My Fiancé Used Our Wedding Venue for Her Promotion Party

Chapter 4

On the morning of July 2, I went to the wedding reception venue to negotiate a refund.

The wedding was supposed to take place 1 month later.

I had chosen the ballroom, the floral arrangements, the menu, and the invitations. Ethan had only signed off at the end.

After reviewing the records, the staff member looked uncomfortable.

"Ms. Parker, the ballroom has been repurposed. Mr. Whitmore changed the wedding reception into a celebration for the Evercrest Development Project and moved the date up to today."

Inside the ballroom, the welcome sign bearing Ethan's name and mine had been replaced with the company logo.

The white floral arrangements remained. Only our engagement photos had been removed.

They hadn't even changed the stage backdrop.

Only then did I learn that he could turn our wedding reception into a celebration for Avery, too.

Avery stood where the bride was supposed to stand, wearing a long white dress.

Someone joked, "Doesn't Ms. Collins look like the boss's wife today?"

She laughed and waved the comment away.

"Don't be ridiculous. Sienna resigned, so she won't be here today."

I pushed open the doors.

The laughter filling the ballroom abruptly stopped.

Ethan strode over to me. "What are you doing here?"

"You canceled the wedding and repurposed the venue. Why wasn't I told?"

"I'm only borrowing the venue. I haven't canceled the wedding. We can postpone it until the end of the year, or next spring."

I had spent 6 months planning that wedding.

To him, it was nothing more than an arrangement he could change whenever he pleased.

"Today was supposed to be my dress fitting, too."

"You can try on the dress anytime."

He glanced at his employees and lowered his voice.

"Today is the celebration for Avery's promotion. Don't bring up personal matters and embarrass her."

"You're holding her celebration in my wedding venue, and you want me not to embarrass her?"

Avery came over.

"Using this venue was my suggestion. I didn't know it would bother you so much. You two are going to get married sooner or later. A few months' delay won't hurt your relationship."

I looked at the white dress she was wearing.

"That's the gown the bridal boutique sent over for my fitting, isn't it?"

She tightened her grip on the skirt.

Ethan explained, "She spilled coffee on her clothes. She's only borrowing it for the moment."

"This is my wedding venue, my flowers, and my dress."

I asked, "What's next? Lending her my fiancé too?"

People around us began to murmur.

Avery's eyes reddened. "You don't get to humiliate me like that."

Ethan stepped in front of her.

He used to protect me the same way when someone gave me a hard time.

Now, he looked at me warily.

"Enough. I said she could wear the dress. Stop targeting her."

In that moment, I wasn't angry.

I only felt that the man I had loved for 7 years became a stranger.

I took out the hotel's payment records.

"This celebration is being paid for with our wedding deposit. $120,000 of it was from my parents. Since the venue is now being used for a company event, the company needs to settle the bill."

Ethan's expression changed.

"I didn't know your parents paid it."

"The day we booked the hotel, you went to pick up Avery because she had a fever. Every time I asked you afterward to review the expenses, you told me to decide."

I also took out an email from 6 months earlier and my copyright registration.

"The central concept, traffic flow, and budget framework for the Evercrest Development Project came from a draft I completed as an independent event planner before I joined the company. The company may use revisions completed during my employment, but it may not use my name without my permission."

"But the proposal is a company project!" Avery said quickly.

Evercrest Mall's leasing manager stood up in the back row.

"No wonder the level of professionalism is so different between the two versions."

He looked at Avery.

"Yesterday, you said you developed the core plan independently. How do you explain this?"

Avery's face went white.

At that moment, a member of the hotel's finance staff entered the ballroom.

The employees' phones began chiming one after another.

Evercrest had issued a formal notice suspending payment on the project and requiring the company to provide a written explanation of the plan's origin and the safety incident.

Ethan's assistant hurried in as well.

"Mr. Whitmore, the Department of Labor called. They want an explanation about the forged signature on the liability acknowledgment form."

Ethan didn't look at any of them.

He only stared at my bare ring finger.

"Sienna, did you push things this far because you wanted to force me to give in to you?"

"I don't need you to give in. I only want you to return what you owe me."

I turned to leave.

He followed me to the door and grabbed my wrist.

"Postponing the wedding doesn't mean we're over."

I pulled my hand free.

"Our wedding wasn't postponed. It was canceled."

White petals lay scattered across the ballroom floor.

"Ethan, I won't interfere with your company or get in the way of your looking after Avery anymore. Get out of my way too."

I turned and walked toward the door.

A chair crashed to the floor behind me.

Ethan called my name.

For the first time in 7 years, there was panic in his voice.