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He Gave Her My Wedding. I Invited Her Husband

NovelShort Completed

Billionaire CEO Hot

Chapters (5)

第1章

The night before the wedding, Damien Grant told me to take off my wedding dress. "Bee's pregnant. She wants to wear the dress and get a family photo for the baby." "Let her have tomorrow's wedding first. Once she's had the baby, I'll make it up to you with another one." I looked past him at the woman in slippers. She was wiping the water off her hands with my veil. "The invitations already went out. Relatives from both families are coming." Damien frowned. "That's exactly why I need you to cooperate." "Tomorrow, just tell everyone you're the bridesmaid. Bee scares easily. Don't let people gossip about her." Six years together, a full year planning the wedding. And in the end, he wanted me to carry the train for the woman pregnant with his child. He set a bank card on the vanity. "Five million. You've always been sensible. Don't let me down this time either." I didn't cry or make a scene. I took the card. "Fine. Tomorrow I'll be the bridesmaid." Damien was finally satisfied. He turned and started trying my veil on her. I took my phone out to the balcony and dialed a number. "Last time, you said your wife was overseas recovering?" The man on the other end paused. "Why?" "She's back. She's getting married tomorrow." "I'll send you the venue address. Make sure you come." …… The line went quiet for a few seconds. "Vivian Sinclair, are you sure?" I held my phone up to the glass. Inside, Damien was kneeling at Bianca Lawson's feet, changing her into the wedding shoes. I had tried a dozen stores before I found that pair. The heels were too thin, and back then he couldn't even be bothered to look at them. He said a wedding wasn't a beauty pageant, anything wearable would do. Now he was cradling another woman's foot and asking her quietly if they pinched. I took a photo and sent it. "Your wedding?" the man asked. "It was supposed to be." "Don't tip her off. I'm flying back now." After I hung up, I backed up the chat history before I turned and went inside. Bianca was already standing in front of the full-length mirror. "Damien, it's a little tight here. Will it squeeze the baby?" Damien immediately called the seamstress over. "Let the waist out. Alter it tonight." The seamstress looked at me and didn't dare touch her scissors. I had paid her rush fees three times. She knew what this dress meant to me. Bianca watched me in the mirror. "Vivian, you're not going to be upset about it, are you? It's not like I have to wear this one. It's just that the baby can't wait, and once my belly gets big it won't look nice." "Cut it," I said. The scissors went in, and a small piece of white embroidered cloth showed inside the waistband. On it were names my mom had stitched by hand. Damien Grant, Vivian Sinclair. After chemo, my mom's eyes were bad. It took her several tries to thread the needle for every stitch. She was afraid she wouldn't last until the wedding, so she sewed her blessing into the dress ahead of time. She said that way, it would be like she was there with me when I got married. Bianca reached out and tugged at it. "There are names in here. It feels creepy wearing it." She picked up the scissors. I clamped my hand around hers. "Take this out and give it to me." Damien stood up, took the scissors away first, then pulled Bianca behind him. "Talk if you want, but keep your hands to yourself. She can't handle a scare right now." I looked at him. "My mom embroidered that." He paused for a moment. Bianca's eyes were already red. "I didn't know... Maybe we should just forget it. The baby and I don't belong here anyway." She reached for the zipper on the dress, and Damien quickly held her hand still. "Who says you don't belong?" When he looked at me again, his patience was gone. "It's just a piece of cloth. Your mom never made this much fuss when she was alive." I let go. The seamstress kept her head down as she unpicked the embroidered cloth in one piece and placed it in my palm. I folded it up carefully and put it in my pocket. "Damien, the five million on that card. I want you to transfer it into my account yourself." He frowned. "What's the difference?" "It's your card. You can freeze it anytime." He looked at me for a moment, then let out a scoff. "So you've gotten smart." My phone chimed with a deposit notification. I checked the amount and started recording. "The five million is compensation for you swapping out the bride at the last minute. After the wedding, I have no obligation to go on and marry you. Right?" "Right." He answered fast, like he'd finally gotten rid of a nuisance. But Bianca gently tugged at his sleeve. "Damien, there's one more part tomorrow that Vivian needs to help with." She pulled out a freshly printed program. Bride's entrance. Father gives away the bride. The man who was supposed to walk me down the aisle had been circled in red pen. Bianca gave a careful little smile. "My dad passed away a long time ago. Could I borrow Mr. Sinclair?" My hand froze on the program. But Damien had already nodded. "Your dad's always doted on you. He'll do this small favor." "Tomorrow he's coming to give his daughter away." "It's just a ceremony. A few steps down the aisle. It's not like he's actually taking on a new daughter."

第2章

Bianca leaned against him, her voice getting softer and softer. "I know I have no right. But someday my child will have to call him an elder too, and I just want things between us to look nice." All at once, I understood. They didn't just want this wedding. They wanted my dad to personally hand Damien a woman pregnant with his illegitimate child, so he would be the one pulling their fig leaf tight. "My dad isn't coming." Damien's face darkened. I called my father right in front of him. "Dad, don't come to the hotel tomorrow. The wedding's off." The first thing my father asked was, "Where are you?" "I'm fine. I'll come see you tomorrow morning." "You don't need to worry about saving my face." His voice was hoarse. "Before your mom passed, she made me promise. Giving you away was supposed to mean giving you to someone who'd love you." My nose stung hard. Damien reached for my phone. I stepped back and hung up. "Vivian, do you really have to drag the family elders into this?" "Weren't you two the ones who set your sights on my dad first?" That shut him up. Bianca hurried over and took my arm. "Vivian, I said the wrong thing. Please don't blame Damien. He's been running back and forth between both of us all week. He's exhausted." Her sleeve slipped down, revealing a gold bracelet. There was a small dent on the inside. I recognized it. It was part of the dowry my mom left me. Last month Damien said the clasp was loose and took it to get it fixed for me. I held out my hand. "Give me back the bracelet." Bianca snatched her hand away. "Damien gave this to me." "It belonged to my late mother." Damien glanced at the bracelet. "She hasn't been sleeping well since she got pregnant. The old folks say wearing old gold helps calm the nerves. You're not wearing it right now anyway. Let her use it for a few days." I walked straight over and grabbed Bianca's wrist. She screamed. Damien seized my arm. "You hurt her and see what happens!" I raised my phone and pointed it at the bracelet. "My mom's name and wedding date are engraved on the inside. I have the purchase receipt and photos of her wearing it." "Take it off now, or I call the police and they take it off." Bianca's crying stopped for half a beat. She looked at Damien. This time, he didn't answer right away. The dressmaker was still standing by the door. Both assistants kept their heads down, but no one left. Finally, he pried Bianca's hand open, pulled the bracelet off, and tossed it to me. "Happy now?" I caught it and slid it back onto my own wrist. "And the engagement ring." Bianca clutched her right hand. Damien's voice turned ice-cold. "Vivian, don't push your luck. I paid for that ring." "Then keep it." I picked up my bag and walked out of the apartment that was supposed to be my marital home. Only when the elevator doors closed did I brace myself against the wall and slowly sink into a crouch. I was the one who picked the diamond in that ring. He was the one who took my mother's bracelet. In those six years, how many other things had he taken to make another woman happy? My phone buzzed. It was the man from earlier. "How did Bianca explain her marriage to you?" I typed: "She said her ex-husband was a drunk who beat her, and she nearly didn't survive the divorce." A moment later, a photo of a marriage certificate came through. The registration date was three years ago. Another message followed right after. "We never divorced." I knew Bianca's husband. Adrian Thornton. Two years ago, when the Grant family company ran out of cash, I was the one who carried the project files into his office. I waited in his hallway for an entire day to get Damien ten minutes. Afterward, Adrian invested, and became the company's largest outside shareholder. Every holiday, Damien personally delivered gifts to him. At a cocktail party last year, Adrian took out his phone and showed us photos from his wedding. The woman in them wore a formal gown and had her head bowed, straightening his cuff for him. I was busy taking drinks for Damien back then and only glanced at it. Not until tonight, when Bianca lowered her eyes to try on my veil, did I finally match the two faces. I zoomed in on the marriage certificate. Bianca Lawson. She hadn't even changed her name. Before I could reply, Damien's call came chasing after me. "Be there at nine tomorrow. Don't be late." "You've swapped brides. What would I even go for?" "The wedding-morning door games, handing over the rings, the toast to the parents. You're the only one who knows how all of it runs. If you don't come, what is Bee supposed to do?" I stared at the marriage certificate on my screen. "Damien, do you actually know who she is?"

第3章

There was a warning in his voice now. "What are you trying to say this time?" "She's been married before." "So?" My fingers froze. He knew. "Her ex-husband is scum. I know that better than you do." "Have you met him?" "No need. I've seen the scar on Bee's leg." Suddenly I remembered half a year ago, the first time Damien brought Bianca to meet me. She was the new administrative assistant. She'd knocked over a coffee and scalded her calf. I took her to the hospital myself that day. Damien even blamed me for making a young girl do the job of fetching tea and coffee. So it turned out that scar had another story behind it too. I swallowed the nausea rising in my throat. "What if she's still not divorced?" "Enough!" Damien's voice suddenly shot up. "She's carrying a child, and you still want to smear her?" I heard Bianca sobbing on the line. "Damien, forget it. If she tells people, how am I supposed to face anyone ever again..." Damien was breathing hard. "Tomorrow, in front of the guests, you're going to make it clear that you didn't want to get married, and you asked Bee to go through the ceremony in your place." I almost laughed out loud. "You think anyone will believe that?" "That depends on how you say it." I pressed save on the recording. "Are you sure you want to hand me the microphone?" "Vivian, that five million wasn't free." I hung up and sent the recording to Adrian. He didn't reply for a long time. I went to the wedding hotel. When the planner came to meet me, her eyes were still red. "Miss Sinclair, Mr. Grant just told us the bride has been changed. The growing-up video we made for you two has to be replaced too." I asked, "Replaced with what?" She turned the laptop toward me. It was a file Damien had just sent. The first photo was taken outside the hospital's obstetrics department. He was down on one knee, slipping a ring onto Bianca's finger. I had been at that hospital that day too. My mom was dying. She kept calling his name, saying she wanted to see her son-in-law one more time. He told me he was stuck in traffic on the freeway. He never came, not even by the time my mom closed her eyes. In the bottom right corner of the photo, the date was perfectly clear. There had been no traffic that day. He was in the same building, proposing to another woman. The planner reached out to close the photo. I stopped her. "Keep all of it. Play it the way he asked." She looked at me, about to say something, then didn't. I sent her some files from my phone. "Have these ready as well. I'll tell you when to play them." She checked the files and nodded. I didn't sleep again that night. At dawn, Adrian sent me his boarding pass. Landing time: 10:20. The wedding started at eleven. I replied: "I'll be waiting for you." At nine, I walked into the dressing room in my bridesmaid dress. Damien was helping Bianca put on her earrings. When he saw me, the first thing he did was check the time. "At least you kept your word." Bianca, though, was staring at my ears. I was wearing the pearl studs my mom left me. "Vivian, could you maybe not wear any jewelry today? My ears are a little sensitive, I can't wear anything heavy, and like this you look more like the bride than I do." I didn't take them off. "Then wear a different pair." Her smile froze. Damien was about to say something when the door was pushed open. Eleanor Grant came in with two relatives. When she saw the wedding dress on Bianca, she stopped short. "What is going on here?" Bianca lowered her head, and Damien stepped in front of her. "Mom, Bee's pregnant. She's doing the wedding today." Eleanor's face changed several times before her eyes landed on my bridesmaid dress. "Vivian, you agreed to this?" I looked at her. She didn't ask how the baby came about. She didn't say one word against her own son. I nodded. "I agreed. I've already received the five million." The two relatives exchanged a look. Embarrassment crossed Eleanor's face, and she pulled me over by the door. "Don't go around telling people about the money. We all know how you and Damien feel about each other. Once the baby's born, I'll still think of you as my daughter-in-law." She patted my hand. "Every man has a foolish moment out there sooner or later. You can't throw away six years over this." "Mrs. Grant, is that how you got through it when you were young?" Her hand stopped in midair. I pulled my hand back and walked over to Bianca. "Fix your veil. The groom's coming to get you soon." Bianca looked at me and finally gave a smile that seemed genuine.

第4章

She leaned in and lowered her voice. "If you'd been like this from the start, you wouldn't have had to put up with any of it, would you?" "This dress fits really well. It's just that piece of cloth inside was a little dirty." I smoothed the wrinkles on her shoulder. "Does your husband think it fits too?" The corner of her mouth froze for a second. "Damien loves it, of course." "I wasn't talking about him." Bianca's head snapped up. I had already stepped back and picked up the tray with the rings. She grabbed me. "What's that supposed to mean?" Outside the door, the groom's party started cheering and hollering as they came to collect the bride. Damien walked in holding the bouquet, but Bianca had gone pale, her eyes locked on me. "Damien, I don't feel well. Can we not do this?" Damien immediately reached out to feel her forehead. She pushed the bouquet away, her voice shaking. "Let's go home, okay?" I glanced at the time. 10:23. My phone screen lit up. "Just landed." Bianca saw those two words too. She knocked the phone out of my hand. "Who the hell did you invite?" The phone hit the floor, and a crack ran across the screen. The room went silent. I bent down and picked it up. "Didn't you say you had no family of your own coming? So I invited someone you know." The color drained from Bianca's lips bit by bit. Damien dragged me to one side. "Vivian, did you bring someone here to wreck the wedding?" "If you're this scared of who might show up, why are you still going through with it?" He stared at me and held out his hand for the phone. "Give it to me." I stepped back. Suddenly Bianca clutched her stomach and crouched down. "Damien... my stomach hurts." He let go of me at once and bent to pick her up. "Call a car. We're going to the hospital." But Eleanor Grant, standing in the doorway, blocked them. "Every seat downstairs is full. Mr. Thornton's assistant just called to say he's coming himself, and he'll be here any minute. If you leave now, what is he going to think?" Damien stopped. "Mr. Thornton's back in the country?" Eleanor nodded. "That's no small honor. Get a doctor up here to take a look, and if she's fine, finish the ceremony first." Bianca clung to his suit jacket. "No. I want to leave." Damien wiped the sweat from her temple. "Bee, Mr. Thornton is the company's major shareholder. We can't snub him. Hang in there a little longer, and we'll leave as soon as the ceremony's over." I stood off to the side, watching the fear on Bianca's face, and finally understood why she'd dared to hide out next to Damien. Her husband spent most of his time abroad. And her lover treated that husband as an honored guest he couldn't afford to offend. Bianca suddenly reached out toward me. "Vivian, I won't take it anymore. You can have the dress back. You be the bride." She started tearing at her veil, and one of her earrings got yanked off. Damien held her down and turned to look at me. "What did you say to her?" "I told her I'd invited someone she knows." "Who is it?" "You'll find out when he gets here." A vein stood out on his temple. He was about to blow up when the emcee called from downstairs, telling them to hurry. Eleanor grabbed his arm. "Deal with it later. Mr. Thornton's almost at the door!" Damien took a deep breath, lifted Bianca, and carried her out. She twisted to look back, her eyes nailed to me. I picked up the rings and followed them down. At the entrance to the banquet hall stood the wedding portrait of Damien and me. There hadn't been time to redo it, so the staff had covered my face with a bunch of flowers. But the names underneath were still showing. Groom: Damien Grant. Bride: Vivian Sinclair. When Bianca walked in on Damien's arm, the murmuring among the guests exploded. "Who is that?" "Why is Vivian walking behind them?" "Can you just swap out the bride at the last minute?"

第5章

Damien settled Bianca on the stage and strode over to me. "Explain it the way we agreed last night." He shoved the microphone into my hand and leaned down to warn me. "Don't try anything. Your dad still does business in this town." I looked at him for two seconds. "Say that again." But he had already turned away and put on a polished smile for the guests. "There's been a small last-minute change today. I'll let Vivian tell you about it." I switched on the microphone. "The person who was supposed to get married today was me." Damien's mother was frantically signaling me from her seat. I kept going. "But last night, Damien told me Bianca was pregnant with his child, and that he needed to borrow my wedding for her first." The whole hall erupted. Damien's head snapped around. I took a step to the side. "The wedding dress, the diamond ring, the bouquet I picked out, he gave all of it to her. He even wanted my dad to walk her down the aisle and hand her over for them." "Vivian!" Damien reached out to grab the microphone. At that moment, the banquet hall doors were pushed open. An assistant hurried in. "Mr. Grant, Mr. Thornton is here." Damien's hand froze. Bianca suddenly hiked up her skirt and ran for the side door. Two men who had come in with Adrian stepped over to stand by it. They didn't touch her, but she stopped as if she'd been nailed to the floor and didn't dare take another step. Adrian, in a dark suit and still worn from the trip, walked straight up to the stage. Damien immediately went down to meet him. "Mr. Thornton, you came in person? It's just a little family matter. I'm sorry you had to see this." Adrian didn't look at him. His eyes were on the curve of Bianca's stomach. "How far along?" Damien was caught off guard. Then, like a man who had finally found someone to back him up, he moved to shield Bianca. "Three months. She scares easily, and she's had a bit of a shock just now." "She was married once before and ended up with the wrong man. Someone's been using that to humiliate her today. Please don't listen to the gossip." Adrian slowly raised his eyes. "The wrong man?" Bianca dropped to her knees with a thud. The moment she knelt, Damien finally sensed that something was off. "Bee?" She didn't look at him. She only clung to the leg of Adrian's pants. "I can explain. Just get them to leave first..." Adrian pulled his leg free. "Yesterday you were telling me you couldn't stand the food at the convalescent center." "And today you're in a wedding dress?" The smile on Damien's face went completely stiff. Adrian took out a marriage certificate and opened it in front of him. "Mr. Grant, the woman you're marrying is my wife." Someone in the audience gasped, and the teacup in Damien's mother's hand smashed to pieces on the floor. Damien stared at the certificate. It was a long moment before he managed to force out a few words. "That's impossible. She already..." Adrian handed me another document envelope. "Miss Sinclair, I confirmed it in the car on the way over." I tore it open, read only the first line, and looked up at Damien. He was still holding on to Bianca, as if as long as he didn't let go, he could prove this wedding wasn't a mistake. "Even if she lied to me, the baby is mine." His voice was tight. "She started seeing me three months ago. I went to her prenatal checkups with her. The timing adds up." Bianca suddenly lunged at me. "Don't look at that! Give it to me!" Damien caught her on instinct. She swung around and slapped him across the face. "Who told you to call him here? Didn't you say you were the one in charge of this wedding?" The slap knocked Damien's head to the side. I turned to the last page of the document. It didn't just have Bianca's signature. It had Damien's too. The signing date was the day my mother died. I looked up and gripped the microphone tighter. "Damien, you said you didn't know she was still married." "Then why did you sign this agreement too?"