My Mother Paid 100,000 For A Makeup Artist, He Sent Her To His Sister Chapter 03

My Mother Paid 100,000 For A Makeup Artist, He Sent Her To His Sister Chapter 03

The news that Susan would arrive soon lifted everyone’s spirits.

My mother smoothed a wrinkle from my ivory satin bridal robe and pulled herself together to rearrange the morning’s plans.

“Susan will do Ruby’s makeup. Brooke and Hannah, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to use backup artists. I’ll find two people right now to do makeup for the three of us.”

Brooke answered immediately, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Bennett. We’ll be fine. We’ll make sure everything still comes together for Ruby’s big day.”

Hannah slipped a comforting arm around my shoulders.

My father said nothing. He only clenched his fists and looked at me with such pain in his eyes that my tears began falling again.

He was the one who had named me Ruby. For twenty-seven years, he had treasured me like the most precious thing in his life and never let me lift a finger.

His friends used to tease him that, for a doctoral advisor at one of the country’s top universities, he had given his daughter such a simple name. He would laugh and reply, “What do you know? I named her Ruby so everyone would know she was my precious gem—my little princess.”

Yet the little princess he had cherished and protected for twenty-seven years had been deeply humiliated on her wedding day by the man who was supposed to become her husband.

For my sake, he couldn’t risk making a scene and throwing the wedding into even greater chaos. All he could do was swallow his fury and say nothing.

The clock continued ticking. Another ten minutes passed, and the dark sky began to pale with dawn.

My mother called everyone she knew and managed to find two makeup artists at the last minute. Once they began working on her, Brooke, and Hannah, the tension in the room finally eased a little.

Nolan called again.

My aunt, who was helping with the bridal preparations, tried to lighten the mood. “Answer it. He’s probably calling to apologize. Susan may already be on her way.”

“It’s your wedding day. You two should talk this through and start married life on the right foot.”

I pressed my lips together, but part of me still hoped she was right as I answered.

“Baby, don’t get mad. Just listen to me,” Nolan said. “At this point, Susan won’t make it to your house in time anyway. Since she’s already there, she might as well do Mrs. Dawson’s makeup. It’ll make our wedding look more polished too.”

“I’ve contacted other makeup artists near your house. They can get there faster, and this way we won’t delay the wedding.”

His words hit me like a bucket of ice water.

My ears rang so loudly that I almost couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Every conversation in the room stopped. For a moment, everyone froze.

Brooke and Hannah immediately stepped forward, one on each side, and steadied me.

My voice came out hoarse. “Nolan, do you not want to marry me?”

Nolan suppressed his impatience. “Baby, of course I do. This is only about a makeup artist. It doesn’t matter who does your makeup. Try to be reasonable. I’m just trying to solve the problem as quickly as possible.”

My voice rose. “You still think this is only about the makeup artist?”

“This is about my dignity. They’ve humiliated me and trampled all over it. This is my wedding, and my family paid for that makeup artist. Instead of doing the bride’s makeup, you sent Susan to Lila of all people, then let her stay there to do Lila’s mother’s makeup too. Who exactly are you marrying?”

“We’ve been together for seven years. Every time you told me to give way to Lila, I did. But now you expect me to give away my own wedding too?”

My voice was raw with anguish as I screamed at him.

For a moment, Nolan wavered.

Then he remembered what his mother had told him earlier.

“Marriage is a power struggle. One person always ends up calling the shots. Ruby’s family has money. If you don’t establish who’s in charge before the wedding, she’ll walk all over you for the rest of your life.”

He hardened his heart.

“We’re supposed to be at your house for the first look in less than two hours. You don’t want our wedding to turn into a public embarrassment, do you?”

“Stop making a scene. Just let one of the other artists do your makeup for now. Once the wedding is over, I’ll give you whatever you want to make up for this.”