Samantha had an inexplicable smile glued onto her face as she faced the guests, and Desmond had a gut feeling that trouble was brewing.

"Should I stop her?" Natalie suggested as she also didn't have a good feeling about the look on Samantha's face.

"Let her be. It's her banquet, after all." Desmond dismissed. If his sister had a brain, she would know better than to mess with him in such a setting, so he somehow wanted to believe that this whole charade had nothing to do with him.

"Extinguished guests, thank you for attending this banquet." Samantha smiled. "Allow me to use this chance to invite my brother, Jaime."

When she finished speaking, she gestured her hand towards the entrance that was on her right. A man in a cream tuxedo walked in and stood beside Samantha, taking the microphone while muttering an audible "Thanks, sis."

Some meters away, Desmond frowned as it finally sunk in. Samantha was the stage warmer all along. Today's stage belonged to Jaime, who must be the star of whatever nonsensical charade was about to unfold. He looked like a self-proclaimed king as he gazed at the crowd as though he looked down on everyone like they were as worthless as the dust under his feet.

"I'm glad that you all made it to this special banquet." His tone was sarcastic, making it apparent that he was far from glad. Not wasting his precious time on meaningless small talk, he spoke again. "I would like to take this opportunity to announce an extremely special and unexpected piece of news. Everyone knows that there are three children in the Fort Family, but from now, there will only be two."

He searched the crowd with his arrogant eyes, and when he locked eyes with his brother, the corners of his lips lifted as though he was provoking him. There was nothing Desmond could do about it anyway.

"No way." The guests exchanged glances and gossiped in low tones. Was Jaime leaving the Fort family? It was not impossible since his father was dead while his mother was in jail for murder. Anyone would be disheartened, but wasn't leaving the family too much?

Outside, Zaria heard Jaime's announcement and held back a gasp.

"He is going to disown Desmond." A curse resounded beside her.

"No fucking way!" She let out an unrestrained curse. How dare he!

It was only when she was done cursing that she realized that the person beside her was Liam. Her gaze narrowed at him.

"Forget our grudges for a second. I know you have something against Jaime." Liam looked into her narrowed eyes urgently. "Of course, he cannot erase the blood running in Desmond's veins, but he will be humiliated in public and heaven knows what kind of rumors would erupt from this incident."

Zaria stopped the mean words at the tip of her tongue from shooting at Liam when she realized that his words made sense. She gathered the skirt of her dress and sprinted into the hall, entering using the right-side door that Jaime had entered earlier.

Jaime enjoyed the misunderstanding he had created and smiled as the guests guessed and speculated. He then laughed jovially. "Aren't you so imaginative? The idea of leaving the Fort family may be thrilling, but it's not what I have in mind." He once again let them speculate for a second before he played with the microphone as he resumed speaking. "I would like to announce that I am disowning my younger…"

Before he could complete his statement, he noticed that Zaria had entered the hall at some point and was now standing beside him. His eyebrow raised in question. What was this? Had the beauty finally noticed him? Was she here to express her support as he made the big announcement?

He held a hand out to her, and she smiled as she placed her phone in his opened palm. He found her actions peculiar. Even if she wanted his cell phone number, she could take it from him later. What did she mean by doing so in a hall full of guests and by interrupting his speech?

Thinking that she probably wanted to stake her claim on him so other women would stay away, he found her cute and raised the phone in front of him to insert his contact number, but what he saw on the screen was baffling.

His face turned pale as his eyes bulged, but it lasted a fraction of a second and disappeared before anyone noticed it. He nonchalantly returned the phone to Zaria and continued with a smug smile. "I would like to announce that I'm disowning my younger sister, Samantha."

"What?" More than the guests, Samantha was so shocked that she almost made a fool out of herself. What had gotten into Jaime? This was no time to play around!

"Since my sister felt that it is too boring to be part of the family, I found it only right to let her go. Good luck, Sam." He concluded his speech by sending a fake smile in Samantha's direction, and then he shoved the microphone back into her hands while trying to maintain his calm. Then he walked out of the banquet hall.

The smile on Zaria's face deepened. She made to leave and turned back to brush past Samantha and whispered, "Congratulations, Samantha Fort."

Leaving behind the enraged Samantha, she made her way to the spot where she had seen Desmond and nudged him. "There is nothing more to see. Let's go."

"He was about to disown me. What did you show him?" He asked in a low tone.

"A threat. Want me to show you?" She playfully smirked.

"Yes. Can I see?" He asked, wondering just what it was that could make his stubborn brother change his mind. Not only that, but he also returned the phone to Zaria without faking an accident to break it or flipping up on her. It had to be something extremely impactful.

In response, she shook her head like she was waiting to be bribed before she could share the information. "Ask me nicely later."

Desmond smiled and nodded at her before he made his way to the stage. Samantha was currently making some small talk even though it was evident just how embarrassed she was while everyone asked her why she was leaving the family. She had already testified against her birth mother and this was still etched in the minds of everyone who heard about it. The few that had forgotten about it were reminded of what a heartless traitor she was by this piece of news.

"What do you want?" Samantha mouthed when she noticed Desmond taking the microphone. It was already awful enough that Jaime had changed plans at the final moment and left her in the eye of the storm. What was Desmond doing?

Before she could stop him, the man had already started speaking. "I'm sorry about that. My brother likes to joke around at times that are least appropriate. What he meant is that Sam is getting married soon, so there will be one less person using 'Fort' as their surname."

"Oh…" A guest exclaimed in understanding.

"So that was what Jaime meant." Another laughed.

"Jaime didn't strike me as the type to joke around at such a time."

Seeing that the discussion had turned in the direction he wanted, Desmond smiled at Samantha. "Congratulations, sis."

"Thank you brother." She was not getting married any time soon, but that was a much better rumor for people to spread than her being the black sheep of the family. It was ironic that the real black sheep was helping her out, but she knew better than to be relieved. He definitely had some other plan.

She was right because Desmond indeed had a grander plan and did not want Samantha out of the family or it would not have the desired effect. After successfully averting the crisis, he waved at Zaria to follow him out so they could leave. There was nothing else to watch since the show was over. The clown had long fallen and could no longer continue to perform his theatrics.

"Don't be so smug." Jaime growled through gritted teeth when Desmond brushed past him with Zaria, who had just ruined his plan.

Desmond turned to glance at him spitefully. "Oh, I have to be. I just squished you like an ant with zero effort. What made you think you had the authority to disown people from the family anyway? You made a total fool out of yourself out there. But do not fret. I've got your back, brother."

He patted the back of Jaime's shoulder through the last word, and the latter rubbed it as though he had been touched by something disgusting.

"I will kill you when I have the chance, Desmond."

"I'll be waiting." Desmond scoffed like he was looking forward to witnessing the clown make a fool out of himself once again.