He Left Me At Altar, I Married A CEO

Chapter 2

Claire's POV

Glass and liquor exploded against Princess's skull. Warm blood came trickling down her perfect, pretty face.

The second she collapsed unconscious, someone shoved me hard with a rough hand, and I went tumbling right off the stage.

My skull slammed into the edge of a table with a loud c***k. White-hot, searing pain shot up my ankle. When I caught myself mid-fall, my palm had landed straight on broken glass shards.

But Sam only stood there, brows pinched tight, clutching Princess's limp body to his chest and wrapping his jacket around her legs like she was fragile glass.

He dropped to one knee right on the bed of sharp shattered glass beneath him, yelling at the stunned bystanders to call an ambulance right now. Then he spun around to glare at me, and the raw hatred burning in his eyes drove a thousand icy needles straight through my heart.

"Claire, I never thought you could be this vicious! She was just joking with you, and you wanted her dead?!

"You'd better pray she pulls through. If she doesn't, you don't wanna know what I'll do to you."

Joking? That wasn't what the bitter, murderous hatred I saw blazing in Princess's eyes looked like. She didn't come here to play, she came here to kill me.

But what was the point of arguing anyway? When it came to anything between me and her, he would never take my side. He'd never believe a word I said.

So Sam carried her off to the hospital, and the stunned wedding guests all filtered out.

I stared down at my palm, where blood still oozed out around the shards of glass, and my whole body shook so hard my teeth chattered, like I'd been dumped straight into a frozen lake.

Twelve years since I first met Sam. Eight years we were together. And this was how it'd end? He called me vicious. How f*****g ridiculous could I be?

I swiped away the hot tears that were about to spill down my cheeks, braced my weight on the edge of the table, and hauled myself to my feet. I limped my way to the locker room, caught my breath for a minute, and changed into the plain clothes I'd stashed there earlier.

Thank goodness someone had tipped me off about Sam and Princess's truth or dare game beforehand. If they hadn't, I would've been stuck walking out of here in my wedding dress.

I barely stepped through the door when my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Princess. Attached was a photo showing Grandma's face, pale and frozen in shock.

Princess: Tell me, how much longer do you think this old hag has left to live, after hearing her precious granddaughter is a homewrecking mistress?

I bit down so hard on my lower lip I tasted blood. I couldn't even bring myself to imagine how Grandma would react to that vile lie.

Years ago, my dad was driving home when my mom's lover intentionally rammed into him head-on. He died on the spot. After that, Grandma's health shattered completely, and she never gained full recovery.

I forgot all about the searing pain shooting up my twisted ankle and sprinted toward the street, waving frantically to flag down a ride. Before I could even flag one down, a black Porsche Cayenne glided to a stop right in front of me.

The power window rolled down, and a striking, impossibly handsome face came into view.

It was Xander Graham, the sole heir to the Graham family.

His dark brows lifted slightly when he took in my deathly pale face, and his deep voice rumbled out, "Where are you going? Get in. I'll give you a ride."

I stumbled into the car, thanked him with a trembling voice, and gave the driver the address of the hospital.

When I went to step out onto the curb, my bad ankle gave out immediately, and I nearly crumpled to the ground. A warm, steady hand caught me around the waist from behind just in time, keeping me from hitting the ground.

I twisted back to look at Xander, mumbled another "thank you", and tried to pull away from his grip. He frowned, shifting to wrap a steady hand around my arm.

"C'mon, I got you."

When Xander helped me reach the ICU, the only thing waiting for us was Grandma, lying deathly pale, a ventilator tube down her throat to keep her breathing.

I snagged a passing doctor by the arm, my voice rough and thick with dread as I asked, "How is my grandmother? Is she going to be okay?"

The doctor just let out a heavy sigh.

"Your grandmother's condition had been steadily improving, but the severe shock she suffered earlier today sent her heart into overload. You need to prepare yourself for the worst."

My nails dug so deep into my palm, and white-hot hatred burned through my veins from the bottom of my heart. Sam knew full well how fragile Grandma's health was. How dare he bring Princess to see her?

I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed Sam's number. I was so blinded by rage I didn't even notice the dark, stormy look that descended on Xander's face beside me.

It rang and rang, and he only picked up right when I was about to hang up.

"What, are you going to apologize?"

I lowered my eyes, keeping my voice low as I answered.

"That's right. Are you with Princess? I'm coming to apologize to you both. In person."

Sam breathed an obvious sigh of relief, and amusement laced his tone when he spoke next.

"We're in the small park downstairs. Come on over. Claire, I'm so glad you came to apologize on your own. Don't you worry, two weeks from now, I'll still give you the biggest, grandest wedding you could ask for."

I didn't bother answering. I just hit "End Call" and hung up right there. I turned to Xander, who was still standing beside me.

"Thank you so much for everything. If you have other things to attend to, go ahead. I just..."

Before I could even finish speaking, Xander turned on his heel and strode away, his face dark and unreadable. I let out a bitter, resigned sigh. Of course. This man had always hated me.

The second I reached the ground floor, I spotted Sam and Princess locked in each other's arms.

When Sam saw me, a scheming glint flickered in his eyes, gone in an instant before it was replaced by a warm smile. He spread his arms wide, fully expecting me to run into his embrace just like I always did when I was trying to smooth things over.

But I just lifted my hand, and swung it as hard as I could, right across his cheek.