Emmett carried himself with impeccable posture, his every movement exuding the confidence of an elite professional.

After I nodded in agreement, he escorted me out. He opened the car door for me and helped me fasten my seatbelt. Throughout the entire drive, he went out of his way to find common topics to chat about so that I would not feel awkward or bored.

My initially tense mood relaxed instantly.

"Thank you," I thanked him softly.

Emmett shook his head with a faint smile. "These are just basic courtesies. There's nothing to thank me for."

I smiled bitterly. These most basic things were what Grayson had never done for me.

The car drove smoothly, and we soon arrived at the bridal boutique. Emmett accompanied me as I tried on wedding dresses, never showing a hint of impatience.

I stood in a pristine white gown, my hair swept up elegantly. Under the lights, my flawless features took on an air of proud, distant beauty.

Emmett froze in place, staring at me with a dazed expression. There was something in his eyes I could not quite decipher.

The rest of our time together was just as pleasant.

During this period, Grayson and Maeve did not come to bother me—not until their wedding day drew near.

My assistant, Sloane Jones, placed a proposal in front of me.

"Ms. Finley, the wedding has been finalized. We're using only the best of everything, and we've hired well-known media outlets and influencers to livestream the entire event. Rest assured, the whole country will be able to watch their wedding."

I nodded in satisfaction.

Beyond making this a spectacle, the most crucial point was that I had only agreed to help plan the wedding. I never said I would pay for it.

I casually delegated the wedding arrangements to Sloane. All expenses would come out of Grayson's pocket.

Looking at the 300-square-foot flower garden and the stunning wedding venue, I could not help but smile. The venue was beautiful, and it came with an extremely high price tag.

When Grayson and Maeve arrived at the venue the next day, they were stunned by the lavishness of it all.

Grayson pulled Maeve into his arms and reassured her smugly. "Babe, look how well Calla treats you. She really knows how to play the gracious hostess. Don't worry. I'll never let anyone mistreat you."

Maeve did not look pleased. Instead, she glared at me with venom in her eyes.

She did not lash out at that moment, though. She just played along and showered me with a few hollow compliments.

The wedding ceremony began and proceeded smoothly. That was until they began displaying the couple's happy photos on the big screen. Suddenly, a high-resolution bedroom photo appeared.

All the live streams were immediately shut down. The entire venue erupted in chaos.

Maeve, who had been so carefree on stage, suddenly burst into tears and shouted at me accusingly, "Calla Finley! I should've known you wouldn't be so kind as to plan my wedding! You want to destroy my reputation! I get it now. You're still mad about the bracelet, so you decided to ruin me in revenge!"

I froze. I had not done this. I turned to Sloane, who shook her head, looking just as confused.

Before I could react, Grayson slapped me across the face and roared furiously, "Calla Finley! You're a woman too. How could you do something so vicious? Besides, the bracelet broke because you scared Maeve and made her fall. It had nothing to do with her. How dare you use that as an excuse to get revenge?"

The guests began whispering and pointing at me.

"Even if she did something wrong, this punishment is way too harsh."

"Destroying someone's reputation like this is truly evil."

Maeve sobbed even harder. "If you sent me, you could've just told me. I would've apologized and begged for your forgiveness. Why did you pretend to make peace and agree to plan our wedding, only to humiliate me like this?

"I can't live with this shame. I'll just die right now so I won't stand in the way of your love anymore!"

Maeve rushed toward the corner of a table, ready to bash her head against it. Grayson panicked and quickly grabbed her to calm her down.

When he was not looking, Maeve flashed me a triumphant smirk. Seeing that expression, I suddenly understood everything. No wonder I had not been able to defeat them in my past life. I was nowhere near as shameless or ruthless as they were.

I stood there, frozen.

Accusations echoed all around me. Those twisted faces seemed to tear apart the version of me that had always been obedient, sensible, virtuous, and gracious.

My nose began to sting, and my entire body trembled uncontrollably.

I forcibly suppressed the discomfort and spoke coldly, saying the kind of vicious words I never would have uttered before.

"You've been a mistress this whole time. You threw away your dignity ages ago. Who are you putting on this innocent act for now? Besides, I didn't post that photo. It's such a high-resolution close-up. I wasn't standing at your bedside watching you two go at it, so how could I have possibly taken it?"

As soon as I finished speaking, the entire venue erupted again.

Those with functioning brains immediately noticed the discrepancy and began whispering amongst themselves.

Grayson's expression darkened. However, he was not suspicious of Maeve. Instead, he turned on me and shouted angrily, "Fine, let other people call her a mistress. But how dare you bring it up? Don't you know exactly why I'm with her in the first place?

"It's not like I never tried to love you. I wanted to hold your hand, but you pulled away and said men and women shouldn't have physical contact.

"I found a great movie I wanted to take you to see, but you coldly told me not to waste time on such pointless things and that I should focus on my studies instead.

"I gave you countless chances. You never valued any of them. You were always lecturing me. Marrying you was like marrying my mother. Suffocating and boring.

"Maeve is different. We can be spontaneous and just go wherever we want. She and I have a true connection of souls. If it weren't for the relationship between our families, why would I ever marry you and neglect her?

"You've benefited so much from this arrangement, yet you dare mistreat the woman I love most. Apologize to her right now!"

It was the same in my past life. He enjoyed the wealth I created for him, living lavishly with Maeve, carefree and unrestrained.

He never once considered that without me holding everything together, the company his father left him would have gone bankrupt long ago. He would never have had the money to live so spontaneously.

Even more than that, I handled everything in his household, from minor matters to his mother's illness.

Without me, where would he have found the time and energy to enjoy his so-called love with Maeve?

After enjoying all of that, not only did he fail to appreciate what I had done, but he even resented me for over a decade. He trampled all over the sincerity I had given him.

Even though I no longer loved him, thinking about it still filled me with grievance.

I took a deep breath and replied coldly, "You're right. I am boring, so let me do you a favor. I didn't accept your family's marriage proposal. From now on, I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together."

I wanted to see if, without me propping them up and after dealing with the mundane realities of life, they could still be as loving as they were now.

Grayson froze at my words. "We've been engaged since childhood. Everyone already considers you part of the Thatcher family. If you don't marry me, who else would want you?"

A flash of disbelief crossed his eyes, along with a hint of some complicated emotion even he had not noticed.

Seeing that Grayson's attention was being diverted, Maeve could not keep up the act any longer. She tugged at his sleeve. "Grayson, she's just talking. She's trying to redirect the conversation. I saw her shopping for wedding supplies just a few days ago."

Grayson relaxed immediately and scoffed with disdain.

"Calla, you women really are full of tricks. You almost had me fooled there. Is now really the time to talk about this nonsense? We haven't even settled the matter of you exposing our bedroom photo!

"You'd better think of how you're going to apologize and make Maeve feel better. Otherwise, I really will cancel the engagement and make sure you never get married for the rest of your life!"

Seeing how shameless he was, Sloane wanted to argue back. I raised my hand to stop her. You could not reason with someone who refuses to see the truth. There was no point wasting words.

I looked at Grayson calmly.

"So, what you're saying is that whoever does something wrong needs to apologize. You think I exposed Maeve's bedroom photo and made her a laughingstock, so you're forcing me to apologize.

"But if I didn't do it, your false accusations would've caused me significant harm. Shouldn't you apologize to me as well then?"

Grayson wavered for a moment, but after glancing at Maeve, his resolve returned. "Naturally. But don't think you can use reverse psychology to make me believe you. Maeve is kind and generous. Besides you, you jealous shrew, I can't think of anyone else who would resent her enough to destroy her with such disgusting methods!"

After getting his affirmative answer, I smiled faintly. He had no idea I had hired someone to investigate the moment it happened.

I unlocked my phone and held up the evidence I had just received for him to see. "Look carefully. The person who uploaded your bedroom photo to the big screen wasn't me. It was Maeve herself."

The surveillance footage clearly showed Maeve sneaking backstage and swapping out the photos with the bedroom shot of her and Grayson. To make sure everyone could see it clearly, I projected the video onto the screen.

The video was in high definition. Even the smug, sinister smile at the corner of Maeve's mouth was captured perfectly.

The entire venue erupted once again.

"What? She did it to herself? Framing Calla like that is truly vicious."

"Seriously. And she was crying and playing the victim so convincingly. Her acting really fooled all of us."

Not only did public opinion flip immediately, but even Grayson looked at Maeve in surprise. He had not expected that the kind Maeve he remembered could have such a malicious side.

Maeve was seething inside, but on the surface, she put on an aggrieved expression.

"Even you don't trust me? Fine. If that's the case, I might as well die. The person I love doesn't believe in me, so there's no point in living anyway."

Maeve suddenly started breathing rapidly, as if she could not catch her breath. Grayson panicked immediately.

"How could I not trust you? Calla arranged this wedding. This must be a trap she set up in advance. Calm down, please."

Grayson scooped her up in his arms and prepared to leave. I walked forward slowly and blocked their path. My voice was flat and emotionless.

"I've provided the evidence. Now, you two owe me an apology for your disrespect."

Hearing that, Grayson did not apologize. Instead, he grew furious. "Can't you see you've upset Maeve so much she's hyperventilating? And you still have the nerve to push this? You're going to regret being so cruel."

I was already used to his unconditional protection of Maeve. At this point, I felt nothing. I simply repeated word for word, "You make a mistake, you apologize. You just admitted that yourself. You're not going back on your word, are you?"

Grayson scoffed coldly. "Of course not. I always keep my word. But Maeve is the victim here. There's no way she would hurt herself, and she has no reason for her to do it either. You think you can force me to apologize with some AI-generated video? Dream on! Move!"

With one arm holding Maeve, he shoved me hard with his free hand and then left with her.

Caught off guard, I lost my footing and fell heavily. My elbow slammed against the edge of a table, instantly tearing a deep gash. Blood spread rapidly.

"Calla!"

Seeing me injured, everyone rushed toward me to check on my condition. Only Grayson did not stop. Instead, he quickened his pace and left.

I was taken to the hospital and received 18 stitches.

When Grayson's mother, Vivian Sterling, heard the news, she rushed over to see me. Seeing my hand wrapped in bandages, her eyes immediately reddened.

"That damned animal. He hurt you this badly and still only cares about being with that vixen instead of coming to see you. This is outrageous. I'm calling him right now to make him come here and grovel for forgiveness!"

I tried to stop her, but she was faster. The call went through instantly.