Chapter 3 - The Groom Who Looked Away.
Adrian Hale had spent most of his life believing that indecision was the same thing as kindness.
It had made him popular, easygoing, and disastrously easy to manipulate.
When Claire found him twenty minutes before the ceremony, he was standing alone in a side chapel rehearsing his vows.
"Adrian."
He turned and smiled.
Then he saw her face.
"What happened?"
Claire closed the door behind her.
"Celeste happened."
His smile vanished.
Claire showed him the transfer on her phone.
She played eight seconds of the recording.
Celeste's voice filled the tiny chapel.
"Your brother will choose me."
Then came the unmistakable sound of impact.
Adrian went pale.
"Turn it off."
"You need to hear the rest."
"I said turn it off."
Claire stared at him.
"She hit me."
Adrian rubbed both hands over his face.
"I know what it sounds like."
"It sounds exactly like what happened."
"Not today."
Claire could not believe the words.
"What?"
"Please, Claire."
He looked toward the chapel door as though guests might hear them breathing.
"There are two hundred people outside."
"Then cancel the wedding."
"My career is tied to this merger."
"This isn't a merger."
"Her family's investment is already committed."
"There is no family investment."
Adrian flinched.
That reaction told Claire more than an answer would have.
"You knew."
"I knew there were inconsistencies."
"You knew she lied."
"I knew she exaggerated."
"About what?"
Adrian looked away.
Claire's voice dropped.
"How much have you covered for her?"
He did not respond.
Then Claire remembered Christmas Eve.
Celeste had driven Victor's vintage Bentley into a stone wall and claimed a valet had taken it without permission.
A twenty-two-year-old valet had been fired.
Adrian had personally paid him ten thousand dollars to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Claire felt sick.
"The Bentley."
Adrian shut his eyes.
"It was an accident."
"She was drunk."
"She was scared."
"So you ruined someone else's job."
"I fixed it."
"You paid him to disappear."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"You don't understand what it's like to love someone who keeps becoming the worst version of herself when she's afraid."
Claire stared at him.
"No."
She held up the phone.
"I understand exactly what it's like to love someone who keeps protecting that person."
The chapel door opened.
Victor stood there.
Neither sibling had heard him approach.
His eyes moved from Claire's strained expression to Adrian's white face.
"What's going on?"
Adrian answered too quickly.
"Nothing."
Victor looked at his son for a long moment.
Then he looked at Claire.
"Is that true?"
Claire almost told him everything.
Then the wedding planner appeared behind Victor.
"Mr. Hale, we're already seven minutes behind."
Victor glanced at his watch.
Claire saw Adrian silently pleading with her.
She hated herself for understanding that look.
"Later," she said.
Victor's expression hardened.
"Claire."
"After the ceremony."
Adrian exhaled.
Claire walked past him.
As she reached the door, he caught her wrist gently.
"Thank you."
She pulled free.
"Don't thank me."
She looked him directly in the eye.
"You have until the vows begin."
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But when the music started twelve minutes later, Adrian walked to the altar.
And Claire finally understood that her brother had already made his choice.
