Revenge at the AltarChapter 2

Still holding Chloe’s hand, he turned back.

“When we were dating, you threatened to break up with me. Now that we’re getting married, you threaten to cancel the wedding.”

“Claire, can’t you come up with something new?”

Chloe smiled too.

“Claire, I’m only filling in. None of us expected a problem with the dress.”

“This was supposed to be your happy day. Don’t joke about canceling it.”

I looked at the gown on her body—the silhouette I had personally designed.

The idea that it was a delivery mistake was absurd.

This gown had been custom-made.

Over the past three months, I had gone to the studio for three fittings.

Five days ago, during the final fitting, it had fit me perfectly.

And now, suddenly, it was one size too small.

Either someone had contacted the studio beforehand.

Or Chloe’s dress had been made to her measurements from the beginning.

One of the groomsmen whistled.

“Claire, it’s supposed to be a happy day. Can you stop saying things that kill the mood?”

“Come on, we know you. Every time you and Ethan ‘broke up,’ weren’t you the one who ended up miserable?”

“And wasn’t Ethan always the one who had to make it up to you?”

Ethan laughed.

“All right. Let’s go.”

“Come on! Let’s send Ethan and the bride out!”

The groomsmen crowded around Ethan and Chloe and ushered them away, cheering.

I tightened my grip on my phone.

A message from Adrian Hayes popped up.

[I’m on my way. If you change your mind, I’m stealing you away and marrying you myself.]

I looked down and replied.

[You’d better mean it.]

I locked my phone.

Then I stared in the direction Ethan and the others had gone and smiled coldly.

This time, Ethan was wrong.

When I was little, my mother had always taught me that couples fought while dating.

They broke up and got back together.

Going through that a few times didn’t necessarily mean anything.

But marriage had to be taken seriously.

If they were still wearing each other down by the time they were ready to marry, he wasn’t the man for her.

My only regret was the wedding dress I had spent three months designing and repeatedly altering.

In the end, I never even got to wear it.

I decided to step outside for some air.

As I passed the lounge next door, I suddenly heard one of the groomsmen speaking inside.

“Ethan, what if Claire finds out there was no delivery mistake? You had the studio remake the dress in Chloe’s size so she could have a wedding with you. You really think she won’t blow up?”

I stopped walking.

Ethan laughed.

“She won’t.”

“Maybe not. Did you forget what her temper was like when you two were dating? We used to invite you out for drinks, and she’d march straight into the bar and drag you home.”

“That was when we were dating.”

Ethan’s voice was calm.

“Once we’re married, she won’t dare.”

“Why not?”

“Because her parents are dead.”

My hands curled into fists.

“Sure, all the Bennett shares and assets are in her name now, but she has no real family left to back her up.”

“She’s alone in Seattle. What would she gain by calling off the engagement?”

“Besides...”

Ethan laughed softly.

“She can’t live without me.”

“She’s all talk.”

Someone whistled.

“Damn. You really know her.”

“We always thought Claire had a temper. Turns out you figured her out years ago.”

“And this setup is genius.”

“Claire is still the one going to the courthouse with you.”

“And Chloe gets the wedding she’s always dreamed of.”

“Nobody loses.”

Ethan smiled.

“Chloe never really had anyone looking out for her growing up.”

“When her father was alive, he gambled, tricked her into co-signing several loans, and even opened credit lines in her name.”

“After he died, the debts in her name were still hers to repay.”

“She’s always believed she might never have a decent wedding in her entire life.”

“Walking down the aisle with me has always been one of her dreams.”

“I couldn’t deny her something so small.”

“As for Claire...”

He paused.

“I have the rest of my life with her.”

“I’ll make it up to her later.”

The room filled with teasing cheers.

I stood outside the door with a bitter smile.

Ethan thought he could bully me because I had no parents.

But the Carter family had been built with my parents’ help.

Diane and my mother, Eleanor Bennett, had been best friends when they were young.

Ethan’s father died early.

When Carter Systems ran into financial trouble years ago, my parents had been the ones who stepped in.

My father, Richard Bennett, had overseen Bennett Technologies’ hardware and supply chain operations.

My mother had been one of the industry’s top game-interaction designers, holding a large portfolio of patents related to control technology and feedback systems.

Back then, to help Diane, my father had opened Bennett’s supply chain to Carter.

My mother had also licensed several key patents to Carter Systems for almost nothing.

Before my parents died, Mom even told me that Diane had spent years running the company alone and that it hadn’t been easy.

The two families had known each other for so long.

If I could help, I should keep helping.

So for years, Carter had remained one of my highest-priority business partners.

Everyone assumed Bennett and Carter were two powerful companies joining forces.

Only I knew the truth.

Many of Carter’s core technologies carried annual licensing fees so low they were practically free.

Some of the high-end equipment in their factories didn’t even belong to Carter.

It was leased long-term from several major suppliers.

For years, Bennett had made up the difference between market rates and what Carter paid under our partnership agreements.

Whenever suppliers complained that Carter’s rates were too low, I had Bennett cover the rest.

All I asked was that they keep the supply stable.

They had risen because of my parents’ support.

And now they were bullying me because my parents were gone.

I pulled up this year’s patent licensing renewals on my phone and gave a humorless laugh.

The new licenses hadn’t been signed yet.

Then I was done with this losing deal too.

By then, they had reached the exchange of vows.

Today’s ceremony wouldn’t make us legally married.

Under the original plan, Ethan and I were supposed to complete the civil marriage paperwork in King County the next day.

But to everyone in attendance—and to every camera present—this ceremony was the wedding.

“At this special moment...”

Onstage, Ethan smiled at Chloe.

“I also want to give the person standing beside me a gift today.”

An agreement to transfer patent rights appeared on the screen.

“Adaptive Motion Response System.”

“From today on, all future royalty income from this technology goes to my wife.”

I shot to my feet.

Adaptive motion-response gaming technology...

Wasn’t that one of the designs my mother had left me?