Chapter 1
On the day of the divorce hearing, the judge went through the usual questions.
“You’ve only been married for three years. Are you certain your marriage has broken down beyond repair?”
I forced a bitter smile. I took off my wedding ring and placed it on the table.
“We were married for three years, yet we were never together for all three years.
“Your Honor, is there anything left between us?
Three days before our wedding, the woman my fiancé, Grant Prescott, had never gotten over came back to the States.
Grant’s mother came to see me in person and took my hand. “Claire, don’t worry. You’re the only woman I’ll ever accept as my daughter-in-law.”
My brother declared in the group chat, “If Grant pulls any stupid stunt, I’ll be the first one to beat his ass.”
My best friend was even more emphatic. “Please. Like she could ever compete with the eight years you and Grant have shared.”
They put my mind completely at ease.
Then, on my wedding day, I climbed into the bridal limo, overjoyed, only to see a group message pop up on the spare phone my best friend had left behind.
[Operation Bride Swap was a success! My ship is finally canon!]
My mind went blank.
I opened the chat. The screen was filled with videos documenting Grant and Serena Caldwell’s ceremony, the exchange of vows, and the send-off to the honeymoon suite.
I scrolled up and found Grant’s messages.
[I owe Serena the chance to be my bride. This wedding is just to give her the day she always dreamed of and let her wear a wedding dress for me.]
[Claire and I will still go to the county clerk’s office tomorrow and make the marriage official as planned.]
[If she makes a scene, tell her the driver took the wrong route. Say a few nice things for me and calm her down. That should smooth everything over.]
Then he tagged everyone.
One familiar profile picture after another appeared.
Grant’s mother: [Don’t worry. I’ll cover for you.]
Ethan: [Claire is too trusting. She’ll be easy to calm down.]
Tessa: [Grant is so good to Serena. I’m seriously jealous.]
So everyone had been covering for him while I was the only one left in the dark.
I calmly stepped out of the limo and went through with the ceremony.
The next day, arm in arm with another man, I held up my marriage certificate to Grant, who was waiting outside the County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
“Sorry. I switched grooms. I didn’t have time to tell you.”
…
My finger hovered over the screen, trembling slightly, before I tapped the newest video.
The camera shook as it focused on the couple standing beneath a flower-covered arch.
“Kiss! Kiss!”
As the crowd cheered them on, Grant and Serena shared a deep French kiss.
The camera panned across the people watching nearby.
I knew every face.
At the very front was my own brother, Ethan Bennett, filming on his phone as he led the cheers and applause.
Our parents had both died in a car accident when I was eight, leaving us with no one but each other.
He had once patted me on the head and told me I was his only family. He had sworn that, no matter what it took, he would make sure I walked down the aisle in style.
Now he was watching another woman’s romance unfold with a proud, satisfied smile.
The bridesmaid holding up the hem of Serena’s wedding gown and repeatedly dabbing at the corners of her eyes was Tessa Morgan, my best friend of eighteen years.
The scene changed.
Grant’s mother sat primly in an elegant wingback chair, wearing a warm, maternal smile.
She beckoned Serena closer and slipped the Prescott family’s heirloom emerald bracelet onto her slender wrist.
“You’ve been through so much, sweetheart.”
Yet only three days earlier, she had held my hand and told me I was the only woman she would ever accept as her daughter-in-law. She had also promised to give me the Prescott family’s heirloom emerald bracelet in the bridal suite before the ceremony.
When the video ended, a crushing weight settled over my chest.
My throat tightened until I could barely breathe.
So everyone had known the truth.
Every one of them had been helping Grant deceive me—the woman he was supposed to marry.
In that case, I was done waiting for him to make me his wife.