Chapter 5 - The Stunned Groom
I mounted the altar steps with slow, measured steps, my heels clicking softly against the polished stone floor until I stood directly beside Adrian. The atmosphere in the chapel was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife.
Adrian grabbed my hands, his fingers trembling slightly as he searched my face for answers. His dark eyes darted from my stained dress back to my calm, unblinking eyes.
“Claire...” Adrian whispered, his voice shaking so badly the microphone on his lapel caught the friction. “What... what happened to you? Your dress... who did this?”
Before I could answer, Evelyn stood up slightly from her seat in the third row, her voice cutting sharply through the silent chapel before the officiant could even speak.
“Yes, Claire, do tell everyone!” Evelyn called out, putting on a sickeningly theatrical display of public concern. “Wandering into your own wedding looking like a common street urchin covered in stains! Truly, if you didn't have the breeding for this family, you should have just said so instead of embarrassing my son in front of Boston’s elite!”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through a few of Evelyn’s closest society friends in the pews, though most of the guests simply watched in stunned silence, sensing that something deeply abnormal and volatile was unfolding.
Adrian turned around, glaring down toward his mother with a dark, threatening flash in his eyes. “Sit down, Mother. This is my wedding.”
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“I am only looking out for the family name, Adrian!” Evelyn retorted loudly, folding her arms across her chest with an arrogant smirk. “Someone has to have standards around here!”
I looked straight at Adrian, squeezing his hands gently to anchor him. “She’s right, Adrian,” I said, my voice carrying clearly through the chapel audio system. “Standards matter. Especially when it comes to who you trust with your family name—and your family fortune.”
