Chapter 4 - The Morning of the Ceremony
The wedding day arrived beneath a cloudless sky.
Staff members covered the beach with white rose petals. Crystal glasses sparkled beneath the reception tent. Private chefs prepared lobster, truffle risotto, and handmade desserts while musicians rehearsed near the ocean.
Claire spent the morning solving problems Vanessa had created.
The bride demanded new chairs because the original white upholstery appeared cream in photographs. She ordered the pastry chef to remake two hundred desserts because the gold decoration looked too yellow. She made a bridesmaid cry over the shape of her hairstyle.
Lily remained excited.
She wore her pink dress and carried a basket decorated with tiny pearls. Claire braided her hair and placed a small flower behind her ear.
“You look beautiful,” Claire said.
Lily smiled at her reflection.
“Do you think Aunt Vanessa will like it?”
Claire hesitated.
“You like it. That matters more.”
At the bridal villa, Vanessa inspected Lily from head to toe.
“Her shoes are wrong.”
“They are the shoes you approved,” Claire said.
“They look cheap in daylight.”
Lily’s smile disappeared.
Claire knelt beside her. “They look perfect.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned toward the makeup artist.
Twenty minutes before the ceremony, another problem emerged. Vanessa’s custom veil had been placed in the wrong room. Although a staff member located it within minutes, Vanessa accused Claire of trying to sabotage the wedding.
Their mother immediately took Vanessa’s side.
“You should have checked everything personally,” she told Claire.
“I am a guest, not the wedding planner.”
“After everything Vanessa has done to include Lily, you could show more gratitude.”
Claire stared at her.
Lily had been given no role beyond carrying petals. Claire had supplied the dress, the travel, and the gift. Still, the family acted as though Vanessa had rescued them from loneliness.
May you like
Claire looked toward the ocean and reminded herself that the day would soon end.
She did not know that Vanessa was minutes away from making a demand Claire would never forgive.
