Chapter 4

Ciara's POV

On the wedding day, Keith's face visibly lit up when he saw me arrive at the wedding hall on time.

"I lost my temper that day. Maddy is my mentor's daughter, so I have to consider her feelings. Once we're married, I'll make it up to you, Ciara."

His voice was gentle, as if the person who had slammed me against the wall that day wasn't him at all.

Avoiding his outstretched hand, I grunted in response. At this point, I wasn't going to believe a single word out of his mouth.

But when the makeup artist was working on me, Madeline walked in. She was wearing a mermaid-style wedding gown, looking more like a bride than I did.

"Ciara, you look beautiful today. I want to try on bridal makeup, too. Can you let the makeup team do mine first?"

I looked at her through the mirror. "Are you sure about that?"

Indignation flashed through her eyes. She pressed her lips together, then walked away, clearly unhappy.

"At the end of the day, it's still coming out of Keith's pocket, anyway."

A moment later, Keith came over with a blind box containing a card labeled "No. 2".

"Maddy suddenly wants to be the bride, too. She drew 'No. 1', so she'll go first. Let her use your makeup team."

I only found it all utterly ridiculous.

"Keith, do you really think I came here to marry you today?"

"Stop saying things out of spite," he retorted without even a moment's hesitation. "Who else could you possibly marry besides me?"

I couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

"If you want to marry her, I have no objections. But my family paid over 100 thousand dollars for this makeup team. Would she dare to borrow them even if I really lent them to her?"

He froze.

Madeline came in behind him and took his arm. "It's okay, Keith. I won't use them."

"But Ciara," she said as she looked at me, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your parents have been living abroad for years, and they've cut ties with you for a decade. Why even bring them up?"

I stared at Keith in disbelief, and he guiltily averted his gaze.

So all those years I'd poured my heart and soul into loving him had become nothing more than a joke for him to share with someone else.

My eyes stung even more. I closed them and forced myself to calm down.

It didn't matter. Everything was coming to an end anyway.

Just as it was time to make our entrance, Madeline suddenly let out a startled cry.

"Keith! My brooch is missing!"

Keith ran over to comfort her. "What brooch?"

"The one my dad left me before he died. I wanted to wear it on your big day, but it disappeared!"

Tears streamed down her face right on cue.

"I was still wearing it when I came in to say hello to Ciara earlier… How could it just disappear?"

Keith pulled her into his arms, his expression filled with heartache.

"Ciara, if you took it, hand it over right now," he ordered, turning to look at me. "Don't hold up the wedding."

The staff around us stared in utter shock, their eyes darting back and forth between Madeline and me.

I held my bouquet, my expression calm.

"Just because of what she said, you're accusing me of stealing it?"

"Who else could it be but you? Let's be honest. You're still bitter about how Maddy humiliated you at the dinner party."

So he did know that what she'd done was considered humiliation after all.

Seeing that I remained silent, he continued, "Hurry up and hand it over. Otherwise, we're not getting married today."

I glanced toward the guests in the main hall. I'd personally placed every single name card on those seats. Among the guests were longtime business partners Keith had worked with over the years, as well as benefactors he claimed to respect deeply.

But now, because of a single word from Madeline, he was willing to postpone the wedding.

Fortunately, he wasn't the man I was marrying today.

"It's okay, Keith," Madeline said tearfully. "It's just a brooch. If Ciara doesn't want to give it back, then so be it. Don't let it delay your wedding."

Keith's breathing hitched. "Ciara Coleman! Do you even want to get married today or not?"

He turned to the bodyguards nearby.

"You! Search her!" he ordered icily.

"Hold on."

I looked at the angry man standing before me and asked calmly, "Keith, you once told me you'd give her nothing but a title. But what have you ever given me?"

Respect, dignity, and the certainty of being the one he chose without hesitation—he'd given me none of it.

He avoided my gaze, his tone full of irritation. "I've already told you I'll make it up to you after the wedding. Stop bringing up the past!"

"Fine. Let's not talk about the past. Let's talk about the present, then."

I let out a cold laugh and tossed my marriage certificate in front of him.

"Coincidentally, he only wants a title, too. But unlike you, I actually want to give him a wedding."

Keith burst out laughing, clearly convinced I was bluffing.

"Stop messing around, Ciara. Besides me, who else would marry an old woman like you?"

Before he could finish, the doors to the hall swung open.

He turned around. The moment he saw who had arrived, his eyes widened in shock.