opportunity to correct some misunderstandings that will hopefully prevent any further discord in the future," Diana announced, flashing another smile. With each word she uttered and each passing second, the knots inside my stomach squirmed and tightened.

"I feel like I’m ready to faint," I whispered breathlessly.

"I’m here to catch you," Bradon replied, wrapping his arm around my waist. I turned to offer him a weak smile before turning my attention back to Diana.

By then, the crowd was murmuring as everyone began guessing what kind of misunderstanding Diana was about to

correct.

"It truly is a shame that my father has managed to gather so many victims here today. That’s right, all of you here are just victims of his scheme. All of you here are fools who don’t know how to differentiate what is true and what is false. So, let me take a little bit of my precious time to enlighten you," Diana continued before taking another pause.

"I think we need to stop her," I muttered under my breath, sensing the disaster about to strike.

"You can’t go over there," Bradon said as he wrapped his arm protectively around my waist to prevent me from practically running over to where my sister was.

"She’s going to destroy everything," I said in a low whisper through gritted teeth, but there was no use in trying to fight Bradon’s hold on me. It was already too late, and once again, things were taken out of my hands. All I could do was hope for the best.

"She might end up saving you both," Bradon whispered close to my ear, his words meant only for me. I didn’t even have time to consider what he could possibly mean because Diana had started speaking again. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"My name is Diana Alnault," my sister declared loud and clear.

Her statement was simple, but it managed to shock the entire crowd into complete silence. Diana seemed to take pleasure in taking in the view of all the stunned faces in the crowd. It felt very ironic how speaking the truth could have such an effect on other people. As for me, it felt like the world around me had started to crack. It felt as if I would see the sky above shattering if I were to tilt my head upwards and look. It felt like the ground beneath my feet might split and swallow me up whole. Everything we had fabricated, whether intentionally or unintentionally, was starting to fall apart-all because of the simple statement of my sister introducing herself honestly and truthfully.

In a sense, she did not do anything wrong; she was just telling the truth and stating that her name was, in fact, Diana.

The moment of silence where everyone was too shocked to react only lasted for a moment before chaos broke out in the crowd as everyone began speaking all at once to voice their confusion. I could not make out the words, but I had a pretty good idea of what they were saying. To them, there was simply no way that Dahlia could be Diana or vice versa.

It seemed like my sister had run out of patience, or the sight before her no longer entertained her like before, because she began speaking without waiting for the crowd to settle down or act like obedient audience members.

–To be continued..