Chapter 4

Nina’s face stiffened. I looked at her and said it slowly, one word at a time.

“You look down on me this much, and yet in the end you still cried in my arms and asked... why you weren’t as good as me.”

At those last words, her expression twisted in an instant, and her hand flew up to strike me.

But right then, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Adrian was back.

Nina’s hand froze, and the next second she suddenly turned, grabbed the vase off the table, and smashed it hard against the floor.

Without a flicker of hesitation, she dropped to her knees on the shards. Blood seeped from her knees at once.

When Adrian pushed the door open, what he saw was Nina kneeling in the broken porcelain, sobbing so hard her whole body shook.

“Claire, I never meant to ruin your wedding. It was all an accident.”

“You’re my best friend. How could I not want the best for you...”

Adrian’s face darkened instantly. He crossed the room in a few strides and lifted Nina up.

He raised his eyes to me, and that one look was full of disappointment.

“Claire Sutton. How did I never know your heart could be this cruel?”

I sat on the hospital bed and said nothing.

Adrian looked at me, his voice colder still.

“You used to carry home stray kittens just because they were hurt.”

“You’d stand up for a waitress a customer had reduced to tears.”

Nina clutched his shirt, shaking her head through her tears.

“Don, don’t blame Claire... she just cares too much about this wedding.”

The moment those words landed, Adrian’s expression only got worse. He looked at me, ice in his eyes.

“Apologize to Nina.”

I didn’t move.

Adrian’s voice dropped, low and final.

“Claire Sutton, don’t forget, you were nothing but a waitress carrying plates.”

“I’m the one who put you at a Vale wedding. I’m the one who made those family elders lower their heads and call you their Donna.”

“If you can’t even learn this much grace, then I can just as easily send you back to where you came from.”

I went still, sure I’d misheard.

Adrian had chased me for three years, and at first I’d refused him.

He was a mafia Don, and I was just a waitress.

His world had guns, and blood, and enemies that never ran out. My world had menus, shift schedules, and rent due at the end of the month.

I’d said, “Mr. Vale, we’re not from the same world.”

He’d said, “Then I’ll step into yours.”

And later, he really did chase me like an ordinary man.

He came to the restaurant to eat, and he waited in line, and he waited for a table.

I refused his gifts, so he stopped sending expensive jewelry and just brought me an umbrella on rainy days.

Once, when I worked until dawn, he sat outside the restaurant and waited for me.

No luxury car, no gun, none of those silent guards at his back. Just a late-night meal going cold in his hands.

He’d said, “Claire, I’m learning. Learning how to love you like a regular man would.”

In that moment, my heart had finally softened, and I reheated that cold meal for him.

But now, he was threatening to kick me back into my old life.

I drew in a deep breath, and in the end I gave a bitter little smile.

“I’m sorry, Miss Ashford.”

With that, I turned and walked out of the room.

I didn’t catch the flash of confusion in Adrian’s eyes.

Not long after I left the hospital, an encrypted text came through.

The new identity was ready.

Name, documents, exit records, all of it spotless.

I stared at the screen for a few seconds, then booked a plane ticket under the new name right away.

That night, I went back to the estate.

Adrian sat waiting in the living room, a black velvet box in front of him. When I came in, he lifted his eyes to me.

“Today, I’ll chalk it up to you being upset.”

“The wedding is not being called off.”

He opened the box. Inside sat a black ring.

“This ring is the symbol of the highest power in the Vale family.”

Adrian picked it up, grabbed my hand, and slid it onto my ring finger.

“After tomorrow, everyone will know you’re my wife.”

“Claire Sutton, I’ve given you every bit of grace I can. It’s time you learned some sense.”

I looked down at the ring on my hand and remembered what the kidnapper had said.

The heart I’d thought had gone numb still ached, a fine, needling pain.

After a moment, I gave a slight nod.

“All right.”

Adrian’s face finally eased. I turned to go, and he called me back.

“Have Nina be your maid of honor tomorrow.”

I stopped short.

Adrian’s tone was flat, like he was informing me of the most ordinary thing in the world.

“The bridesmaids you’d chosen don’t belong at a Vale wedding. They couldn’t handle an occasion like this.”

“Nina comes from the Ashford family. She knows the rules, and she can hold things together for you.”

My throat tightened, but I still couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“If you think my friends aren’t worthy of attending our wedding, then why are you marrying me at all?”

Adrian frowned faintly.

“Claire, the wedding isn’t just about you. It represents the face of the Vale family.”

He looked at me, his tone so cold it bordered on cruel.

“You need to learn to be grateful.”

“Standing here at all is only possible because I’ve silenced a lot of talk for you.”

He looked at me, disappointment in his eyes, and the cold impatience of a man looking down from on high.

He was like a completely different man from the Adrian who used to worry I’d feel small, who used to soften himself in front of me.

I let out a deep breath, and it was a long while before I spoke.

“I only have one last question. Was this your decision, or Nina’s idea?”

Adrian was silent for a beat.

Then he knit his brow, as if he couldn’t understand why I insisted on nitpicking something so small.

“Does it make a difference?”

“Nina was only worried you’d never been through an occasion like this and might embarrass yourself on the spot. She offered to help smooth things over for you.”

“She’s always looking out for you, and yet you make things hard for her at every turn. Claire Sutton, I want you to be reasonable.”

In that moment, even arguing suddenly felt pointless.

“Since the Don has already decided, then we’ll do it that way.”

At that title, Adrian’s face finally darkened.

He was about to say something when a call from Nina pulled him away.

In the silent, dark living room, the rash on my face itched and stung, but it was nothing next to what Adrian had just said.

That night, Adrian didn’t come back.

The next day, I got up early and and had my camouflage makeup done.

The rash was covered without a trace, but underneath, my skin still itched like mad.

While the maid was arranging my dress, Nina walked in, and the maid behind her said in a low voice,

“Miss Sutton, the Don gave instructions. Miss Ashford will oversee the entire flow of the wedding today.”

“The veil, the ring, the train, how to walk in, where to stop. All of it is up to Miss Ashford.”

The maid withdrew, and Nina came to stand behind me, adjusting my veil.

“I always used to think that not marrying him meant I’d lost.”

“But looking at you now, I realize I was wrong. Because you married him, and you don’t look all that happy either.”

I watched her in the mirror, and after a moment I said quietly, “I feel the same way.”

Nina’s hands went still, and the smugness in her eyes flipped instantly to fury.

But the bells outside had already begun to ring for the start of the wedding, so she could only grab the veil, stone-faced, and go wait for me at the doors of the hall.

Inside, the guests were seated, and Adrian stood at the far end of the aisle.

The organ began to play, but the doors stayed shut.

The next second, a maid stumbled into the hall, her face bloodless.

“Don, Miss Sutton is gone!”

She was gasping hard as she raised a trembling hand. In her palm sat a single black ring.

“There’s no one in the dressing room. This was the only thing left on the table.”