Chapter 2

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.”