Chapter 4

She leaned in and lowered her voice.

"If you'd been like this from the start, you wouldn't have had to put up with any of it, would you?"

"This dress fits really well. It's just that piece of cloth inside was a little dirty."

I smoothed the wrinkles on her shoulder.

"Does your husband think it fits too?"

The corner of her mouth froze for a second.

"Damien loves it, of course."

"I wasn't talking about him."

Bianca's head snapped up.

I had already stepped back and picked up the tray with the rings.

She grabbed me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Outside the door, the groom's party started cheering and hollering as they came to collect the bride.

Damien walked in holding the bouquet, but Bianca had gone pale, her eyes locked on me.

"Damien, I don't feel well. Can we not do this?"

Damien immediately reached out to feel her forehead.

She pushed the bouquet away, her voice shaking.

"Let's go home, okay?"

I glanced at the time.

10:23.

My phone screen lit up.

"Just landed."

Bianca saw those two words too.

She knocked the phone out of my hand.

"Who the hell did you invite?"

The phone hit the floor, and a crack ran across the screen.

The room went silent.

I bent down and picked it up.

"Didn't you say you had no family of your own coming? So I invited someone you know."

The color drained from Bianca's lips bit by bit.

Damien dragged me to one side.

"Vivian, did you bring someone here to wreck the wedding?"

"If you're this scared of who might show up, why are you still going through with it?"

He stared at me and held out his hand for the phone.

"Give it to me."

I stepped back.

Suddenly Bianca clutched her stomach and crouched down.

"Damien... my stomach hurts."

He let go of me at once and bent to pick her up.

"Call a car. We're going to the hospital."

But Eleanor Grant, standing in the doorway, blocked them.

"Every seat downstairs is full. Mr. Thornton's assistant just called to say he's coming himself, and he'll be here any minute. If you leave now, what is he going to think?"

Damien stopped.

"Mr. Thornton's back in the country?"

Eleanor nodded. "That's no small honor. Get a doctor up here to take a look, and if she's fine, finish the ceremony first."

Bianca clung to his suit jacket.

"No. I want to leave."

Damien wiped the sweat from her temple.

"Bee, Mr. Thornton is the company's major shareholder. We can't snub him. Hang in there a little longer, and we'll leave as soon as the ceremony's over."

I stood off to the side, watching the fear on Bianca's face, and finally understood why she'd dared to hide out next to Damien.

Her husband spent most of his time abroad.

And her lover treated that husband as an honored guest he couldn't afford to offend.

Bianca suddenly reached out toward me.

"Vivian, I won't take it anymore. You can have the dress back. You be the bride."

She started tearing at her veil, and one of her earrings got yanked off.

Damien held her down and turned to look at me.

"What did you say to her?"

"I told her I'd invited someone she knows."

"Who is it?"

"You'll find out when he gets here."

A vein stood out on his temple. He was about to blow up when the emcee called from downstairs, telling them to hurry.

Eleanor grabbed his arm.

"Deal with it later. Mr. Thornton's almost at the door!"

Damien took a deep breath, lifted Bianca, and carried her out.

She twisted to look back, her eyes nailed to me.

I picked up the rings and followed them down.

At the entrance to the banquet hall stood the wedding portrait of Damien and me.

There hadn't been time to redo it, so the staff had covered my face with a bunch of flowers.

But the names underneath were still showing.

Groom: Damien Grant. Bride: Vivian Sinclair.

When Bianca walked in on Damien's arm, the murmuring among the guests exploded.

"Who is that?"

"Why is Vivian walking behind them?"

"Can you just swap out the bride at the last minute?"