"You are a despicable liar, thief, shameless, and morally corrupt person." A roaring, furious voice was heard in the hushed ball.
"You didn't even think of your family before committing this heinous act? Do you have any integrity left?" William Woods questioned angrily. He had never been this disappointed before.
Due to anger, his eyes became red and he trembled now and then due to unstable emotions. "Tell me Emma Woods, where were we wrong in our upbringing which resulted in such horrendous consequences? I feel ashamed of being your grandfather."
Countless voices whispered, degrading Emma. Looking at her with disgust and disdain as if she was a lowly animal. These were the same people who had been praising Emma to the skies just a few moments before. It is human nature to fawn over those above them and step on those below them.
William Woods quivered as he fell back on his seat. "Dad!" Adrian Woods, Emma's father, yelled as he quickly supported his father.
"Leave me! It's all your fault for letting her do as she pleased! Look at her now. I can't raise my head because of this shameless thing. How dare she do that? Does she think we are dead and blind?" William shouted as he refused to let Adrian help him. He hit Adrian's hand which was outstretched to help him sit up.
During this commotion, only Emma stood motionless, head down as she stared at her red heels, looking unaffected by the whole commotion.
Contrary to their belief that Emma was stubbornly refusing to accept her mistake, she was trying to hold back tears.
She had never been humiliated like this ever before. She wanted to scream and ask when did things start to go downhill?
Just a moment ago, everything was fine. Emma was the star of tonight's ball as this ball was held in honor of her winning the National Arts Championship with her painting "The Seven Seas"
The same painting because of which she was under fire. Emma stood there, pursing her lips as she tried to hold back sobs. She had never predicted that this honorary ball will turn into her worst nightmare this quickly.
She bit her tongue as she forced back the wails that rushed to escape through her throat. She wouldn't let anyone see her humbled. She hadn't done anything wrong, to begin with.
"Look at her standing there so stubbornly. She should be apologizing for her willfulness and begging for forgiveness. Is this how a person behaves when they have committed a crime? I'm telling you, she wouldn't feel remorseful even if she caused my death." William once again directed his anger toward Emma, the culprit. He was utterly dispirited by the accusations against Emma and how she remained quiet no matter how much people cursed her. Her silence was looked upon as acquiescence.
The question now wasn't whether Emma was the evil-doer or not but how Emma was going to take responsibility for her actions.
They all had labeled Emma as the sole proprietor of this mess. They were not going to believe her no matter how much any person interceded on her behalf.
Not that anyone had bothered to step in to help her.
The whispering became loud, the attendees directly pointed at Emma as they blamed her.
"I was also befuddled how a person who had never learned art could draw so well. Now it explains" One of the noble ladies who had been quietly observing the situation finally opened her mouth. Because of this, other people also gained confidence and muttered noisily.
"Doesn't the Woods family feel ashamed? I think they also were involved in this as they have talked about helping their child gain a footing in the industry on multiple occasions. But they went too far. They should have bought a painting that at best wins a runner-up position. It was revealed that they were too greedy and bit off more than they could chew. They even proudly held a banquet. I feel embarrassed for them." One of the other ladies speculated.
"I regret attending this Ball. As if it isn't embarrassing enough to steal the work of someone, they still had the atrocity to deceive us and sing praises of their child."
"I know, and Mrs. Woods was saying that her daughter was talented since she was a child. Don't make me laugh. That child has done nothing worth mentioning except stir up trouble since she was born. If she was my daughter, I would have hidden her in the basement and never let her out for fear of losing face."
People gain confidence when they have mutual goals and tend to support each other. All of them had gathered around and were finding faults with Emma, who stood in the middle like a rock.
Emma felt desolate, lonely, and isolated as she stood there. She gripped the hem of her dress and tried to calm her anxious heart. She was facing her worse fears altogether. It was a nightmare and she wished someone could wake her up from this nightmare soon. But the difference was that this was reality and not a dream.
Nobody could help her out by waking her up. Her breathing picked up as she tried to remain conscious. She felt her anxiety bubbling up as she listened to people more and more. All kinds of accusations and speculations were being made. People didn't care how hurtful their words were.
"Emma, say something. Is it true? Is Max saying the truth?" A troubled voice woke Emma from her trance. She looked up and saw her mom asking her. She was lightly frowning as she asked. Wanting Emma to refute.
Emma smiled self-deprecated. Slowly opening her dry mouth she said, "No, she's lying."
All that were present were taken aback by her words. What did she mean by that?
Most of them weren't willing to believe such a weak defense statement and attributed it to her headstrongness for wanting to shirk responsibility. Some waited for her to elaborate on what she meant.
Even William and Adrian were surprised. They thought that Emma was guilty due to which she was refusing to say anything.
But it was still too early to believe. Before Adrian could urge his daughter to tell more about what she meant, he was alarmed by a peal of loud laughter.
The one who laughed was Ana Smith, the girl who had accused Emma of stealing a painting that was allegedly painted by her and caused this whole situation.
"How can you say I'm lying? I have proof. You should also show the gentry here a shred of evidence that "The Seven Seas" was indeed painted by you instead of arbitrarily calling me a liar," Ana Smith said gently.
Due to her statement, the people doubtful of whom to support again sided with Ana Smith. After all, most of them belonged to the art industry where honesty was a necessity if you want to be successful.
"William, I never expected you to lie to me. I was ecstatic when I came to know that it was your granddaughter who won the National Arts Award but you deceived me. Wait and see how I deal with you," The person who spoke was Harry Wellington, the Director of the C School of Arts, who was known for valuing nobility and uprightness.
He believed that only the true painter would be confident enough to crash a celebratory ball because of how wronged they felt. Moreover, this girl was saying she had evidence as well, and judging from the stance of William's granddaughter, it looks like she has no proof to support her willful claims.
Emma went silent once again after weakly telling her mom. She couldn't react properly due to the fact that in addition to this being a celebratory ball, it was her engagement ball as well. And the one who brought this girl here was her fiancé to be, Max Davies, who introduced Ana Smith as her girlfriend.
Emma wasn't able to function properly due to this revelation. She was devastated as she had been waiting for this day her whole life. She was unable to process the emotions and heartbreak at the moment.
She looked up and saw Max, who looked extremely handsome in his black tuxedo and carefully set hazel hair. Even though he knew that Emma's gaze was on him, he didn't spare her even a glance.
'Why is he being like this? Is he not aware of the pain I'm in? Why did he do this? If he hated me, he could have gotten someone to kill me rather than humiliate me like this.'
Emma's breath once again hitched as her thoughts went deeper and deeper. She wanted someone to hold her hand and reassure her but to her disappointment, no one did.
William lowered his head at the questioning tone of his friend who had been fawning over him the whole night and now he was accusing him of deceiving him.
William glared at Emma as a ruthless thought flashed through his mind.