Chapter 3

By the time the wedding was over, Samuel finally showed up.

His white suit was a mess, all wrinkled, and his collar smelled like gardenias, Charlotte's favorite.

Charlotte trailed behind him, clutching a blanket, looking like the world had ended for her.

Samuel stormed into the hall, and instead of explaining himself, he snapped, "Claire, are you done making a scene?"

I was helping Mom see the guests off when I heard his voice, but I couldn't be bothered to turn around.

Julian was still in his wedding suit, standing right next to me.

Samuel's face darkened the moment he spotted the ring on Julian's finger. "Who told you to put that on?"

Julian lifted his hand. "The wedding's over. Of course I'm wearing the ring."

Samuel stepped forward. "Take it off."

I stepped in front of Julian. "Samuel, what right do you have to boss around my newlywed husband?"

Charlotte gently tugged at Samuel's sleeve. "Samuel, don't fight with Claire because of me. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have asked you to stay with me when I wasn't feeling well."

I gave her a cold stare. "Miss Quinn, if you're that sick, how did you manage to change into three different outfits and pose for photos? Guess you're tougher than you let on."

Charlotte's face went pale.

Samuel immediately stepped in front of her. "Claire, Charlotte has a heart condition. Don't give her a hard time."

He said the exact same thing in my previous life.

Because she had a heart condition, I wasn't supposed to hold it against her if she called Samuel in the middle of the night.

Because she had a heart condition, I had to give up our bridal suite so she could recover.

Because she had a heart condition, when I died in the cold storage, it was somehow all my own fault.

I gave a cold chuckle. "Her heart condition? That's got nothing to do with me."

Samuel stared at me as if he'd never heard those words before, his brows furrowed. "You weren't like this before."

"I was blind back then."

The relatives who were seeing guests off stopped in their tracks.

Charlotte bit her lip. "Claire, I know you're upset with me, but this whole wedding mess isn't Samuel's fault. I was scared he'd forget about me after marrying you, so I begged him to stay with me. He couldn't say no, that's why he—"

I cut her off. "So he hired someone to take his place at the wedding?"

Samuel's face turned red with embarrassment. "Enough! I was going to explain everything to you after the wedding, but you had to push things this far."

"Explain what?" I shot back. "Explain how you played me for a fool, or how your parents helped you keep it all a secret?"

Howard and Helen came out after us, and when they heard what I said, their faces turned darker.

Helen pointed at me. "Claire, don't be so harsh. You and Samuel grew up together, and we watched Charlotte grow up. She's practically family. It's young people making mistakes."

I looked at her. "So being young means they can turn my wedding into a joke?"

Helen softened her tone. "You've already embarrassed the Grant family enough. It's time to cool off. Have Julian take off the ring, and we'll say there was a mix-up during the ceremony. You'll still be Samuel's wife."

Julian's hand at his side gave a little twitch.

I locked onto his wrist. "He said he's not taking it off."

Samuel's eyes locked onto my hand, his voice low and tense. "Claire, you wanna piss me off using him? Fine. But don't take it too far."

"Who do you think you are? Like I'd waste my anger on you," I shot back.

Samuel's friends behind him let out a gasp.

One of them, Henry Cole, who was always sucking up to Samuel, immediately jumped in. "Claire, don't be so ungrateful. Samuel's coming back is already giving you a way out.

"You wanna marry this replacement? He's not even on the same level as the Grant family's driver."

Julian's face darkened.

I shot back at Henry, "Since you know so much about ways out, why didn't you go up there and take his place at the wedding?"

Henry was left speechless.

Charlotte said softly, "Claire, don't take it out on others. Mr. West is here for the money. He probably doesn't want to get mixed up in all this drama."

Julian suddenly spoke up, "I do."

Charlotte froze, caught off guard.

Samuel shot him a look like he was nothing but a disloyal mutt. "Julian, don't forget your sister's still in our hospital."

Julian's face turned icy. "Samuel, are you using my sister to threaten me?"

"I'm reminding you to know who's putting food on your table."

I turned to Samuel. "So the Grant family likes to use patients as leverage for favors, huh?"

Helen jumped in, flustered. "That's not what Samuel meant."

"Then what did he mean?" I pulled out my phone. "I'll have someone pick up Julian's sister and transfer her to another hospital right now."

Samuel scoffed. "You think you run the hospital? With her condition, if she's not under the Grant family's protection, who'd dare admit her?"