During my wedding dress fitting, Julian handed me a yellowed, tattered vintage gown with frayed lace and obvious yellow sweat stains under the armpits. The makeup artist froze, her hand hovering in mid-air, and the whispers of my friends and family pierced my ears like needles. His childhood friend Mia popped her head out of the fitting room with a mischievous grin. She was wearing my custom haute couture wedding gown, spinning around in front of everyone. "Are you guys mesmerized? The real dress is right here!" My three-hundred-thousand-dollar gown had been stolen and replaced by her. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted copper, wanting nothing more than to tear her apart. But Julian just smiled in delight. "Mia, you're always so full of quirky ideas. This is actually pretty fun. Chloe, just wear that vintage one. It's unique." I let out a cold laugh, threw the tattered old dress right over Mia's head, and said, "No thanks. Why don't you two get married instead? I'm out." Julian roared in disbelief, "She just wanted to swap dresses for fun! It's not like she left you naked! Don't forget, we are getting married for our families' sake!" I replied coldly, "Don't forget, it was your family begging for this merger, not me begging to marry you."
The makeup artist dropped her blush brush, and the eyeshadow palette shattered into pieces on the floor. That musty, tattered wedding dress sat mockingly on the rack. The whispers around me felt like hot needles pricking my skin. "Why is the heiress of the Vance family being given a trashy, worn-out dress?" "Is the Carter family doing this on purpose? Who gets married in that?" "I heard Chloe's custom gown cost over three hundred thousand dollars to make..." I marched over, grabbed the collar of the musty dress, my fingernails digging deep into the cheap fabric. Cold sweat began to trace down my spine. A second later, I gestured to my maid of honor. "Search the place! Head to toe! Don't even spare Mia's purse!" I glanced over at the VIP lounge. My mom's face was as white as a sheet, her hands shaking so badly her teacup was sloshing over. Beside her, my dad was frantically wiping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. This alliance between the Carters and the Vances was a massive deal. The venue rental alone cost a fortune. The wedding was supposed to be the event of the year. I couldn't let it become a laughingstock! "Did one of the staff make a mistake?" My best friend Harper whispered in my ear, holding the coat I had just taken off. I remained silent. The haute couture gown had been delivered by a secure transport this morning. I had watched the staff hang it in my private fitting room with my own eyes. Unless... "Chloe," Julian walked over, his tone incredibly dismissive. "How about we skip the fitting today? We can come back when it's less crowded..." "No." Harper cut in quickly. "Everyone, don't just stand there! Did someone take the dress by mistake? Bring it out now!" "Yeah! If we find it, dinner is on us! Let's not hold up the schedule!" I watched Harper and the boutique staff tear the fitting rooms apart, checking even behind the heavy velvet curtains. I let out a cold scoff and locked my eyes onto Mia's hiding spot. "Stop acting. If you keep dragging this out, everyone's going to look stupid. Hand over my dress." The moment the words left my mouth, everyone turned to look at Mia. She took a couple of steps back, instinctively grabbing Julian's arm. After a tense silence, she screeched defensively, "I didn't hide it! I didn't even go into your fitting room! How would I know where the dress went? Chloe, I know you've always hated me, but you can't just accuse me like this..." Julian immediately glared at me, then turned around to pat Mia's head soothingly. The air outside the fitting room was dead silent, but Mia's hands were visibly shaking. "Check the security cameras. From the exact moment we walked in!" Even after playing the footage back at half-speed three times, we only caught a blurry shadow. Taking advantage of a staff member's turned back, someone had slipped the tattered vintage dress into my fitting room. But the face was obscured. I noticed Julian's mother checking her phone for the hundredth time, her patience wearing thin. Julian suddenly stood up and said, "Chloe, we don't have to do the fitting today. I'll have my assistant order a new one. We can try again some other time, okay?" He didn't even wait for my response. Instead, he turned to look at Mia. He was clearly waiting for her approval. I clenched my fists, a suffocating weight pressing down on my chest. But at this point, causing a bigger scene would indeed leave everyone embarrassed.
I took a deep breath, preparing to speak. Suddenly, Mia stepped out from the crowd. Right in front of everyone, she unbuttoned her overcoat, revealing my custom haute couture gown underneath. She squealed in mock surprise, "Ta-da! The dress is right here! I told you guys you wouldn't be able to find it!" The delicate lace of the collar brushed against Julian's arm. Without thinking, Julian reached out to gently smooth the fabric over her shoulder. That casual, intimate gesture made my chest ache with sharp betrayal. But Mia didn't care at all. The moment she finished her little display, the entire boutique fell into a horrifying silence. Everyone stared at her, their faces painted with utter disbelief. Harper finally snapped out of her shock, her voice climbing an octave, "I knew it! Earlier, Mia said she wanted to help you check the measurements. I literally saw her walk into the storage closet with a garment bag... Oh my god, Chloe, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize she was psycho enough to actually steal your wedding dress!" Turning to Mia, Harper asked, her voice cracking with fury, "Mia, do you literally have nothing better to do with your life? Why the hell would you swap Chloe's dress with a piece of trash?" Mia just rolled her eyes, completely unfazed. She looked up at Julian, putting on a sweet, whining baby voice, "Julian, I just wanted to give you a little surprise. Don't you like it? I look so pretty in this dress. I'm sure Chloe wouldn't mind letting me try it on, right?" With that, Mia snatched the tattered vintage dress from the table and shoved it into my hands, acting as if she were the star of the show. "Chloe, just wear this one. Let's get this fitting over with!" The smug triumph in her eyes made me realize this entire farce was a calculated move. She wanted to humiliate me publicly. No wonder she had been hovering over me since we arrived. One minute she was asking about the dress details, the next she was offering to hold my things. She had been setting this trap all along. I let out a sharp, cold laugh. "So, let me get this straight. You expect me to just hand over my three-hundred-thousand-dollar custom gown to you, while I wrap myself in your tattered garbage?" The moment I said that, Mia's eyes welled up with tears, and she sank into Julian's chest. "Julian, I really didn't mean to... I just wanted to play a harmless joke on Chloe. I didn't know she would be so mean... I've never worn a wedding dress before. How was I supposed to know it was so fragile and off-limits?" "Even if you've never worn one, surely you know that stealing someone else's property is wrong?" I sneered, staring at her pathetic act. "Or did your parents forget to teach you basic morals?" Of course she knew. If she had any respect, she wouldn't have "accidentally" spilled red wine all over my gown at the last family gala. Back then, she had whimpered the exact same excuse, "Chloe, your dress was just so pretty. I wanted to see how it felt." But what shocked me most was Julian's reaction. He actually stepped in to shield her. He pried my hand away, his tone dripping with impatience, "It's just a dress, Chloe. Mia was just having some fun. Do you really have to throw a tantrum over this?" I looked down at his tight grip on my wrist. He was frowning, looking at me as if I were a nagging nuisance. "Don't make a mountain out of a molehill, Chloe. Everyone is watching." I glanced over at the lounge area. Julian's mother was wearing a tight, strained smile. His father was staring at the floor, his face completely dark. This arranged marriage was supposed to secure the Vance family's logistics and supply chain for the Carters. In exchange, the Vance family would expand our market into the West Coast. Anyone with half a brain knew this was purely a business transaction. In an instant, all the anger drained out of me. I wasn't calm; I was just completely, utterly exhausted. Julian didn't notice my shift in mood. He pressed on, "I'll just have my assistant order another custom gown. Stop causing a scene, okay?" He spoke to me with the patronizing tone one would use on a hysterical toddler. Then, my eyes fell on the pearl necklace around Mia's neck. It was a rare piece I had dropped hints about for months, yet Julian always "forgot" to get it for me. I burst into a sudden laugh. "Don't bother ordering a new one. The wedding is off." The entire fitting room went dead silent. Every eye in the room snapped to me like daggers. The hanger clattered out of a staff member's hand. Julian grabbed my arm, his grip painfully tight. "Chloe Vance! Have you lost your mind? You're calling off the wedding over a dress?!" Mia was the one who stole the gown, brought a sweat-stained rag, and ruined the entire day. Yet, in his eyes, I was the one being unreasonable. Julian and I had been together for two years. Two years ago, my dad started convincing me that the Carter family was our best business match, so I agreed to meet him. From awkwardly forcing conversations on our first date, to pretending to share his obsession with sports cars. I was always the one adapting, the one compromising. I thought even the coldest stone could be melted if I held it close enough for long enough. The day he finally agreed to the engagement, I immediately commissioned a gown from a top designer in Paris. I chose the exact silhouette he had casually mentioned liking once. Harper told me that when I got the sketches back, I was smiling like an absolute idiot. "I begged my dad for a year to get him to agree to this partnership with your family," I had told him back then, holding his hand. "Now, I know it was worth it." I kept my word. I always put him first. I rescheduled board meetings just to attend his parties. I drifted away from my own friends because his moods dictated my schedule. Whenever he said, "I want to see you," I would drop everything and run to him, no matter where I was. But everything changed when Mia returned from abroad. Our dates were constantly interrupted by her emergencies. She would snatch the anniversary gifts I bought him, whining, "Julian, I want one of these too!" Every time I got upset, Julian would just pat my head condescendingly. "Mia is practically my little sister. Stop being so petty, okay?" He didn't know I had seen the photos on her Snapchat. She was cuddled up in his lap, wearing the luxury watch I had gifted him. He didn't know that last week, when I went to his office to drop off some corporate documents, I saw Mia walking out of his private office wearing his suit jacket. The night before the fitting, I had sat on my balcony until dawn. I had already realized, deep down, that this marriage was a mistake.
But it wasn't until I saw him shielding Mia just now, looking at me with pure annoyance, that I finally woke up. "Chloe!" Julian squeezed my arm harder, making me wince. "You know this is a merger. You wouldn't dare call it off!" One by one, I pried his fingers off my arm. My gaze drifted to the pearl necklace on Mia's neck. "The Vance family is merging with the Carters. I am not marrying you." Julian's grip tightened again. He leaned in close, his voice dripping with a low threat, "Chloe, if you call off this engagement, the Carters will immediately cut off your logistics channels." He stepped closer, his eyes cold and sharp, fully expecting me to fold like I always did. But I simply turned my head, ignoring the staring onlookers, and looked him dead in the eye. "Cut off our logistics? Go ahead. The contract is clear. A breach of contract requires a ten-fold penalty. Are you sure the Carter family can afford that kind of cash right now?" His eyes widened, clearly shocked by my sudden spine. The Carters' cash flow issues were an open secret in high society. Without our supply chain backing them up, they'd have gone under months ago. His father had practically begged my dad for this alliance. Julian had assumed I would keep playing the submissive fiancé. Too bad for him. This time, I was done. Sensing the shift in the room, Mia immediately turned on her waterworks. "Chloe, please don't fight with Julian because of me." She reached out to grab my arm, but I stepped back, letting her hand fall into empty air. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked up at Julian, her voice trembling. "Julian, this is all my fault. If I hadn't put on this dress, none of this would have happened. I'll take it off right now. I'll tell everyone it was just a silly mistake. Please, go ahead with the wedding. Don't let me ruin your lives, okay?" Her words sounded apologetic, but her eyes shot me a smug, silent message: Give up. He'll always choose me. Sure enough, Julian immediately wrapped his arms around her, whispering softly, "It's not your fault, Mia. She's just being difficult." Watching their pathetic little show, a wave of pure disgust washed over me. "Mia," I interrupted, my voice perfectly calm. "Are you done acting? If you were actually sorry, you'd take off my dress and get the hell out of here, instead of fishing for sympathy." The room gasped. Mia's expression froze. She never expected me to call her out so bluntly. Julian immediately stepped in front of her, raising his voice, "Chloe Vance! Who do you think you are, talking to Mia like that?" I looked at him coldly. "I am the bride who was supposed to try on her wedding dress today! She stole my gown and left me a sweat-stained rag! Is that not enough? Or..." I paused, letting every word sink in. "Do you think she has more of a right to marry into the Carter family than I do?" Julian's face completely darkened. He wrapped his hand tightly around Mia's waist, pulling her flush against him, and let out a harsh laugh. "Fine! You want to call it off? Mia and I are leaving right now. Enjoy your empty venue! And by the way, I already booked two tickets to the Maldives. I guess I'll just take her on the honeymoon instead." He spat the word "honeymoon" with deliberate malice, his eyes filled with smug satisfaction. He was testing me. He was absolutely certain that jealousy would make me beg him to stay. He was sure that, like every other time, seeing him close to Mia would break my pride. But he was dead wrong. This time, I wasn't playing his childish games anymore.
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