On the day of the engagement rehearsal, I saw my name erased from the main screen and replaced with another woman’s. Lily Carter spun in the spotlight. “Do I look good?” “Ethan said the main image looked too soft, but when I stand in front of it, I can hold the whole vibe together.” The staff laughed along with her, and not a single person stopped her. I called Ethan Grant, and his tone was flat. “Lily is just helping with the test shoot.” “You just got to New York, so don’t start throwing a tantrum the second you arrive.” The call ended, and the spotlight was still on. On the main screen, Lily Carter’s name overlapped with the tulip pattern my mother had drawn by hand, like a replacement that had been written in advance. I raised my hand and turned off that light. “I’m here, so the rehearsal starts over.” I said to the man on the other end of the line, “Goodbye, I’m going to marry a different man.” Claire Hayes POV On the day of the engagement rehearsal, I saw my name erased from the main engagement screen and replaced with another woman’s. It was a main image of tulips, and the tulip pattern in the corner had been finalized by my mother herself, with my name written in the corner of the draft. Before I came back from overseas, my mother told me that the Grant family in New York had plenty of rules, and the engagement did not need to be extravagant, but my first appearance could not let anyone look down on me. I never expected that the person who looked down on me would first take my place. In the center of the banquet hall, Lily Carter was standing under the spotlight, filming a pre-engagement video, and the main screen behind her showed her name and Ethan Grant’s name. Around her stood photographers, makeup artists, and hotel coordinators, and everyone called her “Miss Carter,” while someone even whispered that Mr. Grant truly spoiled her, since he was willing to let her film with his fiancée’s main engagement visual first. I stopped at the doorway and did not rush to speak. Lily Carter saw me through the mirror and deliberately spun around. “Do I look good?” “Ethan said the main image looked too soft, but when I stand in front of it, I can hold the whole vibe together.” Her voice was not loud, but it was just enough for the people around her to hear. The hotel coordinator glanced at me, and when he saw my simple trench coat, his attitude instantly became perfunctory. “Miss, the hall is not open to the public today, so if you’re looking for someone, please register at the front desk.” I looked at Lily Carter’s name on the main screen. “Take her image down.” The room fell silent at once. Lily Carter seemed startled and took half a step back, but her fingers gripped the cue card in her hand even tighter. “Who are you?” “You barge in and tell me to turn off the main screen?” “Can just anyone walk into the Grant family’s engagement venue in New York now?” Someone laughed along with her. I ignored everyone else and only asked the coordinator, “Who approved this main visual?” The coordinator grew impatient after being questioned. “Of course it was arranged by Mr. Grant’s side.” “Miss Carter is Mr. Grant’s close family friend, and she is also the one in charge of the test shoot tonight.” “If you’re just some passerby or freelance photographer, please leave.” Lily Carter smiled even more sweetly. “Don’t make things hard for her.” “Maybe she saw the engagement news online and misunderstood, thinking she had a chance to marry into the Grant family too.” Once she said that, the laughter in the hall became even more obvious. I took out my phone and called Ethan Grant. After the call connected, I asked only one question. “Did you let Lily Carter use my name to shoot the engagement video?” The other end of the phone went quiet for a moment. Ethan Grant’s voice was cold. “Claire Hayes?” “You’re at the hotel?” “I’m asking you whether you let her shoot it.” “It’s just one image.” Ethan Grant’s tone carried irritation at being disturbed. “Lily is helping test-shoot the materials, and the staff are rushing to meet the schedule.” “You just got back to New York, and you don’t understand how things are arranged here, so don’t start causing trouble the moment you arrive.” I looked at Lily Carter’s smug eyes in the mirror and suddenly laughed. “So I, the fiancée, should thank her for shooting my engagement video for me?” Ethan Grant was silent for a moment. “don’t come in here making a scene.” “Lily isn’t in good health, so don’t embarrass her in public.” “I’ll be there soon.” The call ended. Lily Carter lifted her chin like she had won a round. “Did you hear that?” “Ethan told you not to embarrass me.” I put away my phone, walked to the front of the main stage, and raised my hand to turn off that spotlight. The moment the light went out, the entire banquet hall dimmed by half. I looked at Lily Carter, and my voice was steady. “I’m here, so the rehearsal starts over.” “As for you, take down the name that doesn’t belong to you first.” Before I returned to New York, I had seen photos of Ethan Grant. My mother placed the documents in front of me and said the Grant family had been fairly stable in New York these years, and Ethan Grant himself was not an heir who only knew how to live off family money. At the time, I did not have much of an opinion. I had no fairy-tale expectations for marriage, and if two families could respect each other, getting engaged first and then getting to know each other was not completely unacceptable. But respect was never something written in documents. It showed itself in a person’s first reaction. For example, Ethan Grant clearly knew tonight was the engagement rehearsal, yet he let another woman stand onstage in my name. For example, when the staff saw the fiancée arrive, their first reaction was not to verify my identity, but to treat me like an outsider who had barged in. I had seen plenty of arrogance overseas, but this kind of contempt dressed up as intimacy still shocked me. The camera was still on, and the screen showed the clip Lily Carter had just filmed in real time. Facing the camera, she said, “Ethan and I can’t wait for everyone to come witness this,” and her tone was so intimate that she sounded like the real Mrs. Grant. I glanced at it and asked the photographer, “Where is this clip going to be posted?” The photographer said quietly, “The Grant wedding account, and the hotel’s partner promotion account.” Lily Carter’s expression changed slightly, and she rushed to speak first. “It’s just a test line, and it’ll be changed in post-production.” I looked at her. “Why wasn’t my name in the test line?” This question was far more deadly than fighting over an image. Only then did the people around us realize that Lily Carter had not just taken a main image, but had taken my place in front of the Grant family and their guests ahead of me.
Claire Hayes POV Lily Carter’s eyes immediately turned red. She was too good at controlling this kind of situation and knew exactly when to be arrogant and when to act weak. Once the spotlight went out, she looked as if I had bullied her terribly, clutching the cue card while her voice trembled. “I was only helping test the effect, so do you really have to humiliate me like this?” The hotel coordinator hurried over to support her. “Miss Carter, please don’t panic.” I glanced at the coordinator. “This main visual has a custom archive, a signature, a tulip pattern, and delivery records, all of which can be checked.” “She used my name and my main visual to shoot engagement materials, so who approved it?” The coordinator’s expression shifted, but he still forced himself to hold his ground. “Mr. Grant’s side said that the event site should follow Miss Carter’s opinions.” “Ethan Grant is the engagement partner, not the owner of the main visual and the signature,” I said. “Whoever paid you is the person you should answer to.” Lily Carter bit her lip. “You’re so harsh.” “Ethan always says I’m one of the Grant family, so what’s wrong with me helping him?” “Besides, you haven’t even married into the family yet, but you’re already in such a hurry to claim things.” “Isn’t that a little petty?” Someone nearby chimed in. “Miss Carter has known Mr. Grant for so many years, so of course their relationship is different.” “I heard Mr. Grant’s family arranged this marriage, and he might not even want it himself.” “Even so, she can’t come in and force someone to turn off the main screen right away.” “That’s so rude.” Listening to those words, I calmed down instead. Growing up overseas did not mean I had never seen this kind of scene. The more semi-public the occasion was, the more people wanted to step on me to test the Grant family’s attitude. Since Lily Carter dared to replace this main visual today, it clearly was not a sudden impulse, but a plan to firmly claim the position of “the woman Ethan Grant favors most” before the engagement. Footsteps sounded at the door. Ethan Grant walked in, followed by several members of the Grant family. He wore a dark suit, and he did have striking looks, but the impatience between his brows was just as clear. The moment Lily Carter saw him, tears immediately fell. “Ethan, I didn’t know she would mind this much.” “I only wanted to help you finish the pre-engagement video, but as soon as she arrived, she told me to take down the image.” Ethan Grant frowned and looked at me. “You just came back to New York, and you have to make things this ugly?” I asked, “Did all of this start with me, or with the person who took the wrong place?” Ethan Grant’s voice sank. “Lily is not an outsider.” “She grew up with me, she’s not in good health, and everyone has always accommodated her.” “If you’re going to join the Grant family in the future, the first thing you need to learn is how to get along with her.” I almost laughed out loud. “I’m joining the Grant family to get engaged to my fiancé, not to learn how to serve his mistress.” “Claire Hayes!” Ethan Grant’s expression turned completely cold. “Watch your words.” Lily Carter looked as if she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world and hid behind Ethan Grant. “Forget it, I won’t shoot anymore.” “Anyway, I’m not the real fiancée, so I’m not even worthy of helping you test a shot.” She shoved the cue card into Ethan Grant’s hand, but her feet remained in the spotlight as she waited for Ethan Grant to speak for me. Sure enough, Ethan Grant stopped her. “You don’t need to leave.” He looked at me. “Let Lily finish shooting this set of clips.” “If you’re upset, I’ll have someone send you another set tonight.” I stared at him for a few seconds. I suddenly felt that when my mother arranged this marriage for me, she probably had not expected the Grant heir to be stupid enough to put his favoritism on display in front of the main screen at the engagement rehearsal. I picked up the engagement schedule booklet from the table and tore off the cover with Ethan Grant’s name and mine on it. “No need to send anything,” I said. “I’m not going through with this engagement.” When Ethan Grant said, “Lily is not an outsider,” I suddenly understood. This was not about who owned an image, but about the position the Grant family had drawn for me in advance. Lily Carter could cross boundaries, test limits, and stand in my place while everyone coaxed her. Meanwhile, I, the real fiancée, had to learn to give way the moment I walked through the door. I looked at Ethan Grant. “If a different man replaced your name today, would you also say he wasn’t an outsider?” Ethan Grant’s expression darkened. “Why are you comparing Lily to a man?” “She’s different.” “What makes her different?” I asked. “So different that she can shoot my engagement materials for me?” “So different that you can demand I give up the spotlight to her at my own engagement party?” The quiet murmurs around us slowly stopped. Only then did many people realize that I was not throwing a tantrum. I was asking whether the Grant family still knew where the line was. Ethan Grant did not answer that question. After all, I had looked into him, and he was used to Lily Carter occupying a special place in his life. She could enter his office, use his driver, pick food at the Grant family dinner table, and before he got engaged to another woman, take away the most important thing with a single line about “helping.” Taken separately, those things did not seem serious. But as I stood there, I suddenly exposed the meaning behind them. Ethan Grant was unwilling to admit it, so he could only accuse me of making a fuss over nothing. I saw through his avoidance and instead stopped being anxious. “You don’t have to figure it out now.” “When you truly do, I probably won’t need to hear it anymore.”
Claire Hayes POV Ethan Grant looked as if he had heard a joke. “What did you say?” I threw the torn-off cover into the trash. “I said the engagement is canceled.” The staff in the banquet hall were all stunned. Several Grant relatives’ expressions changed, and someone immediately lowered their voice to advise Ethan Grant. “Ethan, don’t let this blow up.” “The Hayes family hasn’t arrived yet.” But Ethan Grant was angered by my attitude. “Claire Hayes, the engagement is not something you can decide on your own.” Ethan Grant lowered his voice. “Apologize to Lily now, and I can pretend this never happened.” I asked back, “She used my name to shoot my engagement materials, and I’m supposed to apologize to her?” Lily Carter sobbed and said, “I really didn’t know the main screen was supposed to use your name.” “Ethan only said there would be a test shoot tonight, and I thought it was a sample prepared by the hotel.” What an interesting thing to say. I looked at her. “You didn’t know?” “The corner of the tulip main image draft has my name on it, and the framed border even has a signature card for me.” “Did you not see it before you started shooting, Miss Carter?” Lily Carter’s face turned slightly pale. But Ethan Grant grew impatient. “She doesn’t understand details like that.” “Claire Hayes, you keep clinging to one image, and it makes you look petty.” “Petty?” I nodded. “Then the Grant family’s engagement really isn’t worth much.” Ethan Grant stepped forward and reached out to grab my wrist. I avoided him. “Don’t touch me.” Lily Carter suddenly cried out, and her entire body fell backward, knocking over a glass of red wine, and the deep red liquid splashed across the draft of the tulip main image. “Claire, if you didn’t want me to shoot, I could have taken it down, so why did you push me?” She clutched her wrist, and tears came the moment she wanted them. I looked at that red wine stain, and my gaze turned completely cold. This tulip main image was my mother’s heartfelt gift to me, yet it was not enough for Lily Carter to take it away, and she had to destroy it with her own hands too. Ethan Grant held Lily Carter and could not suppress his anger. “Claire Hayes, you’ve gone too far!” “Mr. Grant.” A calm male voice came from the doorway. “There are surveillance cameras here, so do you want to see what happened clearly before you scold her?” I turned around. Adrian Lawson stood by the door, with the Hayes family’s legal team behind him. He had his coat draped over his arm, and when his gaze landed on the stained tulip main image draft, his expression also turned cold. “Miss Hayes, Ms. Hayes is on her way,” he said. “She asked me to come pick you up first.” Someone in the banquet hall whispered, “Ms. Hayes?” “Which Ms. Hayes?” Adrian Lawson did not answer and only walked to my side. “Are you all right?” I shook my head. “I’m fine.” “The main visual draft is not.” Ethan Grant frowned. “And who are you?” Adrian Lawson looked at him, his tone so polite it was almost sharp. “Miss Hayes’s legal counsel.” “All future correspondence between the Grant family and Miss Hayes regarding this engagement must run through me exclusively.” Adrian Lawson’s arrival was not exactly sudden. On the day I returned to New York, Vivian Hayes had given me his contact information, saying that the situation in New York was complicated, and if I encountered anything that made me uncomfortable, I could contact Adrian Lawson first. At the time, I even laughed at my mother for being too cautious. Only now did I realize my mother did not distrust the Grant family, but understood human nature too well. Adrian Lawson did not rush in like a hero saving the day and argue on my behalf. He first confirmed whether I was hurt, then had his assistant secure the surveillance footage and the main visual modification records. Every step was steady, so steady that Ethan Grant could not find a gap to gloss things over with the word “misunderstanding.” I looked at the document envelope he handed me, and the fire in my heart calmed instead. Anger could make me turn away, but evidence could make the other side shut up. Ethan Grant stared at Adrian Lawson, his tone carrying a warning. “Claire Hayes is my fiancée, and her affairs do not need an outsider’s involvement.” Adrian Lawson was not provoked. “The engagement has not been completed, and the engagement contract has not taken effect.” “Even if we take a step back and say the engagement contract had taken effect, that still would not mean Miss Hayes had lost the right to independently retain counsel.” His words were too calm, so calm that they made Ethan Grant even more embarrassed. I looked at Ethan Grant. “See, even my hiring a lawyer feels offensive to you.” “How could I dare marry someone like that?” For a moment, Ethan Grant was speechless. Lily Carter still wanted to cry, but Adrian Lawson had already asked his assistant to pull up the surveillance screenshot of the moment she stepped back and knocked over the wineglass. The footage froze on the second her foot moved backward on its own, and all her grievances looked ridiculous.
Claire Hayes POV Ethan Grant did not know Adrian Lawson, but he should have heard of the Lawson family. Everyone in New York commercial litigation knew that Adrian Lawson was young, steady, and best at turning words into knives for his clients. When Ethan Grant realized I had not come alone, his expression finally changed. But Lily Carter still did not understand the situation. She looked at the wine-splashed corner of the image and spoke in a weak voice. “Ethan, did I cause a huge problem?” “Why don’t I kneel down and apologize to Claire, as long as she doesn’t blame you?” Ethan Grant immediately frowned. “Don’t say nonsense.” I felt sick listening to it. Adrian Lawson asked his assistant to retrieve the surveillance footage and then asked the hotel manager to come over. The manager had been hiding the whole time, and only when he heard “the Hayes family’s lawyer” did he rush over, his forehead covered in sweat. “Miss Hayes, today was indeed a failure in our on-site management.” The manager smiled apologetically. “We will coordinate the compensation for the destroyed main visual draft.” “Coordinate?” I asked. “You handed my main engagement visual to someone else to shoot with, allowed her to film materials under my name, and now the draft is destroyed, but you only call it a failure in management?” The manager could not say a word. Another group of people arrived at the door. When Vivian Hayes walked into the banquet hall, every voice lowered. She wore a black suit, and her presence was so strong that no one dared look directly at her. When I was young, I always thought my mother was too quiet, and only after growing up did I understand that people who could truly command a room never relied on shouting. An elder from the Grant family recognized her, and his face instantly turned white. “Ms. Hayes?” Ethan Grant’s brows furrowed even tighter. He knew my mother’s last name was Hayes, but he had never connected the woman before him with that low-key capital powerhouse. Vivian Hayes looked at me first. “Were you hurt?” I shook my head. “No.” Only then did Vivian Hayes look at Ethan Grant and Lily Carter. “Then let’s talk business.” Ethan Grant said, “Ms. Hayes, today was a misunderstanding.” “Lily didn’t understand the rules, and Claire was a little impulsive too.” “I can apologize.” Vivian Hayes smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes. “Mr. Grant, your apology comes quickly.” “When my daughter was surrounded and humiliated just now, were you this quick too?” Ethan Grant froze at the question. Vivian Hayes looked at the hotel manager. “Stop all releases of the Grant family’s engagement materials tonight, and seal all on-site files.” “Send the main visual draft and modification records for verification, and the responsible party will bear the loss.” The manager nodded repeatedly. Lily Carter finally panicked. “Ms. Hayes, I really didn’t do it on purpose.” “I didn’t know Claire would care this much about one image.” Vivian Hayes looked at her. “You knew, but you didn’t care.” Lily Carter’s face turned deathly pale. Vivian Hayes took my hand, and her tone became gentle again. “Claire, let’s go home.” I looked at Ethan Grant one last time. There was no hatred in that glance, and no unwillingness either, only disgust. Vivian Hayes walked to the tulip main image. Her fingertips did not touch the wine stain. My mother had told me before. The tulip pattern was a flower I had drawn in a notebook as a child, and the name in the corner of the draft was something she had written for the studio herself. She had not wanted to dress me up as a tool for an arranged marriage, but wanted me to know that someone loved her when I made my first formal appearance in unfamiliar New York. Now that sincerity had been taken by someone else to film under a false name, and then ruined by red wine. Vivian Hayes looked at Ethan Grant, and her tone remained calm. “Mr. Grant, an image can be remade, but thoughtfulness cannot be compensated for.” “What you did today made my daughter understand one thing.” “The Grant family is not worthy of her.” Ethan Grant’s face turned pale. The hotel manager no longer dared to talk about coordination and immediately had someone take down the image on the main screen. When Lily Carter was taken by the staff to the lounge, she still looked back at Ethan Grant. She probably thought Ethan Grant would follow her, or at least give her a look of comfort. But Ethan Grant was nailed in place by Vivian Hayes’s words and did not immediately respond to her. She clenched the cue card, her fingertips still stained with red wine, looking both miserable and cold.
Ethan Grant POV By the time my father arrived at the hotel, Claire Hayes had already left. After he watched the surveillance footage, his expression became extremely ugly. In the footage, Lily Carter used Claire Hayes’s main visual to film, and during the dispute, she took a step back on her own and knocked over the red wine. Claire Hayes did not push her, but I stood in front of Lily Carter at the first moment. “You fool!” My father slammed his palm on the table. “I told you to host Claire Hayes, not offend her so badly that she calls off the engagement!” My face turned livid from being scolded. “Dad, it was just one image.” “Just?” My father laughed in anger. “That main visual was personally commissioned by Vivian Hayes.” “You letting Lily Carter use it to film engagement materials was the same as grinding the Hayes family’s dignity into the floor.” I fell silent. Lily Carter stood to the side, tears falling nonstop. “It’s all my fault.” “Please don’t scold Ethan.” “I saw that the main visual was beautiful, so I begged him to let me test it out.” My father looked at her coldly. “Miss Carter, you are not part of the Grant family, so in the future, stop making decisions in Grant family matters.” Those words were too heavy. All the color drained from Lily Carter’s face at once. After all, she had used my favoritism since childhood to freely enter and leave the Grant family, and everyone gave her some respect. This was the first time my father had publicly placed her on the outside, and grievance and resentment surged up together. I frowned. “Dad, Lily isn’t in good health, so don’t scare her.” My father pointed at me. “You’re still protecting her?” “If the Hayes marriage is canceled, do you know how much support Grant Group will lose?” “Grant Group doesn’t depend on women to make money.” My tone hardened. “And I don’t want to marry a woman who makes such a huge scene the first time we meet.” When my father heard this, he calmed down instead. “Do you think Vivian Hayes values you?” he asked. I raised my head. My father’s voice sank. “Back then, when Grant Group’s capital chain nearly broke, Vivian Hayes brought in the first lifesaving investment for us.” “Later, during several overseas mergers and acquisitions, the Hayes family trust also guaranteed them from behind the scenes.” “Half the position you sit in now is dignity that they left for the Grant family.” My expression finally changed. I knew the Grant family and the Hayes family had an old connection, but I did not know it went that deep. My father picked up his phone. “I’m going to the Hayes family to apologize in person.” “You’re going too.” I was just about to speak when Lily Carter suddenly grabbed my sleeve. “Ethan, my stomach hurts a little.” My father looked at me. I hesitated for only one second before supporting Lily Carter. “Dad, I’ll take her to the hospital first.” “We can apologize tomorrow.” My father closed his eyes in anger. Before my father went to the Hayes family, he first had someone bring me back to the study. “Do you know why Lily Carter has been able to do whatever she wants in the Grant family all these years?” my father asked. I said nothing. My father said coldly, “Because you backed her up.” “The maids didn’t dare stop her, your assistants didn’t dare refuse her, and business partners gave her resources because of your face.” “Now you say she was just ignorant, but who would believe that?” Those words made me very uncomfortable. I had always thought I was only taking care of Lily Carter. Her parents had died early, and she had lived with the Grant family for a while as a child, so it was normal for me to protect her a little more. But when my father laid out those acts of “care,” they suddenly became a long account of favoritism. Lily Carter had not become what she was today in a single day. She had been spoiled by me little by little until she no longer knew where the line was. Before my father went to the Hayes family, he specifically had someone send Lily Carter back to her own apartment. Lily Carter stood at the hotel entrance, and I stood beside her. She was wrapped in a coat temporarily brought over by the staff, and her expression was ugly. “I should go apologize too.” My father glanced at her. “If you go now, you will only make things look worse.” “But Ethan…” “Ethan shouldn’t go either,” my father said coldly. “But he is a Grant, so he must go bear responsibility for the trouble caused by the Grant family.” “You are not a Grant, so stop appearing on behalf of the Grant family.”
Claire Hayes POV After I returned to the Hayes house, I first placed the engagement ring in my mother’s study. I had not worn that ring yet, and it had been sent by the Grant family according to my size. The diamond was bright and the design was expensive, but looking at it now, I only felt like it was a trap exposed too early. Vivian Hayes had someone pour me warm milk. “Were you scared?” “No.” I sat on the sofa. “I just feel disgusted.” Vivian Hayes smiled faintly. “Disgust is good.” “It’s better than feeling disgusted after marrying into the family.” I looked at my mother. “Do we still need to continue discussing this marriage?” Vivian Hayes did not answer right away. After all, my mother had told me that she had agreed to the Grant marriage because Richard Grant had indeed honored a few old loyalties when he was young. Ethan Grant was capable, his reputation in public was good, and I had just returned to New York and needed a steady identity to enter its social circle. She was not determined to make me marry for family interests, but had believed the Grant family at least understood boundaries. But tonight proved that the most important heir of the Grant family did not. “Your marriage is your decision,” Vivian Hayes said. “I am only responsible for being your safety net.” Those words warmed my heart. I’d spent most of my youth studying abroad, while Mother’s schedule kept us separated far more often than not. The public saw Vivian Hayes as icy, unemotional. Only I understood the freedom she’d granted me was never neglect—she’d laid a clear escape path right in front of my eyes all along. Adrian Lawson brought in the preliminary materials. “The hotel has sealed the surveillance footage, and the design studio has also confirmed that the signature in the corner of the draft and the delivery records are complete.” “It would have been impossible for Lily Carter not to know that this main visual draft belonged to Miss Hayes before she filmed.” I flipped through a few pages and asked, “If I cancel the engagement, will it affect the cooperation between the Hayes family and the Grant family?” Adrian Lawson said, “It will, but the impact is controllable.” “The Grant family will be affected far more.” Vivian Hayes looked at me. “No need to feel sorry for the Grant family.” I closed the materials. “Then cancel it.” “We don’t need to scold anyone publicly, just say our values don’t align.” Adrian Lawson nodded. Vivian Hayes asked, “You’re letting them off that easily?” I shook my head. “I’m not letting them off.” “It’s easy to curse them out over someone replacing the main engagement visual.” “I want them to return every bit of favoritism, disrespect, and lying one by one.” My tone was very calm, but I was no longer the unfamiliar girl who had just arrived in New York and stood in that banquet hall. After returning to my room, I opened my suitcase and took out each piece of jewelry I had originally prepared for the engagement. Some were from my mother, and some I had brought back from overseas myself. I had originally thought that since I was formally entering New York society, I should be as considerate as possible and not let anyone think I was slighting the Grant family. Now it seemed that the more thoroughly I prepared, the more absurd the Grant family looked. I put the jewelry away again, leaving only the ring sent by the Grant family. I placed the ring box at the very edge of the desk, like a package delivered to the wrong address and waiting to be returned. When Vivian Hayes came in, she happened to see this scene. She did not advise me to be magnanimous, nor did she say the cooperation with the Grant family was still worthwhile. She only asked, “Claire, after tonight, do you regret coming back?” I thought for a moment. “I don’t regret it.” “It’s better to see clearly early than to fall in too late.” Before Adrian Lawson left, he listed the ways the Grant family might try to fix the situation. “They will most likely suppress public opinion first, then ask the elders to plead on their behalf.” “If Ethan Grant comes in person, it is best not to meet him privately.” Looking at the list, I could not help saying, “You even guessed how they would try to fix it?” “It isn’t a guess,” Adrian Lawson said. “People who make mistakes but still want to preserve decorum usually follow the same playbook.” Vivian Hayes heard this and looked at him lightly. “You seem to understand it well.” Adrian Lawson’s expression did not change. “I’ve seen too many people like that.” I lowered my head and drank tea, nearly laughing. After being tense all night, I finally felt a little lighter. I did not sleep well that night. I was not sad over Ethan Grant, but scared that I had almost handed my life over to a pretty file. Files could lie, family backgrounds could lie, and the “suitable” person described by elders could also lie. At the critical moment, who a person protected first and who he blamed first was far clearer than anything on a résumé. Ethan Grant protected Lily Carter. I pushed the ring box to the corner of my desk and would have Adrian Lawson return it to the Grant family tomorrow morning.
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