They Gave My Wedding To My Sister Chapter 07
In those months abroad, my life began to rebuild itself—one small piece at a time.
My project proposal was rejected six times.
The night before the seventh presentation, I didn’t leave the office at all.
When the director slid the final approval across the table, she smiled.
“Clara Whitfield. Congratulations.”
“The board approved your design.”
I held that document and felt an unexpected sting behind my eyes.
Before, whenever I accomplished anything, the first person I wanted to tell was Ethan.
Then my parents. Marcus. Sophie.
But they’d either ignore me or toss back a distracted “That’s nice.”
Meanwhile, Pearl could post a photo of afternoon tea and receive an avalanche of love.
Now, in this conference room, my colleagues studied my work with genuine attention and applauded.
Someone handed me a coffee. Someone else suggested we celebrate that evening.
I signed my name on the approval document.
For the first time, I felt that the name Clara Whitfield didn’t need to be attached to anyone else to mean something.
……
Six months later, Phase One was officially completed.
The coverage eventually reached the States, and Ethan finally saw me in a news segment.
On screen, I’d cut my hair short. I stood beside the architectural model, answering the reporter’s questions with calm precision.
The interview was three minutes long.
He watched it on repeat until dawn.
The next morning, he booked the earliest flight out.
Ethan found me just as I was leaving a press event.
He was standing outside the venue. He’d lost weight—enough that his coat hung wrong on his frame.
“Clara.”
He said my name once, and his voice broke.
I stopped walking.
“Can I help you?”
The flatness of my voice—the sheer indifference—drained the color from his face.
“I’ve been looking for you for eight months.”
“What Pearl said at the wedding—none of it was true.”
“Those ninety-nine days, the breakfasts, the flowers, every single word I said to you—that was all me.”
He searched my face, desperate, as though trying to piece together something shattered beyond repair.
“Clara, those seven years weren’t a performance.”
“I really loved you.”
I looked at him, and a strange smile crossed my face.
“Ethan. You think that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“If it had all been fake from the beginning, then I was just deceived for seven years. That’s all.”
“But you did love me. You knew exactly how much I believed in you.”
“And you still helped them lie to me. You let me miss every chance to know the truth. You watched me plan your wife’s wedding with my own hands.”
“You knew exactly where to put the knife to make it hurt the most.”
His lips trembled.
“After Pearl came back, I thought—I thought I still had feelings for her.”
“She got pregnant. I owed her something.”
“But I couldn’t let you go either. I kept telling myself I’d explain after the wedding.”
I cut him off.
“You didn’t hold on because you couldn’t let me go.”
“You held on because you couldn’t let go of the version of me who would stay no matter how badly you hurt her.”
“But that version of me died in the hospital.”
His eyes went red all at once.
“I’m sorry.”
“The baby—I had no idea.”
“If I’d known, I never would have left you there.”
I held his gaze.
“You didn’t know about the first one either.”
“Because every single time there was a choice to make, you never once chose me.”
“Ethan—not knowing isn’t the same as being innocent.”
“It just means you didn’t care enough to find out.”
He looked as though those last words had broken something fundamental inside him. He couldn’t speak.
It began to rain outside the venue.
A colleague jogged over with an umbrella and asked if I wanted a ride to the team dinner.
I nodded and stepped past Ethan.
He caught the edge of my sleeve.
“One more chance.”
“I’ll fix everything.”
I eased the fabric from his fingers, gently and completely.
“Your marriage, your child, your regrets—none of that is my concern anymore.”
“Don’t come find me again.”