My Wedding Was His Family’s Biggest Lie Chapter 04

My Wedding Was His Family’s Biggest Lie Chapter 04

“These are for you, Claire.”

He came to my side and adjusted my veil.

“Nervous?”

“A little.”

“Don’t be. I’ll be waiting at the altar. All you have to do is walk toward me.”

I stared into his clear, sincere eyes. There wasn’t a trace of guilt in them.

He probably thought he’d pulled it off perfectly.

“Ethan.”

“Yeah?”

“Will you promise me one thing?”

“Anything.”

I paused.

“No matter what happens after today, don’t come looking for me.”

Ethan looked startled, then smiled gently.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Once you’re my wife, who else would I look for?”

He pulled me into his arms and rested his chin on top of my head.

“Claire Bennett, you’re about to become my wife.”

The comments scrolled across my vision.

[He was holding Vanessa’s hand ten minutes ago, and now he’s hugging Claire. Disgusting.]

[Who knows how many times he has slept with Vanessa? Now he’s pretending to be devoted.]

Ethan released me and checked his watch.

“It’s almost time. I’ll head down first. Come out when you hear the music.”

He closed the door behind him.

I didn’t move until his footsteps had completely faded. Then I slowly exhaled.

I walked to the window and looked toward the parking lot.

A gray car waited beneath the trees beside the service entrance.

Maya leaned against the car door, looking up at me.

Everything was ready.

The music began.

The wedding march drifted up from the ballroom, muffled but still thrumming through the closed door.

I opened the door and left the bridal suite.

Two bridesmaids waited at the top of the stairs leading to the ballroom.

One was Chloe. I didn’t recognize the other woman.

A comment appeared.

[The other bridesmaid is Vanessa’s best friend. She’s here to make trouble for Claire.]

Chloe handed me the bridal bouquet.

“Ready, Claire?”

I took the bouquet.

Several flowers were already wilting, as though they had been crushed in cold storage for days.

“Yep.”

I stepped onto the aisle.

Every guest rose as the spotlight found me.

White petals drifted from above, and the scent of lilies hung so heavily in the air that it was almost suffocating.

Ethan stood at the altar with his hands behind his back.

Two rings rested on the ceremony table.

When he saw me, his eyes slowly reddened as if he was overcome with emotion.

In the audience, Diane dabbed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief while Chloe raised her phone to record.

Vanessa kept her head down, crushing her handkerchief in her fist.

A comment appeared.

[Vanessa isn’t twisting that handkerchief because she’s upset. She’s trying not to laugh.]

I walked forward one step at a time.

The aisle was long.

Exactly fifty steps separated the entrance from the altar.

I counted each one silently.

When I reached step forty, the officiant smiled.

“We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Ethan and Claire.”

Step forty-eight.

Ethan held out his hand—long fingers, fair skin, flawless on the surface.

But underneath? I couldn’t see him at all.

I placed my hand in his.

Ethan tightened his grip at once, as if he was terrified I might disappear.

The officiant opened his ceremony book and turned to him with a smile.

“Ethan Caldwell, do you take…”

“I do.”

Ethan answered before the question was finished.

He turned and smiled at me as thunderous applause filled the ballroom.

The officiant chuckled, then looked my way.

“Claire Bennett, do you take Ethan Caldwell as your husband, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

I opened my mouth.

The entire ballroom fell silent.

More than three hundred pairs of eyes fixed on me.

One final comment appeared.

[Say it. Tell him NO.]