Chapter 5

Ethan was caught off guard by her question.

But Tessa didn't let up.

"I brought Stella here today, not to see how you'd try to comfort me, and not to save face for you in private," she said, holding Stella close, her posture still straight, her voice steady. "I just want you, her, and everyone who was supposed to be here today to hear this loud and clear—

"I'm not dead.

"So this wedding never should've even happened."

As soon as Tessa finished, Serena's mother couldn't hold back anymore.

"Miss Quinn!" She shot to her feet, her face pale but her voice still forced low. "Even if you're alive, you can't just storm in here like this. Whatever's going on between you and Ethan, that's your problem. Today is our Serena's wedding—"

"Wedding?" Tessa looked at her. "A wedding built on the assumption that I was dead, and you still feel entitled to call it that?"

Serena's mother was left speechless.

Because she had nothing to say back.

As long as Tessa was standing here alive, this wedding wasn't just about someone swooping in after the fact—it was a ridiculous mess built on errors, wrong assumptions, and someone taking advantage of the situation.

Serena finally stepped down from the stage.

The train of her wedding dress dragged across the floor, leaving a long white trail. Her face looked calm on the surface, but the panic in her eyes was impossible to hide. She stopped just three steps away from Tessa.

"Tessa," Serena said softly. "If you just wanted Ethan to know the truth, he already does. You brought your child back. No one here would turn her away."

"Oh, really?" Tessa shot her a look. "Then what are you still doing here?"

Serena's expression froze.

Tessa pressed on, not letting her off the hook.

"You always knew there was a chance I wasn't really gone. So why did you let things get this far?"

That line was like a knife, ripping open the deepest wound and exposing everything underneath.

Ethan's eyes grew cold as he turned to Serena.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked.

Serena's breath hitched, suddenly uneven.

She definitely hadn't expected Tessa to target her first instead of Ethan. Now, all those things that could've been chalked up to misunderstandings, old feelings, or tough choices were about to be exposed for what they really were.

"Ethan, don't listen to her right now—" Serena interjected.

"I asked you what you meant," Ethan said, his voice going icy.

'Not a hint of satisfaction,' Tessa thought as she watched the scene play out.

Because it was too late.

Serena hadn't made it here all by herself. Truth was, Ethan and the whole Ford family had quietly let her slip into Tessa's spot, telling themselves, 'She's gone, so the rest of us have to keep living.'

The real scandal of tonight's wedding wasn't just about a woman standing where she shouldn't.

It was that everyone had silently allowed her to step into that place.

Serena bit her lip, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I never wanted to hurt her," Serena said, her voice rough. "After the accident, everyone thought she was gone. You signed off on it too, didn't you? I just... I was only by your side."

At those words, Ethan's gaze darkened even more.

It wasn't because she admitted anything.

On the contrary, it was because she brushed off the most damning part as if it meant nothing—just "being by your side."

Tessa gave a faint, cold smile.

It was faint, and it was cold.

"You were by his side, wearing my jewelry, using Summer House Studio, attending the charity foundation events I used to go to, and even using the soup recipe my mom always brought to the hospital just to win over the elders."

She looked at Serena, her eyes steady and utterly composed—her calm only made Serena feel even more exposed and ashamed.

"Serena, you weren't just by his side," Tessa said, her voice unwavering. "You were slowly seeing just how much of my life you could take over, piece by piece, as if I were already gone."

The room fell into absolute silence.

Serena's face drained of color, like she'd just been exposed in the harshest possible way.

And in that instant, Ethan finally understood—Tessa's loss was never just about a husband, a wedding, or the title of Mrs. Ford.

What she lost was this—after she was gone, someone else actually stepped in and took over every part of her life, bit by bit.

In the end, the wedding just fell apart.