Matthew's left eye twitched. Genuine panic flickered across his face.
"Shut your mouth!" he roared, his complexion turning sickly gray. "Stop spewing nonsense! You set Joanna up! You plotted to get her pregnant just to ruin her life!"
He turned to the crowd, desperate to regain control. "And now he's back, dragging that poor child into this mess to use her as a bargaining chip! He's trying to blackmail the Fox family for money!"
The murmurs swelled into condemnation.
"So it really was a setup? Disgusting."
"Using his own daughter to extort money? The man has no bottom line."
"Poor Miss Fox. Imagine being entangled with a predator like that."
To them, the heiress and the executive were trustworthy. I was just the help. My humble background was my original sin.
Lucy didn't understand the words, but she felt the wave of hostility. She buried her face in my coat, crying harder.
"Daddy, they look so scary. I want to go home. Please?"
I held her tight against my chest, shielding her from their prying eyes. My hand offered gentle comfort, but my expression stayed cold as a frozen lake. I didn't bother looking at the jeering crowd.
My eyes were fixed on my prey.