On the morning of my wedding, the makeup artist looked around the luxury hotel suite. Suddenly, she completely scrapped the elegant bridal look we had previously agreed upon and painted my face into a disaster. My fiancé laughed and asked her, "What, are you trying to make me marry a clown?" It turned out, the expensive makeup artist was my fiancé’s ex-girlfriend. Seeing their deeply familiar banter, I wiped off the makeup and called off the wedding right then and there. Carter tried to stop me, but Sierra suddenly stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. That was when I noticed that underneath her surgical mask, she had already done her own makeup to absolute perfection. She wasn't just here to ruin my look. She was here to steal the groom. I raised an eyebrow. Stealing the groom means you have to take over the whole package. The $100,000 final bill for this luxury wedding reception was supposed to be paid in full by the bride’s family. Let's see if she can take over that, too. 01 Last night, our two families stayed up late finalizing the details of the wedding. I barely got any sleep. Today, I had to wake up at the crack of dawn. So, when the makeup artist arrived to greet me, I was still groggy. The moment she walked in, she began evaluating the hotel suite. When her eyes landed on the diamond bridal set and the expensive heirloom jewelry laid out on the table, her hands paused over her makeup kit. "Wow, Lauren. Your fiancé must treat you so well! Booking such a high-end hotel for the wedding, preparing such a stunning diamond set... You're the envy of everyone!" "Must have been incredibly expensive, right? You're so lucky to have found a man who is so generous with his money." Hearing this, a wave of annoyance washed over me. Every single expense for this wedding was paid for by my family. She didn't know the first thing about our arrangement, yet she assumed it was the groom’s money. But I didn't feel the need to explain myself to a stranger. I just nodded and let it go. Suddenly, she unzipped her makeup bag aggressively and looked at me with a half-smile. "Lauren, why do you think women these days love stealing things that belong to other people?" "Are they just born desperate?" Honestly, hearing those unprovoked, bizarre comments, I was getting angry. But it was too late to find a replacement makeup artist. After she applied the foundation, I drifted off to sleep. I kept my eyes closed to rest while she worked. After all, she was a senior stylist from a reputable salon. I wasn't worried about her stealing my jewelry. I figured if she needed me to open my eyes or adjust anything, she would communicate with me. But when I finally opened my eyes, the stranger in the mirror made me jump. Frowning, I was just about to ask what on earth she was doing. I was already calculating how to demand compensation from her salon for such a massive blunder. But when I looked at her, the makeup artist was looking down, desperately trying to hold back her laughter. Her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably, as if she were looking at the most hilarious joke in the world. A cold realization began to sink in. This was entirely intentional. I hadn't done anything to offend her. As I frowned, trying to figure out why she would sabotage me, someone walked into the room. The moment my eyes shifted, the girl couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing. "Hahaha!" Still laughing, she ran and hid behind Carter, who had just walked through the door. Her small hands gripped the back of his suit jacket. "I'm... I'm sorry, Carter! I didn't mean to laugh!" "I just didn't expect Lauren's face to be so... uniquely suited for this kind of makeup!" With that, she covered her face, giggling uncontrollably. Watching my ridiculous reflection, I realized her hiding behind Carter was laced with pure malice. And hearing her call him "Carter" with such intimacy... the bad feeling in my gut skyrocketed. My intuition is rarely wrong. This girl knew Carter. And they were close. I didn't want to assume the worst, but I turned to Carter, my brow furrowed. "What is the meaning of this?" "You two know each other? What kind of stunt is this? Is today a wedding or a circus act?" Carter looked at my face and froze for a second. He helplessly looked back at the girl hiding behind him, yet he didn't utter a single word of reprimand. My initial frustration was instantly extinguished by a bucket of ice water. Carter casually leaned against a chair, looking at the girl with total familiarity. "You were doing just fine the last few times. Why are you dropping the ball today?" "What, are you trying to make me marry a clown?" He looked at her, amused. The girl shrank her neck playfully, stuck her tongue out, and made a face. "You asked me to do your bride's makeup. I can't be that generous." After saying that, she shot me a mocking half-smile. She was waiting for me to make a fool of myself. I picked up my phone and scrolled for my backup makeup artist's number. "Make her apologize to me." "I'm calling someone else to redo this. Whenever it's fixed, that's when I'll go downstairs." "We can discuss her compensation to me later." I didn't even care how they knew each other right now. Today was my wedding day. My parents had invited important business partners and associates. I wasn't going to let things fall apart at the last minute. Carter and I had met through a mutual setup. I came from a wealthy, established family. Carter's background wasn't great. He grew up in a single-parent household, raised entirely by his mother. He was capable, though, and had good career prospects. But in this expensive metropolitan city, he still had no house and no car. Even with a decent salary, he wasn't exactly a hot commodity in the local dating market. I chose him because I valued his ambition, his looks, and his potential. But to my surprise, hearing my demands, Carter frowned. He reached out and pushed my phone down. "Is that really necessary?" "You just naturally look like that." I let out a cold, sharp laugh. 02 The girl heard him and let out a sweet, delighted giggle. "Carter, you can't talk to a girl like that!" "After all this time, you're still so brutally honest!" Even if I were an idiot, I could tell this girl's relationship with Carter was far from simple. She was likely an ex. But if I couldn't recognize his ex, couldn't he? From choosing the salon to the trial runs to finalizing the look, Carter had been with me every step of the way. Since he never brought it up, was he trying to give his ex some business, or were there still lingering feelings? I didn't want to dig into it. It was just going to make me sick. I grabbed a bottle of makeup remover, walked straight into the bathroom, and scrubbed my face clean. Then I called my parents and told them I needed to reconsider the wedding. If I went through with this today, I knew I would regret it. We hadn't signed the marriage license yet anyway. I didn't avoid the two of them when I made the call. Carter heard every word. His face instantly darkened. The breezy, amused expression he had worn vanished into a storm cloud. He opened his mouth to speak, but a pair of soft, delicate hands grabbed him. The girl wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. "Carter! If Lauren doesn't want to marry you, I will!" "Propose to me right now!" "Didn't you promise me before that I was the only woman you'd ever marry?" With that, right in front of me, she stood on her toes and kissed his lips. But I didn't miss it—when her eyes flicked toward the diamond set and the expensive jewelry on the table, they were filled with pure greed. Carter stiffened. He turned his head slightly, his eyes flashing with a mix of struggle and conflict. When he finally spoke, his tone carried a mix of guilt and a strange, subconscious thrill that he didn't even try to hide. He looked at me. "Let Sierra stand in for you today and clean up this mess." "You will still be my wife in the end. Don't worry." "Go downstairs and tell your parents. Don't make a scene and embarrass everyone." "But of course, you can throw a fit if you want." Carter was absolutely certain that I would swallow my pride for the sake of my parents' reputation. He knew today's guest list was filled with my family's prestigious network. After delivering his ultimatum, he grabbed Sierra's hand to leave. I finally remembered her name: Sierra Jenkins. Sierra looked at me with triumphant arrogance. She stared me down, her lips curling into a silent, provocative smirk. She looked like she had just won the lottery. That was when I noticed that beneath her mask, she had already applied flawless, stunning makeup. Compared to the clownish mess she put on my face, it was night and day. Even her hair was already styled in the exact elegant updo I had requested for myself. Oh, this was premeditated. "Sorry, Lauren. I just didn't want to leave any regrets in my life!" "If you want to go to my salon and file a complaint, be my guest!" Seeing her utterly shameless attitude, my anger peaked. 03 There's no denying that Sierra pissed me off. But I knew getting angry wouldn't solve the problem. When I went downstairs and told my parents what happened, they were in utter disbelief. They hurriedly excused themselves from the guests and pulled me aside. Seeing that I was dead set against marrying Carter, my parents sighed, looking guilty. "Sweetheart, we had no idea the Hayes boy was this unreliable!" "We thought he was a good kid, worth investing in. Looks like we were wrong!" "Forget it! Lauren Blake doesn't need to beg a guy like Carter Hayes for anything!" I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been worried my parents wouldn't agree. The guests were all high-profile figures. I was afraid my sudden cancellation would humiliate them. My parents had originally planned to use this wedding to introduce Carter to their elite network. Looks like that won't be necessary. This high-end hotel required an upfront deposit, but the massive final balance was to be paid after the reception. When our families initially discussed the finances, it was decided that the Hayes family would pay the deposit. My family would pay the balance—$100,000—as part of my dowry. The deposit was $5,000. The balance was $100,000. To save face, Carter's mother insisted that Carter sign the contract with the hotel himself. The contract stipulated that the bride's side would cover the balance, but it never explicitly named me. Now that the "bride" was Sierra, Carter's mother could ask Sierra for the money. Carter called me, demanding I send someone up with the diamond set and the jewelry for Sierra. After all, her hair was done, and she was just waiting for the accessories. Hearing Sierra's smug laughter through the phone, I hung up and blocked his number. Was he joking? My family paid for that jewelry. Why would I hand it over to dress up his new bride? When no one came up to deliver the jewels, Carter got angry. He decided to teach me a lesson. He ordered the staff to take down all our custom wedding posters in the lobby. He paid a rush fee to replace them with photos of him and Sierra. The bride's name on the welcome board was changed to Sierra. He originally hadn't planned to change any of it; he just wanted Sierra to symbolically take my place at the altar. But now, it was his warning to me. Little did he know, this played right into my hands. Now, the bride was thoroughly and legally Sierra. The debt collectors wouldn't be coming for me. I've always been a rational person, which is why I chose to cut my losses immediately. Even though I did have feelings for Carter, sunk costs shouldn't dictate major life decisions. 04 Seeing her photos displayed on the giant LED screens, Sierra was absolutely ecstatic. She posted dozens of updates on Instagram and TikTok, showing off her high-end luxury wedding. She was wearing the custom designer wedding gown my parents had bought for me at a premium price. Even though it didn't fit her right, she couldn't resist finding me to gloat. Her words were dripping with passive-aggressive venom. "Lauren, I think this dress actually flatters my figure better than yours!" "Carter is so silly... ordering a dress without checking my measurements. I'll have to scold him later! He really doesn't know how to take care of a girl. Such a typical clueless guy!" She smirked. When I didn't react, she pressed harder. "Oh, right. Carter just hired a senior celebrity makeup artist for me. The kind that charges $2,000 an hour." "He said, what kind of bride does her own makeup on her wedding day?" "That's just how he is! Exactly like he used to be—never listens to reason." "He doesn't know how to save money at all. Please don't mind him, Lauren! It's such a shame you had to foot the bill for his extravagance today~" "If he acts like this in the future, just call me, and I'll talk some sense into him!" "Lauren, thank you so much for your generosity today. You really fulfilled the dream Carter and I always had." Sierra covered her mouth, giggling, her eyes locking onto mine with pure provocation. She was rubbing it in my face as loudly as possible. I let out a cold laugh. It seems Carter wasn't entirely clueless. He just didn't care enough to try when it came to me! When I was stuck with clown makeup, he told me I "just looked like that" and no expensive makeup artist could fix it. But for Sierra, he thought of everything. He even hired a celebrity stylist. But does he actually have the money to pay for it? 05 I went downstairs and found my bridesmaids. They were supposed to be up there with me, but because Carter's family only had his mother to help, things were chaotic. I had sent them down to assist. Which was exactly how Sierra had slipped in unnoticed. We marched upstairs and cornered Sierra. We stripped the custom wedding gown right off her back. I'd rather throw it in the trash than let her wear it! Sierra was furious. Her triumphant little face twisted into indignation and tears. "Lauren, aren't you taking this too far? Carter paid for all this! What right do you have to take it from me?" Because she assumed Carter had paid for the dress, she felt entitled to flaunt it in front of me. She assumed Carter had finally hit it big, and that she could use their past history to easily knock me out of the picture. Thinking about this, I suddenly felt a surge of anticipation. What will she do when she realizes she backed the wrong horse? This was getting entertaining. Having been forcefully stripped of the dress, Sierra felt humiliated and called Carter, sobbing. Carter dropped everything—ignoring the guests—and rushed upstairs. Seeing Sierra shivering in her undergarments, crying on the floor, his pupils constricted, and his handsome face contorted with rage. He stepped forward, stripped off his suit jacket, and wrapped it around her. Then he scooped her up bridal-style, kicked open the door, and carried her into a different dressing room. Before he left, he shot me a glare filled with impending fury. "Lauren Blake, you're really something!" "I'm downstairs trying to entertain your father's business partners to secure your family's network, and this is how you treat me?" "Then entertain them yourselves!" His eyes were full of warning. He wanted me to compromise, to beg him to stay and network with my father's connections. Did he really think he was some irresistible prize? Did he honestly believe those elite businessmen were here for him, and not out of respect for my father? To make Sierra happy and let her continue playing bride, Carter waved his hand and spent his last $15,000 in savings to secure a luxury gown on the spot. He paid a massive premium to have it delivered within twenty minutes. Renting that dress for one day cost him $15,000. Fifteen grand, just to soothe Sierra's ego. Though it wasn't as beautiful as mine, it was far better than average. This convinced Sierra even more that Carter was now a wealthy man. But Carter forgot one thing: he had just promised his new makeup artist $2,000. And he had just drained the last of his bank account. He didn't actually think I was going to bail him out to save face, did he? Hilarious. When the new dress arrived, Sierra finally smiled through her tears. Her voice was nasally but thick with flirtation. "Carter, I'm going to punish you for this!" Carter's voice softened. "How do you want to punish me?" "I called all my girlfriends to come! I'm so happy they get to witness our special day." Sierra sat on the vanity stool, swinging her legs, stroking the high-end fabric of the new gown. "I'm just kidding, I could never really punish you!" "I'm punishing your ex by making her fund our dream wedding!" "Hehe, am I being too bad?" To spite me, and to show off in front of her friends, Sierra had asked the hotel kitchen to add several premium, off-menu dishes to every table. Each table's additions cost about $1,000. For twenty tables, that was an extra $20,000 added to the bill. Carter couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, you're pretty bad." "It's about time she bled a little money. She really isn't as obedient as you." 06 Carter was a man of his word. To punish my "disobedience," he genuinely stayed on the second floor the entire time, keeping Sierra company while she got her makeup done. Even the newly hired makeup artist couldn't stop praising how deeply in love they were. He thought his actions would make me insecure and force me to back down. Little did he know, my parents and I had already explained the situation to our guests, and everyone was quietly slipping out. Out of the twenty tables, only three or four remained occupied. They were all Carter's relatives. They had no idea what was going on and were completely bewildered. The banquet food had been pre-ordered. Even if the guests left, the hotel was still serving the full twenty tables. Sierra wouldn't save a single dime on the final bill. When Carter finally came downstairs and saw the ballroom nearly empty, his face turned black. "Lauren, even if you want to throw a tantrum, shouldn't you consider the time and place? Do your parents know you're acting like a child?" "Do you have any idea how much effort I put in today to entertain your side of the family?" Seeing my utter apathy, his anger flared. "Fine, Lauren. Have it your way!" Our argument drew the attention of the remaining guests. People exchanged awkward glances, afraid to speak. My parents looked furious but didn't say a word to him. We were never going to see these people again; there was no point in arguing. Sierra finished her makeup. The stylist wanted to be paid. Since she was a last-minute emergency hire, she wasn't going to wait until after the wedding to collect her fee. Carter told the makeup artist to come find me for the payment. Obviously, I told her no. The makeup artist realized what was happening and took a hardline stance, demanding Sierra and Carter pay up immediately. Out of options, Carter came to me, his tone significantly softer. "Lauren, stop this. I know you're emotional today, but can you just pay her first?" "You've vented your anger enough. Just be reasonable, okay?" He was finally starting to panic. Why was he acting like a billionaire when he didn't have a dime to his name? The more he panicked, the happier I felt. Ultimately, Carter's mother had to pay the stylist. Handing over $2,000 made her heart bleed. However, upon learning that the bride had been swapped at the last minute, she wasn't upset at all. In fact, she thought Carter had made a brilliant move. "That's how you handle it! What kind of wife doesn't submit to her husband? Back in my day, a woman like that would have been beaten to death! It's good to teach her a lesson so she knows her place!" To spite me, Mrs. Hayes intentionally packed a $1,000 red envelope and shoved it into Sierra's hands right in front of me. During the reception, she held Sierra's hand, parading her around to all their relatives. 07 Carter's relatives noticed the bride was clearly a different person, but by unspoken agreement, no one said a word. Everyone played dumb, pretending nothing was wrong. The wedding followed the pre-planned itinerary. Though the photos on the screens had changed, the ceremony went smoothly. Sierra happily stood at the altar and exchanged rings with Carter. Even when it came time for the wedding night, everyone conveniently ignored the absurdity of it all. I don't know if Carter was genuinely drunk or just pretending, but he leaned into the mistake and spent his wedding night with Sierra. My parents were so furious they threw out all the gifts Carter had ever given me. Even though the marriage fell apart, Carter's behavior was deeply repulsive. But strangely, I wasn't that angry anymore. Carter had hidden his true colors so well before, which was why I developed feelings for him. Now that his mask had slipped, showing his true face, I just felt disgusted. Any lingering affection was quickly replaced by nausea. My parents, worried about hurting my feelings, spent the whole day walking on eggshells around me. Seeing that I truly didn't care, they finally relaxed. Carter didn't call me until after 10:00 AM the next day. His voice was laced with hungover exhaustion. "Did you go back to your parents' house to sleep?" I couldn't help but laugh. If I didn't go home, was I supposed to stay and watch the two shameless cheaters consummate their fake marriage? Hearing my scoff, Carter snapped to his senses. His tone turned defensive and angry. "Lauren, are you still throwing a fit? We have to go explain everything to the relatives today. Pack your things and come to the new house." "The hotel called me too. They want the final balance. This was originally your family's responsibility, but since we're married now, I'll go with you to sort it out." Carter clearly hadn't grasped the reality of the situation. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I cursed him out, called him an idiot, and hung up the phone. You can't afford the bill? Not my problem. In an excellent mood, I finished my breakfast and drove straight to Sierra's salon. It was payback time.
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