Fiancé Chose Bestie, I Chose His Rival

Chapter 4

The day of the wedding was here.

The wedding was held in the Grand Meridian Hotel, the largest five-star hotel in Rivergate.

Outside the ground-floor ballroom, flowers and photographs were everywhere.

Only the bride in the photographs had changed from me to Amber.

I stepped out of a cab in the couture wedding dress I had commissioned six months earlier.

The thousands of tiny diamonds set into the skirt threw off a blinding glare in the sunlight.

The welcome party at the hotel entrance had already begun.

Charles wore a black custom suit, a groom's boutonniere pinned to his chest.

Amber stood beside him in an off-the-rack dress, her smile radiant.

The moment he saw me get out of the car, Charles's face darkened.

He strode toward me and seized my wrist.

"Cecilia, what do you think you're doing, dressed like that?"

He lowered his voice, every word a warning.

"I told you to come and explain. Not to come and play the victim!"

Amber followed. When she saw the couture gown I was wearing, a flicker of envy crossed her eyes.

She bit her lip, and her eyes reddened at once.

"You still can't let go of Charles, can you? If this is what you want, then I'll just give him back to you..."

As she spoke, she made as if to pull the veil off her head.

Charles hurried to shield her, then turned and looked at me coldly.

"Have you finished making a scene? You took the money. Can't you at least be decent about it? Think of all these guests. Do you want us to be the laughingstock of everyone here?"

He pointed at my dress.

"Take it off and go change into something ordinary. Don't make me have security throw you out."

The surrounding guests began to point and whisper.

"Isn't that the original bride?"

"Why would she show up dressed like that? How shameless can she get?"

"Mr. Bennett doesn't want her anymore, and she's still clinging on."

The words pricked at my ears like fine needles. My temples throbbed.

I listened to the murmurs and looked at Charles's hypocritical face. My heart had long since gone numb, numb enough that it couldn't even feel pain anymore.

I found that a heart really could die, without even a residue left behind.

"Let go." I looked at him calmly.

"Go change, and I'll let go." Charles pulled me hard toward the back.

"I said let go!"

I sharpened my tone. My eyes were as cold as ice.

Charles was startled by the look I gave him, and his grip loosened instinctively.

I pulled my hand free and smoothed the lace cuff he had crumpled.

"Who said I came here for your wedding?"

Charles frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you?"

I looked at him, and a mocking curve formed at the corner of my mouth.

"Charles Bennett, who do you think you are? Do you think every man in the world has dropped dead, and I have to hang up on you?"

Amber couldn't help cutting in.

"Cecilia, don't be stubborn. If you weren't here to fight me for Charles, why would you show up here dressed like that?"

I ignored her and looked past their shoulders, out the door.

"Because my wedding is here too."

The words had barely left my mouth when a dozen Rolls-Royce Phantoms pulled up slowly outside the hotel entrance.

The car doors opened.

Leo Wallace walked straight to my side and put his arm around my waist as naturally as if he had done it a thousand times.

"She's my bride. Who dares tell her to take off her dress?"