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.

The moment Grayson's voice came through, Vivian unleashed a torrent of scolding.

Watching this scene, I sighed inwardly. Before we were married in my past life, Vivian had always protected me too. I thought she was a good person who genuinely cared about me, so even though Grayson was lacking, I was willing to marry him.

I even believed that marriage was about choosing the right in-laws, and that a kind mother-in-law could make anything bearable. Slowly, I discovered I was wrong. She kept telling me to 'endure', and life gradually lost all meaning.

A mother-in-law would always be her son's mother above all else. In small matters, she might put on a show of supporting me, but when it came to anything important, she would always side with her son and criticize my faults.

"Look at what you've done to Calla!" Vivian was so distressed that she wiped away tears.

Through the video call, Grayson saw my hand wrapped in bandages. His expression froze for a moment.

Then, the sound of Maeve coughing came from beside him. Grayson snapped back to attention and scoffed coldly.

"Calla, you put Maeve in the hospital, and I haven't even come after you for it. Yet here you are, turning the tables and tattling to my mother! Besides, I barely pushed you. It's not like I stabbed you with a knife. Why are you acting like you're seriously injured?

"I get it now. You saw me taking care of Maeve while she's sick, so you're faking an injury to copy her. You think that'll make me feel sorry for you? Dream on! All you're doing is making me despise you even more.

"I was willing to look past everything and go through with the wedding, but since you're the kind of woman who makes a scene just to compete for attention, we're not having a wedding anymore.

"In seven days, once Maeve is discharged, I'll force myself to accompany you to get our marriage certificate."

With that, he hung up.

Vivian looked at me awkwardly. "That boy has been spoiled rotten by me. Don't worry, Calla. I'll go talk some sense into him.

"How can we not have a wedding? Our family may have fallen on hard times, and it's true that we can't give you a grand ceremony, but the basics are still a must. You're going to be his wife for life. We can't shortchange you."

She hurried off without giving me a chance to speak. I shook my head silently. They had no idea that in seven days, I would be getting engaged to Emmett.

My injuries looked severe, but they were all superficial. I could recover just fine at home.

The next few days, I was busy with preparations for my engagement ceremony. I had no time to worry about Grayson and Maeve.

Ironically, Grayson, who used to ignore me, kept messaging me constantly. Not with sweet words, though. Instead, he kept finding new ways to pressure me into apologizing to Maeve.

I ignored all of it.

The night before my engagement, he sent another angry text.

[Calla Finley, your avoidance is really pissing me off. I'm informing you now that we're moving our marriage registration to the afternoon. Consider it your punishment.]

I laughed and did not bother reading the rest. I turned off my phone and went to sleep.

Tomorrow was my big engagement day. It would be broadcast on the big screens around the city. I could not afford to look tired.

…

The next day, my engagement ceremony began flawlessly. Media reporters sat below, capturing my most beautiful moments.

Meanwhile, that afternoon, Grayson drove himself to the city hall with Maeve, who had insisted on coming along. Their car drove past a bustling commercial building.

At that moment, the giant screen on the building displayed my and Emmett's wedding photo.