The Bride He Cast Away on Their Wedding Night

Claire paused as the footsteps behind her came to a halt.

Elena rose from the floor, her face icy. She gestured to a servant nearby. "Since you've made your decision to leave the Thompson family, go ahead and sign this severance document."

Words could be taken back. But paperwork made things permanent.

Even if Claire had already severed ties in spirit-and in law-Elena wasn't about to risk her crawling back, clinging to the benefits of a life she no longer deserved.

An adopted daughter with no blood ties had no place at the Thompson table anymore.

Claire didn't flinch.

She took the pen and signed her name in one fluid motion.

There were two copies. She kept one, folded it neatly, and handed the other back.

Then she faced Elena and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Aunt Elena, for raising me all these years. Goodbye."

Without another glance, she turned-calm, poised, and completely detached from the room full of judgmental stares.

She didn't even look at Nelson.

"Claire!"

Nelson stepped forward instinctively and grabbed her wrist.

Claire recoiled as if burned, yanking her hand away. Her eyes, once soft for him, were now filled with something sharp-contempt, disgust... maybe even hatred.

"Mr. Cooper," she said coldly, "is there something you wanted?"

It was the first time he'd ever heard her speak to him like that.

For a moment, he stood there, frozen. He couldn't even remember why he'd stopped her.

Before the awkward silence could settle, Serena stepped forward from behind Elena.

"Sis," she called out gently, voice trembling, "please don't be impulsive. Mom only asked you to sign the paper because she was upset. Can't we just. talk it out?"

Her eyes shimmered with tears, fingers twisting nervously. "I didn't mean for things to go this far tonight. You know how my condition is-it flares up sometimes."

She paused, then added, her tone soft but layered with implication:

"If you leave the Thompson family, how will you manage out there? You've got no one. Please don't be mad at me. I promise I'll get better. Mom and Dad only have the two of us-we should take care of each other, not fight."

Every word was calculated.

First-she pinned the "hired attacker" mess on her illness, painting herself as a fragile victim.

Second-she shaded Claire, subtly implying she was a heartless ingrate who'd be nothing without the Thompson name.

The room was thick with tension.

Then, from a shadowed corner, someone let out a soft laugh.

"Well, this really is quite a performance."

Heads turned.

A woman in a tailored black suit stepped forward, clapping slowly. Her voice was smooth, laced with sarcasm.

No one had noticed her before.

But now-every eye was on her.

Alyssa Grant.

Some recognized her instantly. Once a rising actress, she'd been blacklisted after a scandal and quietly disappeared from the spotlight. Right before her fall, she was cast as the female lead in a major film-until she was suddenly replaced. By Serena Thompson.

She hadn't landed a single role since.

Alyssa's lips curled into a smirk. "So let me get this straight. The severance paper was prepared in advance, Claire already signed and bowed out, and now you're putting on a poor-little-me act to guilt her into staying?"

She tilted her head mockingly. "Don't you think that's a little... fake?"

Serena's face paled, tears welling up again. She looked even more pitiful than before.

"Alyssa, I know you're still upset about the movie last year, but that wasn't my fault. And really, when did my family's private matters become your business?"

Alyssa chuckled, folding her arms. "Right. 'Private matters.' Like inviting half the city to witness you try to ruin your adoptive sister's life, then sweeping it under the rug with a vague excuse about your illness?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. Totally private."

"You-!"

Serena's face turned red with fury.

But before she could say more, Claire cut in. Her tone was light, but her eyes were razor-sharp.

"Well," she said with a small smile, "since my dear sister is being so incredibly kind in asking me to stay, then."