Chapter 1: The Wedding Where My Parents Were Left Standing
At my own wedding, my parents had to stand because my husband’s family occupied every seat.
When I objected, his mother snapped, “They don’t belong here,” and my husband sl*pped me in front of more than 80 guests.
I didn’t cry; I walked out of the venue, pulled out my phone, and made a single call they never saw coming.
PART 1
“Those people look far too poor to sit with our family,” my mother-in-law said, staring directly at my parents with a smile.
She said it on my wedding day.
And just moments later, the man I was about to marry sl*pped me in front of everyone because I dared to defend them.
My name is Giselle, I’m twenty-five years old, and for a long time I thought I knew the man I had chosen to share my life with.
I was wrong in the worst possible way.
The ceremony was being held at an old coastal estate outside Savannah.
We had rented an elegant chapel with stone arches, white flower arrangements, and a large reception hall.
When I arrived on my father’s arm, the first thing I saw wasn’t my fiancé waiting at the altar.
I saw my parents searching for somewhere to sit.
Every seat in the first few rows was occupied by Christopher’s relatives: uncles, cousins, his mother’s friends, and even people I had never seen before.
My mother, Josephine, was wearing a simple blue dress she had picked very carefully.
My father, Samuel, was wearing the same dark suit he had worn to my brother’s graduation.
They could have bought something far more expensive.
They simply never felt the need to pretend.
But Florence, Christopher’s mother, interpreted simplicity as poverty.
When one of my aunts asked them to leave two seats for my parents, Florence let that remark slip.
“Those people look far too poor to sit with our family.”
Some people laughed.
My mother lowered her eyes.
My father pretended not to hear.
I felt something inside me break.
I let go of my father’s arm and went toward Florence.
“My parents are not going to stand.
And you’re going to apologize to them.”
Christopher quickly turned around.
“Giselle, don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything.
Your mother just humiliated my parents.”
Florence smiled.
“Oh, please.
Learn to take a joke.”
“That wasn’t a joke.”
I didn’t get to say anything else.
Christopher raised his hand and sl*pped me.
The harsh sound of the sl*p echoed against the chapel walls.
No one moved.
Neither did I.
My cheek was burning.
Christopher moved closer and muttered through his teeth:
“From today on, you’re going to learn not to disrespect my mother.”
Then I heard a laugh.
Then another.
One of Christopher’s cousins made a comment I couldn’t make out.
Florence adjusted her necklace and looked at me with satisfaction, as if she had just witnessed a necessary correction.
My mother started moving toward me.
I raised a hand to stop her.
I didn’t cry.
I didn’t scream.
I didn’t h*t him back.
I simply left my bouquet on a bench and walked out of the chapel.
Christopher thought I was going to lock myself away and cry.
Florence thought I would come back after fixing my makeup and apologizing.
They thought that because for two years they had seen me as a girl with no money, no influence, and desperate to marry into a “good family.”
I had never told them much about my older brother.
To them, Lucas was simply a businessman who traveled a lot and hadn’t even arrived at the wedding yet.
I entered the little room where I had gotten dressed, closed the door, and pulled out my phone.
My cheek was red.
My hands were trembling.
I dialed a number.
Lucas answered on the second ring.
“Has the ceremony started?”
I took a deep breath.
“There won’t be a ceremony.”
There was silence.
I told him about my parents.
Florence’s comment.
The sl*p.
When I finished, Lucas didn’t raise his voice.
That was what frightened me the most.
“Giselle,” he said with icy calm, “don’t leave yet.”
“What?”
“Go back to the reception hall.
Don’t sign anything.
Don’t drink more than one glass.
And no matter what happens, act as if they’ve won.”
“Lucas, what are you talking about?”
I heard him close a car door.
“I’m forty minutes from the venue.
And I just found out that your fiancé didn’t want to marry you solely out of love.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did you find out?”
My brother was silent for a few seconds.
“We found Dad’s land.”
And then I understood that the sl*p was only the beginning.
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What will Christopher do when Giselle learns the truth?
Comment “NEXT” for Part 2.
