He Threw His Glass At The True Bride

The groom Sebastian lifted my veil in front of everyone at the wedding.

After seeing my face clearly, he threw his wine glass on the spot, saying I wasn't the person he was supposed to marry.

He was furious:

Who are you! I'm supposed to marry Swift, what the hell are you! Someone, drag this impostor out of here!

The guests whispered among themselves.

I looked at Sebastian:

"Are you sure you want to marry Swift?"

He sneered: "I'm only forming an alliance with the Taylor family!"

He didn't know his marriage contract specified the eldest daughter of the Taylor family.

And Swift, the one he couldn't stop thinking about, was my younger sister.

"What does any of this prove?"

Sebastian looked at me.

I picked up the marriage certificate from the table, flipped to the second page, and held the words facing his direction.

"Eldest daughter of the Taylor familythat was drafted by your Dulles family. See for yourself."

He glanced down, his throat bobbing, but said nothing.

The best man beside him leaned over to look and muttered quietly: "Sebastian, it really does say eldest daughter of the Taylor family."

"Shut up."

Sebastian slammed the marriage certificate on the table.

"The eldest daughter of the Taylor family is Swift. You're impersonating someone and trying to use technicalities to save face?"

I pulled out a document.

"Eldest daughter of Rivers Taylor, Russell, born March 1998. Second daughter of Rivers Taylor, Swift, born November 2000."

I handed the document to him.

"I'm the eldest daughter. Swift is the second daughter."

The banquet hall fell silent for three seconds.

Sebastian's mother Rudy walked onto the stage with her handbag, took the document, glanced at it, then looked at me.

"Young lady, your name is Russell?"

"Yes."

"I don't care who you are. This marriage was personally arranged between me and Mrs. Taylor. Sebastian is marrying Swift."

"You discussed this with my stepmother?"

"Yes."

"Did you confirm it with my father?"

Rudy's smile faded slightly: "Your father gave your stepmother full authority."

"But the marriage certificate bears my father's personal seal."

I pointed at the page.

"One is a verbal promise, the other is a sealed document. Rudy, after all your years in business, you should know which one counts, right?"

Rudy's expression changed.

Sebastian glanced at his mother and pulled out his phone.

"I'll call Rivers and ask him directly."

The call connected and he put it on speaker.

"Rivers, this is Sebastian. The marriage certificate says eldest daughter of the Taylor familythat refers to Swift, right?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. I gripped the notarized document tightly.

"Sebastian." My father's voice sounded tired. "This marriage, I arranged it with you for Swift."

Scattered murmurs rose from the guests. Sebastian's lips curved into a smile.

My father continued: "Russell grew up away from home, she's not close to the family.

I don't know how she ended up at the wedding. Sebastian, don't hold it against her. I'll have her stepmother pick her up."

"You hear that?" Sebastian put away his phone and looked down at me. "Your own father doesn't support what you're saying. Are you still going to stand here embarrassing yourself?"

Someone in the audience laughed.

I didn't look at those people. I stared into Sebastian's eyes.

"I heard my dad say this marriage was arranged for Swift. But he didn't explain one thing."

"What thing?"

"Why does the marriage certificate say eldest daughter of the Taylor family instead of Swift?"

He paused. "It was written wrong."

"A document with a personal seal was written wrong?" I let out a laugh.

"Sebastian, you're in real estate. Would you dare sign a contract if the name on it was wrong?"

He didn't answer.

The air was tense for a few seconds, then the side door of the banquet hall opened.

A woman walked in, her eyes already red from a distance.

My stepmother, Harrison.

She hurried onto the stage and grabbed my hand: "Russell, how did you end up here? I've been looking everywhere for you."

I pulled my hand back.

Her eyes flickered, then she immediately turned to the Dulles mother and son, bowing repeatedly: "Rudy, Sebastian, I'm so sorry.

This girl didn't grow up with us, she's distant from the family. What happened today is my fault for not keeping better watch over her."

Rudy's expression softened slightly. Harrison turned back to me:

"Russell, let's go. I'll take you home. This isn't your place."

I looked at the emerald green jade bracelet on her wrist. That was my mother's dowry.

"Harrison." I called her name. Her eyebrow twitched.

"The marriage certificate says eldest daughter of the Taylor familywas that my father's decision, or did you make it for him?"

"That's your father's business, how would I control that?"

"You can't control it, but you told Rudy the bride would be Swift. Do you dare say that again in front of the marriage certificate?"

She opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Rudy stepped forward: "Alright, as long as Mrs. Taylor is here. Take her away. Our family won't pursue this matter today."

"Won't pursue?" I put away the notarized document and spoke unhurriedly.

"Rudy, have you looked at clause seven of the marriage certificate?"

All eyes fell on me.

I enunciated each word:

"The party in breach must compensate the other family thirty percent of their assets."

Dead silence filled the hall. Sebastian whipped his head around to look at the marriage certificate.

"This clausedid you not notice it, or did you never intend to honor it?"

"You're talking to me about breach penalties?" Sebastian stared at me.

I glanced at him but didn't respond.

Because I didn't need to.

Of the guests present, at least twenty were businesspeople. They were already whispering among themselves.

They knew better than I did how big the Dulles family's real estate empire was.

Thirty percent, calculated by market value, was enough to build half a new city.

Rudy snatched the marriage certificate and flipped to clause seven. Her face turned white inch by inch.

"Did you add this clause?" Her voice went shrill.

"I'm just someone marrying in. How would I have the authority to modify the marriage certificate?"

I tilted my head slightly.

"This was written when both families signed the agreement. Both seals are on it. If Rudy wants to investigate, ask who in your family reviewed it."

Rudy turned to look at a middle-aged man beside her.

The man flipped through documents and said quietly: "This was signed between Maximiliano when he was alive and the Taylor family. I wasn't present at the time."

MaximilianoSebastian's grandfather, the late head of the Dulles family.

Sebastian's fist clenched and unclenched.

"Take her to the back." He didn't look at me, his voice very low.

"We'll discuss this after the wedding ends."

Two security guards in black suits approached. I didn't resist.

I knew that forcing the issue on Dulles family territory would be meaningless.

I'd already shown the cards I needed to. The rest was a matter of time.

I was taken to a lounge behind the banquet hall. The door locked from the outside.

On the table sat an unopened bottle of water and an untouched plate of pastries.

I unwrapped a candy and put it in my mouth. Too sweet, sweet to the point of bitterness.

My phone vibrated. A FaceTime invitation on WhatsApp from Swift.

I hesitated for two seconds, then answered.

On the screen, Swift sat in her bedroom, hair falling over her shoulders, smiling at the camera.

"Russell, thanks for your hard work."

"How does it feel being locked up? Does that room have air conditioning? Sebastian hates the cold, the Dulles family always keeps the heat on high."

"You called just to ask if I'm cold?"

"Of course not." She tilted her head. "I wanted to tell you personally that everything today was arranged by me from beginning to end."

I said nothing.

She continued: "Dad originally wanted to write Swift on the marriage certificate.

But you know, Maximiliano insisted on specifying the eldest daughter before he died. Dad had no choice, so he wrote eldest daughter of the Taylor family."

"But he told Mom that I would still be the one getting married."

"Now guess whose idea it was to have you play the bride first, knowing you'd naturally be rejected by the Dulles family at the wedding?"

My throat tightened.

She smiled and leaned closer to the camera: "Mine."

"Swift."

"Don't be angry, Russell." She waved her hand dismissively.

"You know Sebastian only has eyes for me. Even if you cling there with the marriage certificate, he'll never touch you.

Eventually you'll live alone in that huge Dulles mansion with no one to talk to. How is that different from house arrest?"

"Rather than that, why not sign the papers and step aside? You back down, I marry in, everyone's happy."

"When you say step aside, do you mean you step aside or me?"

"You step aside for me, of course." She said it as if it were obvious.

"Russell, you grew up away from home. The Taylor family's resources, connections, businessI've been managing all of it these years.

Marrying into the Dulles family is what I deserve."

She raised her left hand to adjust her hair.

The string of emerald green jade beads on her wrist flashed across the camera.

I recognized it. That was the last thing my mother kept.

Dad said that jade bracelet was left to my mother by my maternal grandmother. Mom said before she passed that it should go to her eldest daughter.

"Swift, that bracelet on your wrist belonged to my mother."

She looked down at her wrist and smiled.

"This? Dad gave it to me. He said there's no eldest daughter in the family, I'm the oldest."

"His exact words were there's no eldest daughter in the family?"

"Yeah," she said, tilting her head. "In his heart, you don't count anymore."

"Happy, Russell? This is my welcome gift to you.

Everything your mother left is with me now. If you don't believe me, come home someday and look around. There's nothing left."

My hands were trembling slightly, but I didn't hang up.

"Swift, the things you told Sebastian about your childhoodwere those your experiences, or mine?"

The smile on the screen froze for a beat.

"What do you mean?"

"I left the Taylor house with my grandmother when I was six and grew up in Los Angeles. You told Sebastian you lived in Los Angeles as a child, didn't you?"

She didn't answer.

"You even showed him childhood photos from Los Angeles. Two little braids, wearing a red dress, standing at the pier."

"The person in that photo was me."

Swift on the video was silent for two seconds. Then she laughed.

"Yes, those photos were yours. So what? Sebastian likes the story behind the photos, not your face."

"And that story is mine now."

"Russell, even standing in front of him with the marriage certificate, do you think he sees you, or the shadow of someone else in his mind?"

"Russell, what exactly will it take for you to sign?"

The door opened from outside. Sebastian walked in.

He'd changed out of his wedding suit and wore a black shirt.

He held a new document in his hand, twice as thick as the one the lawyer brought earlier.

"One million dollars." He tossed the document on the table in front of me.

"Plus a downtown apartment, the deed in your name. You sign, you leave, and after that the business between the Taylor and Dulles families has nothing to do with you."

From five hundred thousand to one million plus an apartment.

That breach penalty clause really did make him panic.

"Before you came, did your mother show you clause seven of the marriage certificate?"

The corner of his mouth twitched: "You think I'm here to negotiate?"

"What else?"

"I'm here to inform you." He bent down, hands on the table, eye level with me.

"Russell, don't overestimate your position."

"You're a Taylor daughter who's been eating cold leftovers for twenty years. No backing, no connections. You've got a marriage certificate you don't even know how you got, and you want to sue the entire Dulles family?"

"Can you afford it?"

I leaned back in my chair.

"You should ask your legal team that question. If the Dulles family really wasn't concerned, why would you be sitting here?"

His gaze turned cold.

"I'm sitting here to give you one last chance to leave with dignity."

He stood up straight and pulled up a photo on his phone, turning the screen toward me.

In the photo, he and Swift stood on a yacht deck. She leaned on his shoulder smiling, his arm around her waist.

"Two years." His voice deepened.

"Swift and I have been together for two years. She's been looked down on in the Taylor family since childhood, carrying the family business alone. She's had it much harder than you."

"She's the one I'm marrying. It can't be anyone else."

I didn't look at the pose in the photo. I looked at what Swift wore around her neck.

An emerald green teardrop-shaped pendant.

My back tensed immediately. That was my mother's relic.

The only piece of jewelry she had with photographic evidence.

I'd turned the house upside down looking for it, thinking it had been sold or lost long ago.

It had been hanging around Swift's neck all along.

"That necklace she's wearingdo you know where it came from?"

Sebastian frowned: "It's hers. Why?"

"It was my mother's."

"Your mother's?" His expression looked like he'd heard a joke. "Swift said it was passed down from her grandmother."

"Her grandmother? Harrison's family ran a clothing wholesale business. Since when did they have heirloom jade?"

He was silent for a second. "Russell, are you done?"

He put his phone back in his pocket, his patience completely gone.

"First you say there's a problem with the marriage certificate, then with the family register, and now even a necklace has to be traced back to your mother. Just how much are you going to claim as yours?"

I was about to speak when the door opened again. Swift pushed in.

The moment she saw Sebastian, her eyes turned red.

"Sebastian, don't be angry about this anymore. Russell probably just wanted to marry you so badly, she panicked."

She turned to look at me: "Russell, I don't blame you. You grew up alone away from home with no one to care for you. Anyone would feel resentful."

Sebastian's gaze softened noticeably.

He reached out and held Swift's hand: "Don't upset yourself."

Swift shook her head and walked over to crouch in front of me.

Her voice was only audible to the two of us.

"Russell, just sign. You can't win."

"What do you think?"

She smiled and stood up, returning to Sebastian's side.

"Sebastian, why don't you step out. Let me talk to Russell."

Sebastian glanced at me and said "ten minutes" before turning and leaving.

The door closed. Not a trace of vulnerability remained on Swift's face.

She walked to the window, opened her bag, and touched up her lipstick.

"Russell, I suggest you don't make this too ugly. Dad will be here soon."

"What's he coming for?"

"To clean up my mess. His eldest daughter made a scene at the Dulles family weddinghe has to come give an explanation."

"When did I make a scene?"

"Not signing is making a scene." She smiled. "In Dad's eyes, everything you've done since childhood has been making a scene."

She put away her bag and turned to leave.

When she reached the door, her phone slipped from her bag and fell on the carpet by the door. She didn't notice.

The door was pulled shut by security from outside.

The phone's screen was lit. A message popped up.

I looked down at it.

The sender's display name was a heart symbol followed by: Jackson.

The message was just one sentence: "Honey, don't worry about the baby, I'll handle it."

"Dad." I stood in the lounge looking at the man who'd pushed the door open.

Rivers Taylor wore a dark gray suit. Harrison followed behind him.

The two walked in side by side, like partners who'd worked together for years.

I remembered when I was little, the day he sent me to my grandmother's. He crouched down, touched my head, and said Dad will come get you soon.

I was six that year. I waited fifteen years.

Until a month ago when he suddenly called telling me to come back, saying he'd arranged a marriage for me.

"Do you know what you did today?" He stopped three steps away from me.

"I married into the match you arranged for me. The marriage certificate says eldest daughter of the Taylor familythat's me."

"Ridiculous!" He slammed his hand on the cabinet beside him.

"I already told you clearly on the phone! This marriage was arranged for Swift! What are you doing here!"

"Then why did you write eldest daughter of the Taylor family on the marriage certificate? Why not write Swift's name directly?"

He froze.

Harrison spoke at an opportune moment: "At the time, Maximiliano insisted on following ancient protocol. Your father couldn't argue, so he wrote it his way. But both families understood the bride would be Swift."

Such smooth words, pushing all problems onto an old man who was no longer alive.

"Was the breach penalty in clause seven also Maximiliano's idea?"

Harrison didn't respond.

Rivers Taylor frowned at me: "Don't think you can strong-arm the Dulles family with a piece of paper.

With Sebastian's temper, if you push him an inch, he'll make you lose ten times over."

"That's my business."

"Your business?"

His voice rose. "Since childhood, when have you ever been able to handle your own business?

Your education was paid for by the Taylor family. Your food, clothing, everythingall Taylor family. What gives you the right to fight with the Dulles family?"

"You sent me away. You called me back."

"You told me to marry. I married. Now you say it shouldn't be me."

"Rivers Taylor, what exactly do you want me to do?"

I called him by his full name. His face flushed red.

"What did you call me?"

"I called you by your name. Since you don't acknowledge me as your daughter, don't blame me for not acknowledging you as my father."

The room fell silent.

Harrison stepped forward and grabbed Rivers Taylor's arm:

"She has the same temperament as her mother. The more you reason with her, the more stubborn she gets. Better let Swift persuade her."

Same temperament as her motherthat cut deeper than anything else.

Because my mother couldn't stay in this family because of that temperament.

"Russell." Rivers Taylor took a deep breath.

"I'm telling you one last time. Sign the papers, go back to Los Angeles. I'll give you money. You can do whatever you want after that."

"If you don't sign, you're no longer part of the Taylor family."

"Why should I sign? The marriage certificate is valid, the family register has my name. Once we walk out that door and go to court, the law is on my side."

He looked at me.

That looknot at a daughter, but at someone in his way.

He turned and said something to Harrison.

Harrison nodded and walked to the door to say a few words to someone outside.

Then the door opened.

More than a dozen guests poured in, all relatives and friends of the Taylor and Dulles families.

They stood on both sides, looking me over.

"Rivers Taylor." Rudy also walked in. "Are you going to control this Russell girl of yours or not?"

"Tell everyone clearly whose marriage this is supposed to be."

Rivers Taylor turned around, facing everyone, then looked at me.

"I, Rivers Taylor, am putting this on record today." He began speaking.

"This marriage was arranged between me and the late Maximiliano for Swift.

Russell is my eldest daughter, that's true, but she didn't grow up with us. She no longer has any connection to the Taylor family."

"Her actions today are her own doing. The Taylor family bears no responsibility."

The guests nodded. The reasoning all seemed to be on his side.

"Fine, Rivers Taylor. You say I have no connection to the Taylor family."

I held up the notarized document.

"Your signature and fingerprint on this document aren't even dry yet. Tell me, will a judge believe your words or your seal?"

His gaze tightened sharply. Then, the next second, he walked toward me.

I thought he was going to grab the document.

I didn't dodge. His hand didn't reach for the document.

That slap landed squarely on my face.

The force was enough to turn my whole body half a step. My ankle twisted in the high heel.

No one in the room made a sound.

Harrison covered her mouth, making a shocked expression.

Rivers Taylor's hand was shaking.

"If you keep causing trouble, a slap won't be all you get."

I slowly steadied myself, wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.

Swift had somehow appeared at the doorway too.

She rushed forward and grabbed Rivers Taylor's arm: "Dad, stop hitting Russell. She's just immature. Please calm down."

I kept my head down, my eyes on the notarized document I'd crumpled in my hand on the floor.

Swift walked to my side and bent down.

Her voice was only audible to me:

"Russell, still not signing?"

I didn't look at her. I was looking at the last screenshot in my phone's photo album.

The one I'd taken of the message on her phone screen ten minutes ago.

Jackson: Honey, don't worry about the baby, I'll handle it.

I slowly straightened up.

Raised my head to look at the room full of Taylor family members, Dulles family members, all kinds of onlookers.

"I won't sign. And I have something I want to ask Swift in front of everyone."

Swift's smile froze.

"Swift, who is Jackson?"

"Russell, what are you talking about?"

Swift's voice was half an octave higher than usual.

I ignored her.

I opened my phone, enlarged the screenshot, and held the screen facing the room.

"Jackson, with a heart symbol before his name in the contact. Message sent fifteen minutes ago: 'Honey, don't worry about the baby, I'll handle it.'"

I looked at Sebastian.

"This message is from Swift's phone."

The room fell deathly silent.

Sebastian's gaze moved from my phone screen to Swift's face.

"Swift?"

"Sebastian!" Swift's eyes immediately turned red. She grabbed his sleeve. "She photoshopped it! It's fake! She's just trying to break us up!"

"Photoshopped?" I placed my phone on the table. "Your phone is in this room. You can open it yourself and let everyone see your chat history."

Swift's face went pale. Her eyes quickly scanned the floor and table corners.

I filled in for her: "Your phone is behind the cabinet by the door. It slipped out of your bag when you left."

Sebastian walked over, bent down, and picked up the phone with the pink case from behind the cabinet.

"Sebastian, that's my phone, you can't look at it!"

He ignored her.

The fingerprint unlock didn't work. He looked up: "Password."

Swift bit her lower lip.

"What's the password?"

"Sebastian, you have to trust me." Her voice began to shake. "This is all a trap she set! She just wants to make you doubt me!"

"Tell me the password."

"I won't."

Rivers Taylor's expression also changed. He frowned at Swift: "Swift, let him look. If you're innocent, what does it matter if he sees?"

Harrison quickly tugged at her husband's arm, giving him a look.

Rivers Taylor's frown deepened.

"Swift." His tone grew heavier. "Give Sebastian the password."

"Dad!"

"Tell him."

Swift's lips trembled.

"You're all forcing me. You're all forcing me." She suddenly crouched on the floor, covering her face with both hands and crying.

"What did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this?"

This trick worked well.

Every time she was backed into a corner, she cried.

It was the same at home before. As soon as she cried, Rivers Taylor would soften.

I looked at Rivers Taylor.

Sure enough, his resolve was already wavering.

"Forget it, it's just one message. It's probably a misunderstanding." He said vaguely.

"Rivers Taylor." I spoke up.

"You slapped me because you said I was causing trouble.

Now your daughter is asked one question and won't even let anyone see her phone. Who do you think is causing trouble?"

His mouth opened but no words came out.

Sebastian stood there, gripping the pink phone. He looked at Swift for a long moment, then turned to the security guard behind him without a word.

"Call Arnold from tech."

Swift's crying stopped abruptly.

"Sebastian!"

"If you won't give me the password, I'll have someone unlock it." His voice had no inflection, yet it was colder than any shout.

"If you're really innocent, what are you afraid of?"

Ten minutes later, a young man wearing black-framed glasses sat at the table with a laptop, connecting Swift's phone with a data cable.

During the unlocking process, Swift tried three times to rush over and grab the phone. Each time she was stopped.

The screen lit up.

Arnold opened WhatsApp and searched for contacts with heart symbols in their names.

The chat history appeared.

I didn't look at the content.

Because Sebastian's expression already told me everything I needed to know.

He scrolled up message by message, very slowly.

No one in the room spoke.

When he reached a certain message, his thumb stopped.

He was silent for ten seconds, then locked the screen.

"Everyone out." His voice sounded like it was coming from far away.

"Sebastian?" Rudy called out tentatively.

"I said, everyone out."

Rudy glanced at him and led the crowd out.

As Harrison pulled Rivers Taylor toward the door, Rivers Taylor looked back at Swift.

Swift stood in the corner, her lips blue.

The door closed. Only three people remained in the room.

Me, Sebastian, Swift.

He kept his back to us.

His shoulders were as steady as a wall, but the phone case in his right hand had one corner broken off.

"Three months." He finally spoke.

"The chat history starts from three months ago. That was when you were telling me you were working overtime."

Swift's voice was as thin as a mosquito's: "Sebastian, I can explain."

"Jackson. Mario's son from Mario Group." He slowly turned around. "My bidding competitor. What's your relationship with him?"

Tears fell from Swift's eyes.

"He, he's just a friend of mine."

"A friend? What did he mean about the baby?"

"I don't know. He wasn't talking about me. You misunderstood."

"Swift." He walked up to her and held the phone screen in front of her eyes. "Message forty-seven. Read it yourself."

Swift's body froze.

I didn't know what that message said, but Swift's expression said it all.Sebastian slammed the phone on the table.

He looked at me, his gaze tangled like a hundred knots.

"The breach penalty clause in the marriage certificatewhat exactly do you want?"