My Wedding Was His Family’s Biggest Lie Chapter 05

My Wedding Was His Family’s Biggest Lie Chapter 05

“I don’t.”

Ethan’s smile froze.

His hand clamped painfully around mine.

“Claire? What…what did you say?”

His voice dropped, warning me not to make a scene.

I pulled my hand free.

“I said I don’t.”

An unnatural silence settled over the ballroom.

The petal machine above us kept running. White petals fell onto the aisle and landed on Ethan’s rigid

shoulders.

Diane shot to her feet.

“Claire! What do you think you’re doing?”

I didn’t look at her.

“This wedding was a scam from the beginning.”

I pulled off the ring and tossed it onto the stage.

“The gown was rented. The diamond was fake. Even our wedding condo was transferred to Vanessa long

ago.”

“So why the hell would I marry him?”

Whispers erupted throughout the room.

Ethan’s face changed instantly, and he reached for me.

“Claire, stop this!”

“I’m the one making a scene?”

I took out my phone and cast the property-transfer deed and chat screenshots onto the venue screen.

Ethan’s signature on the deed was unmistakable.

Every guest could also read his message: “Claire’s easy to handle. I’ll tell her after we make the marriage

legal”!

The ballroom exploded.

Diane rushed onto the stage and tried to grab my phone.

I stepped back and stared coldly at them.

“You gave me fake jewelry while buying Vanessa a bridal jewelry set and handing her a condo. You planned

to abandon me as soon as the wedding ended so Ethan could leave the country with her.”

“Your whole family worked together to lie to me. What would be the point of this marriage?”

In the audience, Vanessa grabbed her purse and tried to leave..

I put away my phone and faced Ethan.

He stood frozen, his face drained of color. He couldn’t say a word.

“You were right about one thing, Ethan. Claire Bennett was easy to handle.”

I smiled.

“But easy to handle didn’t mean easy to fool.”

I lifted the skirt of my gown and walked away from the altar.

The aisle was long.

It had taken fifty steps to reach him, and it took fifty steps to leave.

This time, there was no music and no applause. Only the chaos growing louder behind me.

I had almost reached the door when Ethan finally shouted, “Claire! Stop right there!”

I didn’t turn around.

I pushed through the side door and hurried down the hall. The service entrance was only a few feet away.

Maya stood beside the car.

When she saw me running outside in my wedding gown, she didn’t ask a single question. She opened the

back door.

I climbed inside.

“Drive.”

The door slammed shut.

Maya hit the gas, pulled out of the parking lot, and merged into traffic.

In the rearview mirror, the Riverside Hotel’s gold sign grew smaller and smaller.

I leaned back, ripped off my veil, and reached behind me to unzip the gown.

Maya passed me a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans from the front seat.

“I already packed your bags.”

She glanced at me in the mirror and started to ask, “Claire, what the hell…”

“Just drive.”

I balled up the wedding gown and shoved it onto the floor.

“Take me to the station. Buy me a ticket for the next high-speed train. I don’t care where it’s going.”

My phone began vibrating nonstop.

Ethan, Diane, and Chloe called one after another until the phone felt numb in my hand.

I turned it off.

Just before the screen went black, one last comment drifted across my vision.

[Go, Claire. From this moment on, you’re free.]

Ethan believed I would come back.