CHAPTER 11

Charlotte let out a piercing shriek, her hands flying to her face as if to shield herself from the unbearable reality that she was surrounded with. She started pulling off from the delusion that she had so proudly worn like the high mistress of clowns.

“Here are a few graphic proofs to show that the same Bradley Stevens we all know is a member of a drug trafficking organization,” Oscar’s tone was resonating with authority, his hands dipped into his pocket as he waited for the projector screen to pop up with the next line of evidence.

The pictures on the projector screen showed a clear link between Bradley and the organ trafficking ring.

Everyone in the hall held their breaths as the pictures on the screen showed Bradley talking with people who were known to be organ traffickers and had been wanted by the police for a long time.

The next line of images showed Bradley handing over huge sums of money to strange-looking people. One of the images even showed a glass case where something that looked like a kidney was seen inside.

The whole crowd gasped in horror at the sight of the naked organ, their stomachs churning with disgust. Some of the younger ladies tried to hide their faces from the screen as they couldn't stand such an image.

Bradley’s face was clearly shown in the images and it was clear for all to see that he was involved in the illegal organ trade. Many murmurs were heard with the same report from everyone - Bradley wasn't who he had claimed to be.

Charlotte’s world turned upside down in an instant as she struggled to comprehend the enormity of what she had just witnessed.

She had already started planning for a bountiful wedding and preparing wedding cards. She had boasted to her friends about how she had bagged a powerful CEO as a partner.

The humiliation and public shame were too much to bear and she couldn't even speak a word to Bradley, whose face was bowed in shame and trembling.

If care was not taken, she could go crazy just right there in the hall. She could feel the heat of the moment and her emotions threatened to burst. She was clearly on the brink of a mental breakdown.

Bradley knew that people had started seeing him as a dangerous man - someone who shouldn't be among normal persons and surely not in a gathering such as the one that was happening.

He turned to take a look at Charlotte one last time and he noticed that she couldn't even stand him anymore. Since everyone was going to treat him as a freak, he better start behaving like a real one, he reasoned.

With a panicked glance around the hall, he leaped from the chair while Oscar was still on the podium.

Bradley’s body was tensing for an escape as he sought the nearest exit, his feet pounding against the floor leaving the guests gasping in surprise.

As expected, the security personnel wasn't going to let him leave the hall just like that. What on earth was going on in his mind for him to believe that he could just leave the hall?

“Sir, take a step back for me please,” One of the security spoke, his voice laced with authority.

Within a moment, one more officer came around Bradley.

“Officer, I am not staying close to you anyways,” Bradley responded. “I was on my own and you came to meet me so I should be the one asking you to step back.”

Bradley’s expression hardened into a mask of defiance as he swallowed the inner turmoil that he was experiencing.

Heads were turned towards the back of the hall to witness what was going on with Bradley and the officers.

Many couldn't believe that Bradley could actually summon the audacity to leave the hall in an instant.

People were talking in small groups, expressing their disgust at Bradley’s guts.

“Was he actually going to leave?”

“I think so, why else would he stand up to leave when he knows that he has been exposed.”

“Check for me, what are the officers telling him?”

“Come on, I can't hear from here. I have to be closer to pick what they are telling him but they won’t allow him to leave.”

“They have to arrest him and the others who have been exposed.”

“Damn! So Bradley is an organ trafficker?! You never know who to trust these days.”

“It's scary, man. To think I was about to do business with him not long ago.”

About three more officers came to the scene where Bradley was at the back of the hall and the conversation had gotten intense.

“Mr. Stevens, turn around and get your hands behind your back,” the officer commanded, his cuffs pulled out and ready to clink into Bradley’s wrist.

“You have to be kidding me,” Bradley spoke in a fierce moment of defiance.

Oscar who was still at the podium realized that there was a commotion going on at the back of the hall so he dropped the microphone with the event’s coordinator in a bid to get back the attention of the guests.

Oscar then passed through the sides in an attempt to reach Bradley. His eyes shone with a fire of anger as his feet pounded on the pavement.

Bradley had used the corner of his eyes and knew that Oscar was approaching. He wanted to avoid a face-off with Oscar as desperately as possible.

“Why would you get me in cuffs when I didn't do anything wrong? This is against the law and I have to speak with my lawyers before you do anything to me,” Bradley argued more desperately.

“Sir, for the last time, get your hands behind your back and turn around,” the officer insisted.