The moment those words left her mouth, the entire venue exploded into chaos.

"What?! She actually hired someone to take her place at her own wedding?!"

"My god, has Christine lost her mind? She's basically grinding the Shane family's reputation into the dirt!"

Now that the truth had been exposed in front of everyone, all color drained from Mr. and Mrs. Moore's faces.

My mother finally snapped. Pointing at Mrs. Kenton, she unleashed a furious tirade.

"The Moore family people are really something! Treating my son's marriage like some kind of joke. You've gone too far!

"Did you really think the Shane family had no backbone?!"

My father's eyes were red with anger as he strode onto the stage and pulled me protectively behind him.

"This wedding is off," he said coldly to the Moore family. "From this day forward, the Shane family will have nothing more to do with yours."

Seeing the alliance about to collapse, Mr. Moore panicked.

"Tony, Christine was just being immature and reckless. I'll call her right now and make her come back to apologize to you."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Sure. I'll give her one more chance. If you can get through to her right now, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

Haylee tightened her grip on my hand. Leaning close to her ear, I whispered softly, "Don't worry. Christine isn't coming back."

Like a drowning man clutching at his last lifeline, Mr. Moore frantically pulled out his phone and began calling Christine.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Every single call ended with the same cold automated voice:

"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently powered off."

I sighed dramatically.

"Looks like Ms. Moore has no intention of returning."

I turned toward the guards.

"Security. Remove the unrelated parties."

Father and Mrs. Moore were dragged out by security while reporters swarmed around them, cameras flashing wildly in their faces.

My father grabbed my hand but asked no questions.

"Tony, no matter what decision you make, your mother and I will support you."

"We already kicked that fake young master out of the family. We'll never let him work with outsiders to bully you again."

My mother gave my shoulder a firm pat, and warmth spread quietly through my chest.

Comments drifted across the livestream:

[In the original story, Tony was completely blinded by love and insisted on marrying Christine. He fell out with his family because of her, and in the end the Shane family went bankrupt because of Christine and the fake young master. His parents became depressed and jumped off a building together. Seeing this scene now honestly makes me want to cry.]

I lowered my head to hide the emotions in my eyes.

Thankfully, it was not too late this time. I had not become some pathetic love-struck fool.

Since they chose to be ruthless, they could not blame me for returning the favor.

As soon as the wedding ceremony ended, I immediately called my special assistant.

"Terminate every partnership with the Moore family.

"And pull back every cent we invested. Leave them nothing."

The news that I had switched brides at the wedding and married Haylee instead did not spread immediately.

The Moore family suppressed the story to stabilize their stock price.

The moment the ceremony ended, Haylee and I rushed to register our marriage officially. Right after we got the certificate, she told me she needed to leave the country for a few days.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of everything happening, Christine spent two carefree days fooling around with Michael at a villa in the suburbs before finally sensing that something was wrong.

Normally, by now, I would already have caused a huge scene and pressured her to come back.

However, this time, there had been no reaction at all.

Christine absentmindedly scrolled through her phone, so distracted she didn't even hear Michael calling her name.

"No. Tony is definitely just playing hard to get."

She let out a cold laugh and tossed her phone aside.

Michael tested the waters carefully.

"Christine... is Tony really angry this time? Maybe you should go back and comfort him. It's not worth offending the Shane family because of me..."

"Comfort him? Is he worthy of that?"

Christine pinched Michael's chin, her face full of arrogance.

"He's hopelessly in love with me. We've been together for twenty years. He can't live without me.

"I bet within three days, he'll come crawling back with money in hand, begging me to marry him. Honestly, I've spoiled him too much."

At that moment, more livestream comments floated across the screen:

[I'm dying laughing. Has the original female lead lost her brain stem or something? She still doesn't know the Shane family already pulled their investment. The Moore family is about to collapse.]

[Oh my god, girl, your company is on the brink of collapse and you're still sitting here feeling smug.]

I never expected to run into those two walking disasters at my father's business banquet.

Christine spotted me immediately. The moment she saw me chatting with another woman, her expression darkened on the spot.

Beside her, Michael leaned casually against her shoulder and lowered his voice.

"Christine, it's stuffy in here. I want to get some air."

Christine patted the back of his hand indulgently, though her gaze drifted toward me as if by accident.

She was probably waiting for me to walk over first.

Too bad for her, I had no intention of playing along.

From beginning to end, I did not spare her so much as a glance.

Eventually, she lost patience. She strode over to our table, slammed her wine glass down hard, and demanded:

"Tony, are you seriously angry because I had someone stand in for me at the wedding?"

I could not even be bothered looking at her. I stood up to leave.

"The last wedding was because Michael suddenly had a stomach attack. It was an emergency, that's why I couldn't make it."

Michael quickly stepped in front of me.

"Tony, please don't blame Christine. It's all my fault for being so useless physically and ruining your wedding.

"I know your parents hate me, but I really didn't mean to…"

After hearing that, Christine actually laughed in disbelief.

"Tony, how did I never realize you were this petty? It was just a wedding.

"We didn't even register the marriage officially, so what does it count as? Was it really necessary for you and your father to pull your investment just to force me into submission?"

As she spoke, she reached for my arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.

My expression turned cold and I shook her hand off immediately.

"Ms. Moore, have some respect for yourself."

"About the wedding: didn't your parents tell you?"

She froze.

"Tell me what?"

A flicker of panic crossed Michael's face. He grabbed my wrist and hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

"Tony, don't do this. Christine really does care about you…"

He sounded like he was trying to mediate, but his grip tightened hard around my wrist, deliberately provoking me.

The comments exploded across the screen:

[Holy sh*t, what's with the fake heir? He's making a move already?]

I yanked my hand away violently.

"Get lost."

Michael immediately staggered backward several steps and deliberately collapsed onto the floor in a pathetic heap.

Christine's eyes widened in fury. She rushed to help him up and shouted at me, "Tony! Do you even know Michael's stomach hasn't recovered yet? Apologize to him right now!"

I let out a cold laugh and turned toward the security guards hurrying over after hearing the commotion.

"Security, throw them out."

Christine's face turned livid.

"Don't think acting like this will get my attention. If you behave yourself, I'll go register the marriage with you in a few days."

The comments went wild again:

[Bruh, what's wrong with the original heroine? Isn't she supposed to love the fake heir? Why is she acting like such a self-absorbed narcissist?]

[I'm dying. She still doesn't know the male supporting lead already registered his marriage with the rich boss lady. She seriously thinks he's still waiting around to pamper her.]

I smiled faintly.

"Register the marriage? But I'm already married."

The smile on Christine's face froze instantly.

She stood there stunned, brows tightly knotted.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

She stepped closer, her tone arrogant as ever.

"If you're married, then where's your wife? Why didn't she come with you?"

A mocking smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"My wife is away on a business trip. Unlike certain useless people who need male attention just to feel important."

Before Christine could explode, Michael immediately put on an expression of tolerant restraint and sighed softly.

"Tony, how could you say something like that about Christine? She stays up late every night working for the Moore Group. Not only do you refuse to support her, you're even lying just to upset her. You're really not thinking about the bigger picture at all."

He deliberately paused, and just like that, Christine's gaze toward me filled with disappointment and anger.

"Tony, look at how sharp-tongued and bitter you've become. Other than me, who else would ever marry you?

"I'm warning you, stop playing these childish hard-to-get games. It only makes me look down on you even more."

I had completely run out of patience.

"Security. Are you deaf?

"Throw these two out. And from today onward, every property under the Shane family name is off-limits to Christine and dogs alike."

The guards immediately stepped forward and grabbed them by the arms.

Christine struggled violently, her face twisted with fury as she screamed at me, "Tony, if you dare treat me like this, you're going to regret it!"

That same night, I received a text from an unknown number.

[Did you really think this would make Christine come back to you? Bet you didn't expect this: she doesn't care at all. She's happily overseas with me on vacation right now.]

I did not even need to guess who sent it. I blocked the number immediately.

During the following days, Christine's parents still refused to give up and came looking for me several times, but I had them turned away every single time.

A week later, after calculating when Haylee's flight would land, I drove to the airport to pick her up.

The moment I stepped into the international arrivals hall, I ran straight into Christine and Michael.

The two of them looked slightly tanned from the trip, sunglasses on, carrying themselves with the relaxed air of people returning from a carefree vacation.

The instant Christine saw me, she smiled smugly.

"I knew you couldn't let me go. You even came all the way here to pick me up."

I could not be bothered responding. I looked at her the same way I would look at an idiot.

Michael chimed in with a mocking grin, "Come on, don't be mad anymore."

"Christine didn't mean to leave you behind when we went to relax. As her fiancé, you should be more understanding."

Christine was clearly pleased by that. She lifted a hand to sling it over my shoulder, but I sidestepped before she could touch me.

Not only did she not get angry, she looked even more smug, convinced I was just throwing a childish tantrum.

"Alright, stop sulking. Once we get married, I'll make it up to you with an even more luxurious honeymoon trip. Happy now?"

"Move aside. Good dogs don't block the way."

I brushed past the two of them and pulled the fast-approaching Haylee into my arms.

"Honey, welcome home."

Haylee naturally leaned against me and tilted her head up, pressing a soft kiss against my chin.

Behind us, the smug smile on Christine's face froze instantly.

After a brief, deathly silence came her furious scream.

"Tony! Are you done messing around yet?!"

She stormed over in a few quick steps and pointed angrily at Haylee.

"So this is your way of getting back at me? You even hired an actress? Not bad, her acting's pretty convincing. How much did you pay her?

"Name your price. I'll pay ten times more if she disappears right now."

I pulled Haylee behind me protectively, my expression darkening as the atmosphere around me turned ice cold.

However, Haylee simply tightened her grip on my hand and calmly met Christine's distorted glare.

"Christine, weren't you asking to meet my wife?"

I intertwined my fingers with Haylee's and let out a cold laugh.

"Then let me formally introduce her. This is my wife."

The color drained from Christine's face.

"You! What are you doing here?!"