Chapter 3: The Wrong Bride

For one long second, nobody moved.

A few guests near the front began to whisper. Claire stood frozen at the end of the aisle, certain the whole wedding was about to fall apart in front of everyone watching.

Then Charles Knight stepped forward.

He put a hand on his son's shoulder and leaned in close, his voice low enough that only Adrian could hear it.

"Whatever you think you see," Charles said, "you finish this. Right now. I will explain later. I swear it."

Adrian's jaw tightened. He looked at his father, then back at Claire.

"Please," Charles said again, quieter this time.

Adrian stepped forward again, back into place, and took Claire's hand.

"I do," Adrian said.

The officiant turned to Claire. She said the words too, her voice sounding far away even to her own ears.

"I do."

The officiant held out the rings. Adrian's hand was steady as he took hers, but Claire felt him hesitate for half a second before sliding the ring onto her finger, like some part of him still expected her to pull away and end the charade right there.

She didn't. Her own hands were shaking so badly she nearly dropped his ring before finally getting it onto his finger.

"You may kiss the bride."

Claire's stomach dropped. Neither of them moved for a beat too long.

Please, she thought, let the ground open up right now and swallow me whole. A kiss was never part of the plan. No one had said anything about a kiss.

She's a stranger, Adrian thought. I don't even know her name. And yet here we are.

He leaned in first, slow, giving her every chance to turn away if she wanted to. She didn't. Instead, without meaning to, her fingers curled into the front of his jacket, holding on like she needed something steady to keep from swaying on her feet.

Adrian noticed. Why is she holding onto me like that, he thought. Interesting.

He closed the last of the distance and pulled her in, his mouth meeting hers, careful at first, then a little less careful than a formality required.

I can't believe this is actually happening, Claire thought, even as her whole body went warm and unsteady, startled by how much the touch of a stranger's lips could rattle her.

When he pulled back, his eyes searched hers for just a second, something unreadable passing behind them, gone before she could name it.

The crowd erupted into applause, loud and far away all at once. Claire kept waiting for someone, anyone, to stand up and say this was wrong, that the woman at the altar was not who everyone thought she was.

No one did.

As the guests moved toward the reception tent, Adrian steered her gently away from the receiving line, into the quiet shade behind a row of hedges, out of earshot of anyone.

"We have a minute before the toasts start," he said. "I want an answer. Who are you, and what's going on. I know you're not my bride."

Claire's throat tightened. There was no point lying to him now. "My name is Claire. Sophia is my twin sister."

"Twin." Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly, absorbing that. "Where is she."

"I don't know. She went missing last night. My father asked me to take her place so the wedding could still happen, so word wouldn't get out before anyone understood what was going on."

Adrian was quiet for a long moment, studying her like he was recalculating everything he thought he'd walked into that morning. "Claire," he repeated, testing the shape of it. "You did this to protect her."

"I did this because I was terrified something worse would happen if I said no."

"And my father knew about this." Adrian asked

“I don’t know but what I know is, mine begged me to lie to three hundred people." Claire's voice cracked slightly. "Neither of us actually knows why any of this had to happen today. Do we."

Adrian's jaw was tight, something working behind his eyes that looked less like anger now and more like the beginning of real concern.

"No," he said quietly. "We don't."

“There you two are.” Vivian’s warm, cheerful voice interrupted them before either could say anything else. “Hiding already? I don’t blame you. Weddings can be exhausting. Come on, everyone is waiting to toast you both.”

Adrian's expression smoothed back into practiced calm so fast Claire almost missed the shift entirely.

"Coming," he said.

He offered Claire his arm, and as they walked back toward the tent together, he leaned in just enough for only her to hear.

"This conversation isn't finished," he said quietly. "Not by far."