Chapter 4
I didn't have a contract with Michael. I'd helped him build this lab, and in return, I used it for my own research.
All I needed to do was take my laptop and wipe my data, and I'd have nothing to do with this place anymore.
A few hours later, Michael came over and set a vanilla crepe in front of me.
I didn't look up and kept organizing my data.
Michael couldn't read anything from my expression, so he asked carefully, "Claire, why don't you take two months off? You've been working nonstop. You could rest and we could plan the wedding."
I didn't answer, but I took the crepe.
Michael relaxed a little.
After I finished eating, I went to the stairwell to throw away the wrapper and heard voices drifting up.
"Michael, Claire really forgave you?" Alex asked.
"What, you think we'd actually break up? I gave her time off to plan the wedding."
"What about Cara? She's not gonna make a scene?"
Michael took a drag from his cigarette. "I booked us tickets overseas. I'll take her on a trip and call it compensation."
"That's a pretty big deal, dumping the wedding planning on Claire while you're off having fun with your side piece."
"Side piece? Cara and I are completely innocent! Don't project your dirty mind onto us. Get lost. Claire doesn't need me hovering over her. She can handle the wedding."
I walked back to my desk with my face blank.
Soon after, Alex passed by my desk and muttered something like he was hiding a secret. "Claire, check WhatsApp. I sent you something."
I opened WhatsApp and saw the screenshot he'd sent.
[I never took her to the place she wanted to go most. In this lifetime, I'll only share it with you.]
Michael wrote that.
I couldn't tell if Alex had actually grown a conscience or if he was just trying to turn me against Michael so I'd help them reclaim their authorship rights.
Either way, I didn't have the energy to care.
When I finished packing up and was ready to leave, Michael showed up again.
For once, he acted attentive and insisted on driving me home himself.
"I'm leaving on a business trip for two months. If you need anything, reach out to Alex. And if he can't handle it, call me. Don't worry. I'll be back before the wedding, I promise."
I answered flatly, "Okay."
Michael smiled broadly, as if that last bit of worry had finally lifted from his shoulders.
The moment I got home, I called my mother, Nancy.
"Mom, remember that guy you wanted to introduce me to for marriage?"
I knew who she meant, James Foster, a military officer who needed to get married quickly to give his dying grandfather some peace of mind.
He had an excellent family background and character.
If it weren't urgent, it probably wouldn't have fallen to me.
After exchanging WhatsApp contacts, James said, "Ask for whatever you need. I only have one condition—we get married within two months."
"No problem. Two months is perfect."
I even set our wedding date for the exact day I was supposed to marry Michael.
Two months from now, when he returned from his romantic getaway with his little angel and discovered I'd married someone else, I wondered just how "thrilled" he'd be.
*****
A few days later, Cara updated her story.
[He's getting married, and the bride isn't me.]
The photo showed her tear-stained face with Michael sleeping against an airplane window in the background.
Within minutes, Michael liked it and commented: [Let me walk this final path with you. It'll be my most beautiful memory.]
How touching—two tragic lovebirds torn apart by cruel fate.
I liked the post immediately.
Michael probably didn't realize I could see that story, because he called me in a panic.
"Claire, what are you doing?" He tried to sound calm, as if nothing had happened.
"I'm picking out my wedding dress." I told him the truth.
Even through the phone, I could hear his relieved exhale.
Soon after, Alex sent me another screenshot.
It was his conversation with Michael.
Alex had asked if Michael wasn't worried about posting those things and making me angry.
Michael's response? I was reasonable and wouldn't make a fuss over small things.
Of course, I wouldn't make a fuss over him anymore
There was a lot to prepare for a wedding. Still, thankfully, the Fosters handled everything and kept asking for my input along the way.
For a moment, I thought this was what a typical wedding in a normal family should feel like.
The Fosters felt they owed me something and wanted to give me the best of everything. Joyce, James' mother, even bought me a luxury apartment herself and said if things didn't work out with James and we got divorced, I'd still have something to fall back on.
As the wedding date approached, I posted an announcement on social media over two weeks early and officially shared the date.
The guest list was finalized, and the invitations had all been sent out.
Juliana finally had leverage again.
Three days before the wedding, Juliana called and brought up the old issue again. "Claire, have you thought about the house? I already told you, if you don't transfer the property to Eric's name, don't expect Michael to show up at your wedding!"
She continued, "Your parents are respected university professors. If you're not afraid of embarrassing them or giving them a heart attack, you'd better do what I say!"
She was arrogant and insufferable. Even without seeing her face, I could imagine how ugly her expression must have been.
I felt incredibly grateful that I'd made the wise choice not to marry into that family.
I sneered, "Fine. Go ahead and tell him not to come!"
"You think you can still scare me?" Joyce replied.
The invitations had already been sent, and everything at the hotel was ready. If I called off the wedding now, the gossip alone would drown me.
I knew that was exactly what Juliana was counting on when she made her threat.
I hung up and blocked her number for good this time.
On the wedding day, Michael really didn't show up.