Chapter 4

The guests' laughter echoed loudly in the luxurious banquet hall. I looked at Dustin, who was exchanging pleasantries with a few guests not too far away.

He was wearing a well-tailored bespoke suit, standing upright as he exchanged pleasantries with the guests. There was also a perfectly measured, gentle smile playing on his lips.

If I hadn't known that his neck was littered with hickeys covered up with concealer, I would have almost mistaken it for just any other normal wedding today.

Suddenly, the heavy doors leading into the banquet hall were forcefully pushed open, and Miranda stood right in the center of the entrance.

She was wearing an extremely inappropriate white bridal dress with a plunging neckline and super high slit that went all the way up to her thighs. Her dress was embellished with Swarovski crystals, and it was almost too glaring when the lights reflected off of them.

The guests around us fell silent at once as their gazes darted between her and me.

Miranda headed straight toward Dustin, reaching out to grab his sleeve. While tugging at his hand, I clearly saw her slip a small, crumpled piece of paper into his suit sleeve.

"I've come to see just how beautiful Claudia is today. I come in peace. I just want to be part of your big day today."

The smile on Dustin's face vanished at once. He shook Miranda's hand off as if he'd just been electrocuted and staggered backward.

"Get out! Security! How dare you just let anyone in like this?"

He then turned to me, his eyes tinged with fear and shock.

"Please don't misunderstand, Claudia! I never invited her! She was the one who came to me and threw herself at me like a leech!"

Marco's face turned grim. "Dustin, make sure you properly throw this woman out! I refuse to let her continue offending Claudia's eyes!"

The security guards arrived quickly and grabbed either side of Miranda's arms before forcefully dragging her out of the venue.

"Darling, she's touched this shirt, and I find it dirty and disgusting," Dustin said, looking at me apologetically. "There's still another 20 minutes before the ceremony begins. I'll head up to the penthouse suite to change into my spare suit. I'll be right back down!"

I heard his inner thoughts just before the elevators closed.

[Mimi looked so pretty in that dress. I bet she's not wearing anything underneath.

[The slip said she was waiting for me in the penthouse suite. This little minx! I guess she just wanted one last quickie before my wedding today.

[I need to make this quick. She's going to scream so loudly when I fuck her silly in my wedding suit!]

Miranda had come prepared. She slipped out from the back door and went upstairs straight to the suite to wait for him.

It seemed that my little provocation yesterday worked really well after all, and she had to blow off her steam by making Dustin sleep with her in the hotel room right above our wedding hall.

Ten minutes later, I turned on the pinhole camera hidden in my necklace and turned to Mom, Dad, and some other relatives next to me.

"Mom, Dad, Dustin just asked me to go up and fetch some of the wedding favors we accidentally forgot to bring down for the guests. Would you come up with me and help us with them? We might not be able to bring everything down by ourselves."

At least a dozen relatives immediately chimed in and said they'd help. So, the entire entourage followed me up to the penthouse suite, with Marco walking ahead of me.

My heels made no noise on the thick wool carpet. As I got closer to Dustin, I could hear his heavy breathing in my head once again.

[So smooth… So flawless… Her waist is swaying so sexily… I'd happily give up my life for her…]

Mom reached out to me and helped me adjust my heavy veil.

"I'm so glad that the two of you are getting married, Claudia. Did you know? You were down with an extremely high fever about two years ago, and Dustin literally camped out next to your hospital bed the whole night on a foldable chair.

"Even the nurses praised him for how devoted he was to you. She told me that she'd never seen another man who spoiled his fiancee like Dustin did."

[Come on, Mimi. Don't be mad at me. It was all just an act. You know very well that we have to keep it up whenever Claudia is around. Come on, raise your legs higher for me.]

My aunt, Kelsey Summers, smiled next to Mom and picked up from where she left off.

"Exactly! Everyone in Pine City knows just how much of a romantic Mr. Sherwood is. His car broke down by the road in the middle of winter, and he still trudged five miles through the snow just to buy you your favorite chestnut buns!

"His ears were nearly frozen off by the time he came back home. And yet, the buns in his hands were still warm and steamy."

[Oh god, you're really not wearing anything under this dress. You've been giving me that sexy look ever since barging into the hall downstairs.

[If it weren't for Claudia or that old man standing next to me, I'd have already bent you over in front of the champagne tower by now!]

Marco's voice was low and steady, and his tone carried a certainty to it.

"I raised Dustin to be quite conservative with a traditionalist mindset from a young age, so he didn't understand much about romance. However, he takes after me and doesn't care about any other woman besides his wife.

"You don't have to worry about that woman who tried to crash the wedding earlier. You've seen Dustin's attitude toward her. He felt disgusted when that woman touched him."

I continued listening to the relatives' blessings and the lewd noises in my head as I continued walking forward, the heavy train of my wedding dress trailing on the ground behind me with a rustling sound.

We were so, so close now.

I stopped at the door to the suite, and the rest of my entourage stopped as well. They smiled at the door, waiting for me to open it.

I gripped the cold metal handle and pressed down hard with all of my might.

The door opened with a click.