Chapter 2 - The Perfect Illusion
Twenty minutes later, the bridal suite door cracked open, and Chloe, Claire’s loyal assistant and longtime friend, rushed inside holding a bouquet of white peonies. Chloe took one look at Claire’s terrifyingly calm expression and stopped dead in her tracks, dropping her clipboard onto the sofa.
“Claire? Oh my god, you look stunning, but... your face. Are you okay?” Chloe whispered, rushing forward. “Is it morning sickness? Do you need water?”
“Lock the door, Chloe,” Claire commanded softly, slipping her diamond tennis bracelet off her wrist and placing it carefully into her clutch.
Chloe blinked, confused. “What? Why? The string quartet is playing the prelude, and Adrian’s best man is already knocking on the side entrance asking if you’re ready to line up—”
“Chloe, listen to me very carefully,” Claire interrupted, her dark eyes locking onto her assistant’s with absolute unyielding authority. “Did you bring the second set of portfolio documents I emailed you from my secure laptop this morning?”
Chloe swallowed hard, reaching into her leather portfolio case and pulling out a thick, legal-bound folder stamped with red ink. “Yes. But Claire, those are the corporate asset restructuring drafts for Whitmore Logistics... why do you need those here?”
“Because the man waiting at the end of that aisle isn't planning to be my husband on Monday morning. He’s planning to be my executioner,” Claire said, her voice devoid of emotion, though a lethal fire burned in her eyes. She quickly recounted what she had overheard in the hallway—Adrian’s casual dismissal of their marriage, Elena Vance wearing her wedding shoes, and the impending corporate merger set for Monday that would strip Claire’s family company of its core assets.
Chloe’s jaw dropped in absolute horror. “That son of a bitch. That manipulative, cheating, narcissistic sociopath! Claire, let’s call the cops! Let’s cancel the wedding right now, go out there, and humiliate him in front of every single executive in Los Angeles!”
“Humiliation is temporary, Chloe. Destruction is permanent,” Claire replied coldly, standing up straight and adjusting the flawless drape of her lace gown. “If I cause a scene out there right now, Adrian will spin it as a prenatal emotional breakdown. He’ll lock down the board votes, secure the merger under emergency executive powers, and tie up my family's assets in a five-year divorce litigation. I am not going to give him the luxury of playing the victim.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Chloe asked, her voice trembling with a mix of fury and awe.
“We are going to give him the most expensive wedding of his life,” Claire said, a chilling, razor-thin smile touching her lips. “We are going to let him walk up to that altar, say his vows, sign every document he thinks is handing him an empire, and walk right into a legal trap he will never escape. Are Marcus and the legal team downstairs?”
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“They just pulled up in the service bay,” Chloe whispered, looking at her watch. “They’re waiting in the private holding room behind the altar stage with the contingency enforcement papers.”
“Good,” Claire murmured, lifting her heavy silk train. “Let’s go marry a billionaire.”
