Chapter 5

Claire Carter POV

I returned backstage, closed the door, and finally shut out the lights from the banquet hall and all those mocking eyes.

I didn't cry. I just placed the veil on the vanity.

The backstage screen was still connected to the wedding video system. The image was frozen on the moment when the ceremony had paused.

I stood alone under the lights.

Grayson was in the front row supporting Sylvia.

The image was sickening.

I watched it for a few seconds, then reached out and unplugged the connection cable.

The screen went black.

But at that moment, the door was pushed open.

Sylvia walked in.

The weakness from earlier had vanished from her face. The pearl hairpin was still pinned to her chest.

She glanced at the darkened screen and laughed softly.

"Unplugging the cable won't help. Everyone already saw it."

I didn't turn around. "Get out."

Sylvia walked to the vanity, her fingers trailing across the veil before touching the ring box beside it.

"Claire, what's the point of guarding these things? Can you stop Grayson from giving them to whoever he wants?"

I pressed my hand down on the ring box.

"Don't touch it."

Sylvia's eyes immediately reddened, and her voice rose slightly.

"I was just trying to help you take the rings out so the wedding could continue. Why are you so nervous? Are you afraid the wedding can't go on?"

As she spoke, she suddenly grabbed my wrist and reached for the ring box with her other hand.

She gripped hard, hurting me. I shook her hand off.

Sylvia seemed to have been waiting for this exact moment. She stumbled backward and knocked into the video equipment rack beside her.

The rack fell, the screen crashed to the floor with a sharp sound.

Sylvia clutched her arm, tears flowing immediately.

"Claire, even if you're angry, you can't push me... The wedding video is ruined. What is Grayson supposed to do?"

Footsteps rushed in from outside.

Grayson and Helen arrived almost simultaneously.

Grayson saw Sylvia clutching her arm with the shattered screen at her feet. His expression immediately darkened.

Sylvia was crying so hard she could barely stand. "I just wanted to take the ring box out to let the wedding continue. Claire refused, and she pushed me..."

I looked at Grayson.

"She grabbed for the ring box. She knocked the equipment over herself."

Grayson didn't ask me why Sylvia had been touching the ring box, nor did he ask why the equipment rack had fallen.

He only stared at me, his voice frighteningly cold.

"Are you determined to ruin today?"

I was stung by that sentence into laughing.

"Who exactly ruined today?"

Grayson clenched his teeth. "Stop saying such ugly things."

I looked at him and asked coldly, "Am I supposed to put the dress back on, take the ring she tried to steal, go outside and smile at the guests. Is that what counts as being sensible?"

Grayson didn't respond.

Helen was already trembling with anger. "Claire, have you lost your mind? After what you just did out there, you're going to hurt people backstage too?"

Sylvia cried even harder. "Grayson, I should just leave. I really don't want to make things difficult for you..."

Grayson seemed crushed by that sentence.

The next second, he raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

The slap was heavy.

My face jerked to the side. My ear rang. Soon I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth.

Backstage fell silent.

Grayson froze after the slap as well.

His hand remained suspended in midair. His first words weren't an apology.

"Calm down."

I slowly raised my head.

I saw the panic in his eyes, and also saw the anger.

Three years ago, when I was left standing at the wedding, Grayson had shielded me from the cameras, saying no one had the right to see me in that state.

Now my humiliation had been delivered by his own hand.

I didn't cry.

I raised my hand to wipe the blood from the corner of my mouth and closed the ring box.

Grayson's voice finally dropped. "I didn't mean to. Too much is happening today. Don't push me."

I looked at him.

"Are you going to wait until after the wedding to explain this slap too?"

Grayson's face went pale.

I handed the ring box to my bridesmaid.

"Keep this safe for me."

Then I turned and went into the backstage restroom.

The moment the door closed, I slowly slid down to sit on the floor, my back against the door.

Outside, people were still calling my name.

I pressed my hand against the side of my face where I'd been hit. My fingertips wouldn't stop shaking.