Chapter 4

Jasper reached out to grab my wrist.

“Stop acting up. I brought your wedding dress with me. Quick, change into it inside.”

I yanked my hand back.

“Where’s Jean?”

“She’s not feeling well.”

“From exhausting herself with you last night?”

Charlotte suddenly shoved me from behind.

“Watch your mouth! On such a joyous day, how dare you slander your own man?”

The small of my back slammed into the sharp corner of the reception desk, and I bent over in pain.

Mom rushed over. “How dare you lay hands on her!”

Before she could reach me, Jasper’s uncle and cousin blocked her path. “Your daughter is dead set on making our family look like a total laughingstock!”

Charlotte pointed a finger right at my nose.

“She either behaves and goes through with this wedding, or apologizes to every single one of our guests!”

Jasper stepped in to hold me up. “Mom, don’t push her.”

“You’re still taking her side?” Charlotte shrieked, beside herself with rage.

“She’s my wife.”

I let out a cold laugh, reminding him, “We haven’t signed the marriage license. There’s nothing between us.”

Jasper’s grip on my arm tightened even more.

“Aria, stop making a scene. I admit that I screwed up last night. Once the wedding is over, I’ll make it up to you.

“You still think I’m just trying to bargain with you?”

Jasper stared at me, a flicker of genuine confusion in his eyes. “Are you seriously going to ruin seven years of our relationship over one little mistake I made?”

Just then, the host’s heartfelt voice echoed through the grand hall. “And now, let us welcome the groom!”

The guests broke into applause as Jasper pasted a bright smile on his face and walked inside.

Beyond the doors lay a dreamlike setup—dazzling spotlights, overwhelming arrangements of fresh flowers. The melodic strains of the wedding march began playing.

Dressed entirely in black, looking like I was attending a funeral, I stepped into the very wedding venue I had looked forward to for five long years.

Jean was standing by the stage in her bridesmaid dress. Her eyes were puffy, and that plain silver band was still sitting snugly on her pinky finger.

The second she saw me walk in, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Aria, you’re finally here. I was just in a bad mood last night, so I grabbed a few drinks with Jasper. Please don’t misunderstand. There’s really nothing going on between us...”

As she babbled on, she reached out to straighten the nonexistent hem of my dress.

The host invited the groom to fetch his bride. Smiling as if nothing had ever happened, Jasper walked straight toward me and dropped to one knee before me.

I reached my hand out, but instead of taking his, I grabbed Jean by her collar and dragged her forward with all my strength.

With a gasp, Jean lost her balance and fell directly into Jasper’s arms.

The crowd gasped in shock, whispering and staring at each other.

I pulled out my phone, walked up to the main control console, and plugged in the living room security footage from our new house.

The moment the video hit the giant screen, the entire hall fell dead silent.

The footage showed Jean opening the door and entering the house, followed closely by Jasper. The two kissed passionately in the living room as her bridesmaid dress slipped off onto the couch. Wrapped around each other, they stumbled straight toward the master bedroom door.

The video cut off right there.

I raised my voice so the entire room could hear. “Today’s wedding is canceled. Because the groom cheated on me with my bridesmaid in our new house.”

Jean suddenly let out a frantic laugh. “You can’t even see her face!”

She pointed wildly at the blurry side profile on the screen.

“It’s fake! Everyone, don't believe her! You can't see the face clearly at all! Aria majored in advertising design in college, which means she’s a professional editor! She must've synthesized this entire thing with AI just so she could back out of the wedding!”

Jasper’s boss, Mr. Short, stood up from his table.

“Aria, you can’t just accuse people of something like this based on an incomplete clip without clear faces.”

Jasper’s uncle, Damien, slammed his hand on the table and stood up. “Exactly! You can’t even see the side profile clearly. For all we know, the girl in that video is you!”

Gabby, Jasper's cousin, pointed a finger right at me.

“Right! What kind of bride does this? Going out of her way to fake a video... Did she just take the money and try to run a wedding scam?”

Accusation after accusation rained down on me like heavy rocks.

Jasper walked over to me and held out his hand. “Delete the original video, and I won't press charges against you for defamation.”

Charlotte grabbed the microphone.

“Did everyone hear that? The Whitlocks slandered my son today just to intentionally back out of this marriage! We demand a full refund of thirty-eight hundred thousand dollars for the wedding deposit and venue costs!

"And the cost for the banquet and wedding planner? The Whitlocks are paying for every single cent of it!

“On top of that, she has to make a public apology and swear she’ll never use this to smear Jasper ever again!”

I looked past Charlotte, taking in the full room of guests.

Countless red threads extended from the tops of their heads, crisscrossing into a filthy, tangled web.

The uncle who had just accused me? His red thread was tied directly to the hotel manager.

The cousin who hurled insults at me? Her red thread crossed three whole tables, anchoring itself straight onto her best friend’s husband.

Even Charlotte, who claimed so loudly to defend her family’s purity, had a bright red thread stretching straight from her head to the main table.

I snatched the microphone right out of the host’s hand.

“If you don't believe the security footage, then let’s verify things another way.”

Charlotte sneered. “What else could you possibly make up?”

I raised my hand and pointed a finger straight at the main table.

“Let’s start with the affair between you and Jasper’s boss.”