My Wedding Day, Their Marriage Certificate Chapter 02

My Wedding Day, Their Marriage Certificate Chapter 02

A flicker of surprise crossed Ethan’s eyes, and he looked at me as though I were being unreasonable.

“Claire, all the guests are already here. You can’t just say you won’t marry me now. Stop acting on impulse.”

“Laurel won’t fight you for anything. Do you really have to make this impossible to fix?”

His entitlement was so absurd it almost made me laugh.

My wedding was real, but Laurel’s marriage certificate was real too.

Ethan might have been able to divide marriage between two women, but I could not lie to myself that way.

“Wasn’t this whole mess caused by you?”

Ethan was clearly unhappy with my answer, and a cold smile flashed across his face.

“Claire, you were the one who insisted on paying out of pocket for this wedding. Now you’re calling it ridiculous? Don’t you think that’s a little funny?”

I froze in place. My lips parted, but no words came out.

I remembered choosing the wedding venue. I had fallen in love with the ballroom decorated with baby’s breath at first sight, but it cost ten thousand dollars.

Ethan had frowned and told me it was beyond our budget.

I did not want to compromise on a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, so I secretly took ten thousand dollars out of the savings I had set aside for my future and gave it to him.

How ridiculous. I had never stopped to wonder how a man making a comfortable six-figure salary could possibly fail to afford that ballroom.

Looking back now, it was never that he could not afford it.

He simply had not wanted to.

The smile on his face stabbed deep into my eyes.

So from beginning to end, I had been the only one looking forward to this wedding.

And now, I had paid ten thousand dollars for my own humiliation.

After the words left his mouth, regret flashed through Ethan’s eyes, and his tone softened.

“Claire, I know I hurt you, but this wedding has to happen today.”

The sincerity in his eyes made me dazed for a second.

I could no longer tell whether he insisted on going through with the wedding because he truly wanted to marry me or because he was afraid of losing face. Either way, it no longer mattered.

“Ethan Bennett, I will not marry you.”

“I still have some self-respect. I cannot hold a wedding with you while knowing you’ve already married someone else.”

Ethan’s expression changed at once.

Laurel clung to his arm and cried with a wounded expression.

“Claire, are you saying I’m shameless?”

“If you mind this much, I can divorce him right away. As long as Ethan is happy, I don’t care whether I’m official or not.”

I glanced at her and gave a mocking laugh.

“Laurel Hayes, was the room I decorated for my wedding night comfortable?”

“Did it feel good to sleep with your sister’s groom?”

Her little face went pale, and she tugged at the hem of my dress as she explained.

“Claire, I was forced too. You’re capable, talented, and loved by your family. Even without Ethan, you can meet someone better.”

“But if I don’t marry Ethan, my family will marry me off to a gambling addict whose last three wives all died.”

I had believed that story once, three years ago.

What I got in return was naked betrayal.

“Laurel Hayes, your suffering has nothing to do with me.”

“It is not an excuse for you to knowingly become the other woman and destroy my relationship.”

Her expression stiffened.

Then she looked up at Ethan with tears streaming down her face and whispered, “I didn’t…”

Ethan pulled her into his arms and soothed her with great care.

Only after making her countless promises did he finally coax a smile out of her.

He let out a slow breath, and his cold gaze landed on me.

“Claire Ashford. Cheating isn’t illegal, and neither is being the other woman.”

“Besides, whatever happens between Laurel and me is not for a mistress’s daughter to judge from some moral high ground.”

My head snapped up.

Laurel cast me a contemptuous glance, then widened her eyes in exaggerated surprise.

“Oh, so that’s the kind of family Claire comes from.”

“No wonder you’re so obsessed with having a wedding. People always crave what they grew up without.”

Regret flashed through Ethan’s eyes. He bent down, picked up the bouquet, and placed it back in my arms.

“Claire… I spoke without thinking. I’m sorry. Don’t take it to heart.”

I pushed his hand away.

The cruelest words were always the ones people let slip without thinking.

So love and cruelty could come from the same mouth.