Chapter 589 - The Greatest Betrayal

When Scar saw how helpless the second miss was, his heart moved.

He had always known the second miss as a brave woman, someone who cannot be moved and definitely not tamed.

Growing up in Marble Mansion, he knew her as someone close to perfect that he cannot comprehend how Dannah and her became sisters. Dannah was all flawed, raw, delicate and weak when he met her while Dian was the ever perfect Lagdameo miss. She was sophisticated, bearing all the elegance and wit that Dannah lacks and this perfect stature of her was probably one of the reasons why they didn't become friends. Because Dian knew her place as the heiress, she didn't mind looking at servants, nor so look at them as friends. Although she wasn't impolite nor harsh with them, she wore a kind of aura every time that every servant in the house got immediately intimidated to even consider treating her less than the second miss of the house. Unlike Dannah who was  friends with almost every servant in the house, Dian was cautious not to mingle with servants.

Looking at how she was devastated and helpless, Scar took his coat and hung it around her shoulders. Dian immediately clasped the end of it and immediately covered all of her. Edmund Huang robbed out the dignity she had for herself and even thought she was saved by then, she felt utterly low.

"Second miss its alright," Scar had lost words to comfort her because her vulnerability made her look far too enigmatic that she already was. Dian raised her head to Scar and he saw her tears. It was the first time he saw it even though basically they grew together up in one house, as far as he remembered, Dian never cried, even as a child.

Her tears were like sweet drops of wine, they rarely fell out of her eyes and when they did, it can make one intoxicated with it. Seeing it, Scar's heart beat differently for the first time.

***

L'Empire made sure the news about Dian getting assaulted in the conference never made it to the media. They had it all covered and wiped all the information for good. Not even Dian's mother nor her siblings knew about what happened to her.

All those who were involved were punished in a way that they will regret messing up Dian all their life. Edmund's friends for example were all taken by Franco's men and after days of threatening and torture they sent them to their families with permanent injuries. Knowing that L'Empire was their nemesis, their families wiped them all from their lineage and sent them abroad without a chance of proper education nor a chance of succeeding in their family's companies. Their families knew that once they step into their companies, they will be immediately banned by L'empire and they just couldn't take that risk. God knows what being banned by L'Empire meant, it means bankruptcy with no chance of survival.

However, things went different to Edmund Huang.

"You are to marry him," Manuel Lagdameo's voice was heard clear and loud in the hospital room where Dian was in. "We will announce the engagement on your 18th birthday to make it official,"

Dian wanted so much to answer back and asked why but she didn't have a voice against her father. Being the perfect daughter as she had always been, she didn't have the courage to go against her father although her insides were cursing him hard. How in the world would her father engage her to the one who attempted to molest her?

"Dian many heirs, were involved and although they were all punished in a way, the thing that happened if leaked in the media will bring up a huge scandal. So you and Edmund Huang will marry and pretend that what happened in that bathroom was all nothing but a lover's quarrel," Manuel Lagdameo explained to her although he thought it was unnecessary. Dian was smart, she knew it was the best thing to do, "Besides, this will save you from any judgements,"

Judgement? Why would she be judged when she was the victim? Dian screamed in her thought and wished she could just be as brave as she was back when she was with Edmund in that bathroom.

"You are a respected Lagdameo Miss, things will turn out a bit different when people knew you had been assaulted," Manuel said without hesitation without even bothering to be sensitive with his words.

"He was not able to…" Dian answered for the first time and yet her voice wasn't strong enough to finish her words.

"I know," Manuel finished it for her. "I knew that one of Franco's men was able to save you before he could do anything but you know people these days are, they'll look at you somehow different than you are before and I don't want that. Also, imagine the backlash we will get if people will know that the L'Empire almost failed in protecting you. We will ended up looking incompetent in front of everyone. Do you want that?"

So it's about L'Empire's reputation again? Her father chose to save L'Empire's reputation rather than getting her justice? 

Dian only nodded her head in agreement. Her eyes were warming up again with tears but for some reason they  just didn't fall even when she wanted to. Perhaps she had been used to crying at all that her tears had run dry over the years.

"Besides, the Huang's were our partners for many years already and for the first time, they give us a very favorable business venture as a consideration for your marriage, two hundred million dollars" Manuel's strong face brightened a bit with this, "Your grandfather was very pleased with this venture so I hope you could just go on with it. Besides, Edmund Huang was scared to hell, he would not touch a single hair of you again without your permission. Your uncle Franco made sure of that. This marriage is purely to save our reputation and for our business, do you understand?"

Dian nodded again obediently not wanting to disappoint her father.

But inside, her heart was shattered to pieces, a thousand over.

So her father sold her off just like that. All the worst, to the man who almost molested her. 

What's the value of her dignity and pride then? Two million dollars? Not bad for a useless Lagdameo woman right? The woman who spent all her life working and hoping to prove herself and become the next successor of L'Empire.

This engagement right there, unknown to everyone but Scar, was the greatest betrayal L'Empire did to Dian.