Chapter 3

Everyone turned toward the door, and so did I.

Ian was back, and beside him stood a slip of a girl in a white floral dress.

What a match.

One look was enough. When I turned back, I found Otto watching me, the ring still pinched between his fingers.

He was gauging my reaction.

I smiled at him, then took the initiative and slid my ring finger into the band myself.

And then, under his stunned gaze, I caught his tie, rose onto my toes, and kissed him.

The flashbulbs went off, soft and steady.

Ian's furious voice tore through the whole banquet hall.

"Cora, what are you doing?"

I let go of Otto and smoothed out the tie I'd crumpled.

"Doing? Kissing my groom, obviously."

"Your groom? Have you lost your mind? He's my brother!"

He was choking on his rage. I answered without any.

"Mm. It's your brother I'm kissing."

The feeling jammed in his throat, too much to swallow and too much to spit out.

Delia gave his sleeve a gentle tug.

"I'm sorry, Ian. I shouldn't have called and asked you to pick me up. Now I've upset Cora."

"It's not your fault."

Ian closed his hand over hers, and when he looked back at me, the smugness was there again.

"Cora, there's a limit to how jealous you get to be."

"Delia just got back to the country with no one here. Was I supposed to leave her stranded alone at the airport?"

"I'll make the wedding up to you later. Now get down and stop dragging my brother into your little scene."

A scene?

I almost laughed.

He still hadn't noticed that the faces in the wedding photos behind him had been changed, hadn't seen that the name of the groom scrolling across the screen was no longer his.

He simply, firmly believed it had to be him. That I couldn't do without him.

I ignored him and gave Otto's hand a little shake.

"Honey, he says you're just playing along with my scene."

Otto raised a brow, his gaze sweeping to Ian, cold.

"No manners at all. Did you learn nothing? Call her your sister-in-law."

Ian froze where he stood, the expression on his face slowly cracking apart.

"Otto, you— what did you say?"

Otto's brow creased, his eyes dropping to Delia beside him, full of distaste.

"We haven't gone bankrupt yet. We're not so far gone that a wedding banquet gets turned into a welcome-home dinner."

"You want to throw one for her, go rent out a restaurant."

Ian went pale.

He looked us over, alarmed and unsure, and finally his gaze landed on the row of display stands behind him.

"You photoshopped my pictures?"

Nobody answered him.

His eyes swung to Christina in disbelief, and she guiltily looked away.

"Impossible. Cora, we got the license. What's the point of you photoshopping pictures and getting married? It's all just for face, a show you're putting on for other people!"

"The license? You mean this?"

I pulled two red booklets out of my handbag and threw them on the floor.

"Two fake certificates without so much as an official seal. Doesn't look like they carry any legal weight."

"You— how did you know?"

In that instant, Ian's face went bone-white.

The day we went to register, he'd gotten a text.

【Ian, are you really going to marry her?】

I saw the two words he sent back: 【Won't marry.】

After he put his phone down, he complained the line was too long, told me he knew someone who could get us through the express channel.

That he knew someone was true. The express channel was not.

And so I ended up with two marriage certificates that had no official seal.

Delia sighed. "Oh, Cora's still throwing a tantrum."

The corner of Ian's mouth curled up again.

He grabbed Delia's hand. "Fine. You insist on making a scene, then make one. Let's see whether my brother actually marries you!"

"Delia, let's go. It's just a welcome-home dinner. I'll rent out the Grandview banquet hall for you."