CHAPTER 2: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SMILE
“I had no choice!” Vanessa finally snapped.
The room went still again.
“No choice?” Ethan repeated, disbelief dripping from every word.
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You think this wedding is about love?” she said. “It’s about survival.”
Confusion rippled through the crowd.
“What are you talking about?” Ethan asked.
Vanessa took a shaky breath.
“My family is drowning in debt. Your company—your name—is the only thing keeping us afloat.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “So you were going to drug me?”
“It wasn’t poison!” she shot back. “Just something to make you… more agreeable.”
A wave of disgust spread across the guests.
“You mean easier to control,” Ethan said coldly.
Vanessa didn’t deny it.
“I needed you to sign the post-marriage agreements tonight,” she admitted. “You’ve been stalling for weeks.”
The realization hit Ethan like a punch.
Every smile.
Every kiss.
Every promise.
Calculated.
“So none of this was real?” he asked quietly.
For a moment… Vanessa hesitated.
And that hesitation said everything.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then—
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
But it was too late.
Ethan stepped back like she had physically struck him.
Across the room, the maid stood frozen, tears still streaming down her face.
May you like
She hadn’t meant to destroy a wedding.
She had just wanted to save a life.
