They Switched My Groom—So I Kept Him Chapter 06
“Madly in love, my ass! Keep talking and see what happens!”
The two men immediately started fighting.
By the time people managed to pull them apart, both of them were bruised.
Ethan pointed to the marks on his face and came toward me.
“Look how hard he hit me…”
I ignored him.
Instead, I walked straight to Ryan.
“Does it hurt? Do you want me to take you somewhere to get that cleaned up?”
He shook his head and refused to move, watching me with an almost embarrassingly hopeful expression, clearly waiting for me to claim him as my husband in front of everyone.
I sighed.
“I chose this. I married him willingly. The ceremony is already over, in front of the officiant and both families.”
My mother happened to walk over just in time to hear me.
She staggered.
“When did I ever agree to this marriage?”
Because no one had told them they were free to leave, the actors my parents had hired were still seated at the head table, diligently pretending to be my mother and father.
I glanced back at them, then looked at my real mother in exaggerated shock.
“Mom? What are you and Dad doing here? Then who were the people who walked me down the aisle and handed me to Ryan?”
She choked on her answer.
Appearances mattered more to her than almost anything.
There was no way she wanted to admit in front of this many people that she’d hired strangers to stand in at her own daughter’s wedding.
I smiled and kindly answered for her.
“Oh, right. Those are the substitutes you hired because you thought my face blindness meant I’d never notice. You needed them here because you wanted to go next door and attend the wedding of an outsider and your future son-in-law instead.”
The room erupted in shocked whispers.
Sophie’s face went white, then red.
Her voice trembled as she reached for the hem of my dress.
“Claire, don’t blame them. I’m sorry. I… I know I’m probably never going to get married. I just wanted to know what it felt like to be a bride once.”
I brushed her hand away.
“So you had my fiancé hold a wedding for you on my wedding day. Sophie, are you seriously trying to make yourself the victim here?”
My mother couldn’t stand seeing me confront her.
She stepped in front of Sophie protectively.
“We didn’t tell you because you make such a big deal out of everything. Sophie is your best friend. You couldn’t make the rehearsal, so what would have been wrong with letting her wear the dress and stand in for you once? But you refused. If you’d been a little more generous, none of us would have needed to hide this from you.”
The words stopped me cold.
It felt like being slapped across the face.
Painful and humiliating.
On the day of the rehearsal, a work emergency had kept me from making it on time.
Ethan had casually suggested letting Sophie fill in for me.
I’d refused without hesitation.
I was so worried they’d do it behind my back that I’d even warned them that if Sophie put on my wedding dress, I would cancel the wedding completely.
Apparently, they thought I’d wronged her.
So on my actual wedding day, my parents and my fiancé had all chosen to stand beside Sophie instead.
I laughed bitterly.
“Fine. I’m petty. I’m selfish. I’m not generous enough. So I don’t want Ethan anymore. And I don’t want either of you in my life, either.”
I turned to Ryan.
“Let’s go. There’s nothing left for me here.”
Ethan grabbed my wrist.
“Where are you going? You held a fake wedding to make us mad. Fine. But you’re not actually going home with him, are you?”
Ryan had clearly had enough.
He squeezed my palm.
I understood what he was asking and gave a slight nod.
The next second, he pulled two marriage documents from his pocket.
“We already got the license and completed a legal civil ceremony on the way here. I’m Claire’s legal husband now. Of course she’s coming home with me.”