Chapter 3 - The Collapse of the Empire
The chapel erupted into total, unadulterated chaos.
Genevieve’s face turned bright red, then ghostly white. She looked from me to Adrian, her hands clutching her lace veil so tightly the delicate fabric began to tear.
"What?!" Genevieve screamed, her voice cracking into a high-pitched shriek that echoed off the stained-glass windows. "Adrian! What is she talking about?!"
Jonathan Sterling didn't wait for an answer. The billionaire property developer stormed up the aisle like a charging bull, his face contorted in rage, his heavy golden signet ring flashing as he grabbed Adrian by his lapels and slammed him back against the altar railing.
"Is this true?!" Jonathan roared into Adrian's face, shaking him so hard Adrian’s hair fell out of its neat parting. "Are you already married?! Are you a fraud?!"
"No! Mr. Sterling, please!" Colleen wailed, throwing herself between Jonathan and her son, clutching Jonathan's arm with frantic, weeping desperation. "It wasn't a real marriage! They were only engaged! Adrian was in terrible financial trouble—he had to clear his name—he did it for his future!"
"He faked his own death?!" Jonathan yelled, shoving Colleen back so hard she stumbled onto a floral display, knocking over a tower of white hydrangeas that shattered across the marble aisle. "You brought a dead man into my family?! You brought an international fraud into my daughter's life?!"
Adrian fell to his knees on the carpet, clutching Jonathan's dress trousers. "Mr. Sterling! I love Genevieve! I swear I love her! The business plan for the resort project is completely sound! The financial returns—"
"Shut up! Shut your mouth!" Genevieve sobbed, ripping her diamond-encrusted veil off her head and throwing it straight into Adrian's face. She turned on her heel and ran out of the chapel, her mother and brothers sprinting after her, their shouts fading down the marble corridor.
Guests were standing up on chairs, filming the scene on their smartphones, flashbulbs popping in the dimly lit hall like strobe lights.
Colleen turned on me like a rabid animal, her fingers curled into talons as she lunged toward my face. "You ruined everything! You bitter, penniless little girl! You ruined my son's life!"
Before she could touch me, my assistant Chloe and two heavy venue security guards rushed down the aisle, stepping between us. The head security officer caught Colleen by the wrists and forced her backward, holding her firmly in place.
"Ms. Vance," the security chief said, looking at me with deep respect and concern. "Are you alright? Do you want us to remove these people from the property?"
I adjusted my black apron, smoothed down my lapels, and looked down at Adrian, who was still kneeling on the floor, weeping pathetically among the broken glass and scattered white flowers.
"No need, Chief," I said, taking a quiet, deep breath that filled my lungs with clean air for the first time in three months. "The wedding is over. And so is their performance."
I reached into my pocket, pulled out the simple silver engagement ring Adrian had given me three years ago—the one I had carried in my pocket every single day since his 'funeral'—and dropped it onto the floor beside his knee.
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"Keep the change, Adrian," I whispered.
I turned my back on them and walked down the long, flower-draped aisle, out into the bright afternoon sunlight.
