Chapter 1

On the day of the engagement rehearsal, I saw my name erased from the main screen and replaced with another woman’s.

Lily Carter spun in the spotlight.

“Do I look good?”

“Ethan said the main image looked too soft, but when I stand in front of it, I can hold the whole vibe together.”

The staff laughed along with her, and not a single person stopped her.

I called Ethan Grant, and his tone was flat.

“Lily is just helping with the test shoot.”

“You just got to New York, so don’t start throwing a tantrum the second you arrive.”

The call ended, and the spotlight was still on.

On the main screen, Lily Carter’s name overlapped with the tulip pattern my mother had drawn by hand, like a replacement that had been written in advance.

I raised my hand and turned off that light.

“I’m here, so the rehearsal starts over.”

I said to the man on the other end of the line, “Goodbye, I’m going to marry a different man.”

Claire Hayes POV

On the day of the engagement rehearsal, I saw my name erased from the main engagement screen and replaced with another woman’s.

It was a main image of tulips, and the tulip pattern in the corner had been finalized by my mother herself, with my name written in the corner of the draft.

Before I came back from overseas, my mother told me that the Grant family in New York had plenty of rules, and the engagement did not need to be extravagant, but my first appearance could not let anyone look down on me.

I never expected that the person who looked down on me would first take my place.

In the center of the banquet hall, Lily Carter was standing under the spotlight, filming a pre-engagement video, and the main screen behind her showed her name and Ethan Grant’s name.

Around her stood photographers, makeup artists, and hotel coordinators, and everyone called her “Miss Carter,” while someone even whispered that Mr. Grant truly spoiled her, since he was willing to let her film with his fiancée’s main engagement visual first.

I stopped at the doorway and did not rush to speak.

Lily Carter saw me through the mirror and deliberately spun around.

“Do I look good?”

“Ethan said the main image looked too soft, but when I stand in front of it, I can hold the whole vibe together.”

Her voice was not loud, but it was just enough for the people around her to hear.

The hotel coordinator glanced at me, and when he saw my simple trench coat, his attitude instantly became perfunctory.

“Miss, the hall is not open to the public today, so if you’re looking for someone, please register at the front desk.”

I looked at Lily Carter’s name on the main screen.

“Take her image down.”

The room fell silent at once.

Lily Carter seemed startled and took half a step back, but her fingers gripped the cue card in her hand even tighter.

“Who are you?”

“You barge in and tell me to turn off the main screen?”

“Can just anyone walk into the Grant family’s engagement venue in New York now?”

Someone laughed along with her.

I ignored everyone else and only asked the coordinator, “Who approved this main visual?”

The coordinator grew impatient after being questioned.

“Of course it was arranged by Mr. Grant’s side.”

“Miss Carter is Mr. Grant’s close family friend, and she is also the one in charge of the test shoot tonight.”

“If you’re just some passerby or freelance photographer, please leave.”

Lily Carter smiled even more sweetly.

“Don’t make things hard for her.”

“Maybe she saw the engagement news online and misunderstood, thinking she had a chance to marry into the Grant family too.”

Once she said that, the laughter in the hall became even more obvious.

I took out my phone and called Ethan Grant.

After the call connected, I asked only one question.

“Did you let Lily Carter use my name to shoot the engagement video?”

The other end of the phone went quiet for a moment.

Ethan Grant’s voice was cold.

“Claire Hayes?”

“You’re at the hotel?”

“I’m asking you whether you let her shoot it.”

“It’s just one image.”

Ethan Grant’s tone carried irritation at being disturbed.

“Lily is helping test-shoot the materials, and the staff are rushing to meet the schedule.”

“You just got back to New York, and you don’t understand how things are arranged here, so don’t start causing trouble the moment you arrive.”

I looked at Lily Carter’s smug eyes in the mirror and suddenly laughed.

“So I, the fiancée, should thank her for shooting my engagement video for me?”

Ethan Grant was silent for a moment.

“don’t come in here making a scene.”

“Lily isn’t in good health, so don’t embarrass her in public.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

The call ended.

Lily Carter lifted her chin like she had won a round.

“Did you hear that?”

“Ethan told you not to embarrass me.”

I put away my phone, walked to the front of the main stage, and raised my hand to turn off that spotlight.

The moment the light went out, the entire banquet hall dimmed by half.

I looked at Lily Carter, and my voice was steady.

“I’m here, so the rehearsal starts over.”

“As for you, take down the name that doesn’t belong to you first.”

Before I returned to New York, I had seen photos of Ethan Grant.

My mother placed the documents in front of me and said the Grant family had been fairly stable in New York these years, and Ethan Grant himself was not an heir who only knew how to live off family money.

At the time, I did not have much of an opinion.

I had no fairy-tale expectations for marriage, and if two families could respect each other, getting engaged first and then getting to know each other was not completely unacceptable.

But respect was never something written in documents.

It showed itself in a person’s first reaction.

For example, Ethan Grant clearly knew tonight was the engagement rehearsal, yet he let another woman stand onstage in my name.

For example, when the staff saw the fiancée arrive, their first reaction was not to verify my identity, but to treat me like an outsider who had barged in.

I had seen plenty of arrogance overseas, but this kind of contempt dressed up as intimacy still shocked me.

The camera was still on, and the screen showed the clip Lily Carter had just filmed in real time.

Facing the camera, she said, “Ethan and I can’t wait for everyone to come witness this,” and her tone was so intimate that she sounded like the real Mrs. Grant.

I glanced at it and asked the photographer, “Where is this clip going to be posted?”

The photographer said quietly, “The Grant wedding account, and the hotel’s partner promotion account.”

Lily Carter’s expression changed slightly, and she rushed to speak first.

“It’s just a test line, and it’ll be changed in post-production.”

I looked at her.

“Why wasn’t my name in the test line?”

This question was far more deadly than fighting over an image.

Only then did the people around us realize that Lily Carter had not just taken a main image, but had taken my place in front of the Grant family and their guests ahead of me.