My Fiance Rigged the Game for His Bestie? I Changed the Groom Chapter 07
I stared at that hand and remembered the day he proposed.
He had reached for me the same way then, his fingers trembling.
“Claire Bennett, will you spend the rest of your life.
with me? Will you give me the chance to love you and protect you?”
Back then, happiness had filled me so completely I
could barely breathe.
I placed my hand in his.
When his fingers closed around mine, I thought I had
finally taken hold of my future.
Then two years passed.
Only after my parents asked, again and again, what we were waiting for did I bring up setting a date.
Alexander agreed to begin planning immediately.
“I wanted to wait until your Team USA appointment was official,” he’d said. “But if you’re ready now, I’m
more than happy to make it happen.”
Now I understood.
He hadn’t been protecting my career.
He had been hesitating.
And Madison had been the reason.
Those frequent overseas trips during the past two
years had probably been for her too.
The realization made me take a step back.
I went straight into Ethan’s arms.
I looked up and found him smiling down at me, all bright relief.
“You scared me,” he murmured. “For a second, I thought you might take him back.”
His gaze stayed on me.
It was so intense that I had to look away.
“Claire…”
Alexander’s voice was raw.
He stared at us as though the sight itself had wounded him.
“You’re walking out on our wedding over a joke?”
“You were the one who said a deal was a deal.”
He rushed to explain.
“I only let her wear the gown. You’re still the bride.”
He looked as if he were coming apart.
But I had been clear too.
If Madison got the gown, she got the wedding.
“Claire, be reasonable. Come back.
“If you don’t want her in the dress, I’ll make her take it off.
“Do you honestly think I’d lose my wife over a friend?
“My wife matters more. Of course she does. You know that, don’t you?”
“But-” Madison began.
“Shut up!”
Alexander rounded on her with a roar.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she clutched the skirt
of the gown, suddenly stranded between the roles of bride and intruder.
By then, guests had begun following the commotion into the hallway.
They saw Madison in the wedding gown.
Then they saw the life–size portrait of me beside the ballroom doors.
As they pieced together what had happened, their faces changed one after another.
“Claire, come here.
“Ethan stayed close to me for years because he wanted
you. That tells you what kind of man he is.
“He has no principles. Don’t go with him.”
I heard Ethan grind his teeth above me.
When he spoke, each word came through a clenched jaw.
“I was going to leave you whatever dignity you had left.
I didn’t want Claire hurt more than she already was.
“But should I list every trip you made to see Madison over the last two years?
“Alexander, you never deserved the trust Claire gave you.
“Do you know what she said when I told her what you were planning today? She told me I was insane.
“You destroyed this yourself. Who else is there to blame?”
Then he lowered his head and softened his voice for me.
“Claire, our ceremony is about to start.
“Could we…?”
He blinked at me and let the question trail off.
My heart softened despite everything.
There was nothing left to gain by arguing with Alexander.
“Last night, Ethan and I made a bet. If you deliberately made me lose to Madison today, I would marry him.
“Alexander, I lost twice in one day.
“But a deal is a deal.”
“Claire Bennett!”
Alexander’s broken shout followed us as Ethan led me away.
I didn’t turn around.
I didn’t even look for him in the rearview mirror.