CHAPTER 1. SHATTERED VOW

"Ms. Claire? We are still waiting for your confirmation on the type of champagne for the reception the day after tomorrow. The catering team says they have not been able to reach you since this morning," Sarah’s voice, the wedding planner coordinator, sounded worried on the other end of the phone.

Claire Adeline sighed, clamping the phone between her ear and shoulder as she tidied a stack of books on the counter of the café where she worked part-time. "I’m sorry, Sarah. I’ve been busy preparing for my exams. Didn’t Arthur approve the selection yesterday? He said he would handle all the beverage details himself."

"That’s the problem, Ms. Claire. Mr. Arthur is not answering our calls. His assistant says he is in a meeting at the Grand Lexicon Hotel this afternoon. Since the location is close to your dress boutique, could you stop by for a moment? We just need your wet signature on the catering form."

Claire glanced at her watch. "The Grand Lexicon? All right. I’ll head over now. I happen to have an appointment for my final dress fitting nearby."

Claire never imagined that this short trip to the luxury hotel would mark the end of the carefully structured life she had built. When she arrived at the Grand Lexicon lobby, she saw Arthur Blackwood’s silver sports car parked in the VIP area.

Still, something nagged at her instincts when she spotted a woman she knew all too well, Natalie, her stepsister, hurrying into the exclusive elevator to the penthouse suites wearing clothes far too revealing for a simple "business meeting."

Her heart pounding fast, Claire followed them. Using the spare access card Arthur had once given her for emergencies, she stood before room number 1202. The door was not fully closed.

"Arthur, darling, when will you tell that old grandfather of yours you want me, not that boring barista girl?"

Natalie’s syrupy voice cut through Claire like a whip. Claire froze, her fingers trembling as she pulled out her phone and activated the camera. She peered through the crack in the door.

"Be patient, Natalie. You know how old-fashioned Silas is about the business agreement with Claire’s mother’s family. After the wedding the day after tomorrow, I’ll control her assets, and you, you will remain my queen behind the scenes," Arthur replied, his voice rough between bursts of lewd laughter.

Click.

Claire took the first photo. Arthur was holding Natalie, who wore nothing but a sheer bathrobe.

Click.

The second photo. They kissed wildly, shattering the dignity of a marriage that had not even begun.

"You are so naughty, Arthur. What if Claire finds out?" Natalie whispered, chuckling softly.

"She’s too naive or too stupid to suspect anything. She thinks I’m a respectable man just because I wear expensive suits," Arthur scoffed.

Claire slipped her phone away with cold hands. No tears fell; blazing anger had frozen her emotions instead. She turned and walked away from the damned door with steady steps. Her destination was not home to cry, but to the Blackwood Main Residence.

An hour later, in the study that smelled of cigars and old oak, the atmosphere felt suffocating. Silas Blackwood, the patriarch, sat in his large chair with a face flushed dark red. Before him stood Claire, while Arthur, Natalie, Alistair, and Eleanor, Claire’s stepmother, had gathered after being summoned by force.

"What is the meaning of all this, Claire? Why did you call us all here to talk about canceling the wedding?" Andrew, Claire’s father, asked in an impatient tone.

Silas slammed Claire’s phone down on the marble desk. On the screen, the photos of Arthur and Natalie at the hotel were clear for all to see.

"Arthur! Explain this!" Silas roared. His voice rumbled so loud it made the flower vase in the corner of the room shake.

Arthur’s eyes widened, his face pale as he stared at the images. "Grandfather, it’s, it’s not what it looks like! Claire set me up! She spied on me!"

"Set you up?" Claire laughed bitterly, her voice calm yet sharp. "I went there to take care of our wedding catering arrangements you ignored, Arthur. I don’t need to set anyone up to see how disgusting you and my sister were in that bed."

"You insolent girl, Claire!" Eleanor interrupted, trying to defend her daughter. "It could all be a misunderstanding. Natalie must have just been helping Arthur get ready for the event!"

"Helping him get ready without any clothes on, Mother?" Claire cut in coldly. "That’s a new kind of help I’ve never heard of."

Instead of looking ashamed, Natalie stepped forward with her chin held high. She fixed Claire with a strange, triumphant gaze. "Enough, Arthur. There’s no need to lie anymore. Grandfather Silas, even though these photos are embarrassing, there is something far more important you need to know."

Natalie touched her still flat stomach in a dramatic gesture. "I’m pregnant. I’m carrying the real Blackwood heir. Arthur loves me, not Claire. Claire is just a pawn in your outdated old business agreement."

Sickening silence filled the room. Alistair, Arthur’s father, looked shocked but his eyes glinted as he searched for an angle. "Father, if Natalie is pregnant, wouldn’t that mean we could hush up this scandal by changing the bride?"

"Changing the bride?" Silas stood up, his aged body still radiating immense authority. "Do you think the Blackwood family is a joke? Invitations have been sent to all our global partners! Our good name is at stake!"

"But Grandfather, I can’t marry Claire now!" Arthur exclaimed, beginning to regain his arrogant nerve. "Besides, Claire is just a barista’s daughter. Natalie is much more suitable to stand beside me as vice president director."

Silas stared at Arthur with a disgusted look. "You are a disgrace to the Blackwood name, Arthur. And you, Natalie. Do you think your pregnancy will make you Mrs. Blackwood?"

"Of course," Natalie replied arrogantly. "I carry legitimate blood. Claire has nothing."

Claire clenched her hands at her sides. She looked at her father, Andrew, but the man just looked away, more afraid of losing business ties with the Blackwoods than defending his daughter’s honor.

"Grandfather Silas," Claire’s voice broke the tension. "I will not marry this man. I demand that this engagement contract be canceled immediately."

Silas heaved a heavy sigh, his eyes fixed on Claire with a rare look of guilt. "Cancellation is not an option, Claire. If the wedding is called off three days before the event, Blackwood Industries stock will plummet, and media speculation will destroy us all. But I agree, you should not marry a scoundrel like Arthur."

Arthur frowned. "Then what do you mean, Grandfather? If she doesn’t marry me, the wedding is still off."

Silas turned toward the window, gazing out at the vast grounds of his estate as if calling to someone from the past. "There is one other person. My eldest grandson. The true heir, if only he had not chosen to isolate himself."

"Grandfather means Julian?" Alistair asked in a horrified tone. "But he’s crazy! He lives in seclusion, he has no steady job, he doesn’t even like women!"

Natalie laughed mockingly. "You want Claire to marry that ‘Cast-Off Grandson’? That messy Julian Blackwood? Oh, Claire, I think that’s fitting punishment for daring to tattle to Grandfather."

Claire froze. She had seen photos of Julian Blackwood in the family archives; he looked rough with unkempt facial hair and empty eyes. Still, amid her sister’s taunts and her fiancé’s betrayal, she saw only one way out.

"I’ll do it," Claire stated firmly, meeting Natalie’s gaze head-on. "I will marry anyone, as long as it is not Arthur."

Silas nodded slowly. "The decision is made. Arthur, you will marry Natalie in a private ceremony next month with no public celebration. And Claire, you will remain the bride of honor at the reception the day after tomorrow. As the wife of Julian Blackwood."

Natalie grinned widely, feeling she had won this battle. She imagined Claire suffering for life with the outcast man, while she would soon hold power at Arthur’s side. She did not know that on that day, she had just handed the true throne to Claire.