Chapter 3

The commotion at the ballroom entrance quickly drew people outside.

The moment Chloe saw me, her face tightened.

She grabbed my arm and tried to drag me away.

“Natalie, what are you doing here?”

“I already told you not to…”

“Who’s here?”

“Why is it so noisy?”

Maya’s voice came from behind her.

The rest of Chloe’s warning died on her lips.

Ethan followed Maya out of the ballroom.

When he saw me, panic flashed across his face.

A second later, he caught Maya by the wrist and pulled her behind him.

The more nervous he appeared, the more curious Maya became.

“Ethan, do you know her?”

“Everyone who came today is a guest.”

“Even if her name isn’t on the list, there’s no need to throw her out.”

“No.”

Ethan denied it without hesitation.

“She’s probably attending another event and came to the wrong ballroom.”

The words had barely left his mouth when Lily squeezed through the crowd.

She looked at Ethan in confusion.

“Why did you say you don’t know us?”

Then she noticed Maya’s wedding dress.

Her eyes lit up, and she pointed excitedly.

“She’s the bride!”

Lily took my hand.

“Natalie, when are you going to marry my brother?”

“I want to see you in a wedding dress too.”

Ethan’s mother hurried over with a dark expression and covered Lily’s mouth.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Maya is the only bride here today.”

The woman who had picked up my engagement portrait happened to be one of Maya’s relatives.

She brought the photograph to her.

“This doesn’t look like a stranger who wandered into the wrong ballroom.”

“She and Ethan even have an engagement portrait together.”

“You should find out what’s happening before someone deceives you.”

Before Ethan could answer, Chloe stepped closer to Maya.

“She’s an old friend of mine.”

“She and Ethan broke up a long time ago, but she has never accepted it.”

“Ethan’s sister is very attached to her, so they were never able to cut off contact completely.”

Chloe turned toward me with a warning in her eyes.

Then she took Maya’s hand.

“I’m sorry, Maya.”

“I should have kept a closer eye on her. I never meant to let her disrupt your wedding.”

I slowly clenched my fists.

But I did not challenge Chloe immediately.

Her lies no longer mattered to me.

I only cared about Ethan’s answer.

Maya held the photograph and studied him suspiciously.

“Is Chloe telling the truth?”

“Is she really only your ex-girlfriend?”

Ethan hesitated for one second.

“Yes.”

He took the engagement portrait from Maya.

In front of everyone, he tore it into pieces.

“That relationship ended a long time ago.”

“There’s no reason to discuss it today.”

The pieces fell across the floor.

We had taken that portrait after setting our wedding date.

In the photograph, Ethan was holding me and promising that he would always take care of me.

Now he refused to admit that he knew me.

Maya finally smiled.

“If Ethan says that’s what happened, I believe him.”

“We’ve already signed and filed our marriage documents.”

“I’m not going to doubt my husband because of an outsider.”

I stood there in shock.

At that moment, I believed that Ethan and Maya were already legally married.

I finally understood that Ethan and I were over.

He had not only held a wedding behind my back.

He had apparently completed a legal marriage with another woman.

Chloe took my arm again and pulled me away from the ballroom.

This time, I did not resist.

When we reached an empty corridor, she released me.

“I told you not to come.”

“Now everyone thinks you’re Ethan’s desperate ex-girlfriend.”

“Are you satisfied?”

“You should be grateful Ethan refused to acknowledge your relationship.”

“Otherwise, everyone in that room would be calling you a homewrecker.”

“You would only have humiliated yourself further.”

I did not look at her.

My phone screen lit up with a new message from Ethan.

Don’t cause any more trouble.

I’ll explain everything when I get back.