Chapter 8
-BLAIR-
I had only stepped away from Olivia for a moment when they found me.
Sophie Preston and Lily Sinclair blocked the hallway leading back toward the malo reception
Sophie’s smile was all teeth and no warmth. Lily looked at me like I had personally ruined her life simply by existing in the same building.
“Well, Sophie said, loud enough to draw the attention of a passing server. “If it isn’t the bride”
The unwanted bride.” Lily corrected her.
I stopped. Running would only give them the satisfaction.
‘At least I’m still a bride.” I told her with a smile.
She glared at me, like I’d just slapped her.
Lily’s arms were crossed tightly over her chest. “I still can’t believe Grayson went through with it. Looking at you now, it makes even less sense. You look awful even though there was an entire professional team working on your body and face for this wedding.”
Sophie let out a soft, mocking laugh and turned slightly toward Lily, as if I weren’t standing right there. “True. She looks idiculous. Oh, you don’t know the best part yet. This isn’t some random Monroe. This is Chase’s ex–girlfriend. His actual ex.”
Lily’s eyes widened, then narrowed with fresh disgust. “You’re joking.”
Something in her eyes told me she already knew this but was acting like she didn’t, just so that she could insult me
I’m not.” Sophie’s gaze slid back to me, full of open contempt. “Blair here spent years trailing after Chase like a lost puppy. Paid his bills. Waited around. Made herself useful. And the second he leveled up and married me, she ran straight into an arranged marriage with his biggest rival. It’s actually impressive how desperate she is.”
kept my expression calm even as heat crawled up the back of my neck. “Is there a reason you two followed me, or did you ust need an audience for this?”
Sophie ignored the question. “There’s no way she’s the real Blair Monroe, by the way. I’ve been saying it since the invitation. William Monroe’s actual daughter would have style. She wouldn’t look like she borrowed a dress and wandered into the wrong wedding. This one-” she flicked a hand in my direction “-is a stand–in. Or a liar. Or both.”
ily studied me with cold assessment. “She does seem…ordinary. Grayson deserves better than someone who has to teal someone else’s name just to matter.”
I didn’t steal anything,” I said in a flat tone. Not that it mattered to me what the two of them thought.
Sophie stepped closer, voice dropping into something nastier. “Please. You were never enough for Chase You were convenient. The girl who said yes to everything and never asked for much in return. The moment he had options, he took hem. And instead of accepting that with a little dignity, you attached yourself to the one man who would hurt him most It‘
pathetic.”
ily’s mouth twisted. “Grayson doesn’t even want her. He told me himself. This whole marriage is a debt payment Nothing nore. She’s a temporary problem he’ll get rid of as soon as he can.”
The words managed to hurt, but I refused to let my true feelings show on my face.
Sophie laughed again. “A temporary problem who couldn’t even keep the first man she had. Imagine being so forgettable
hat your boyfriend marries someone else without warning, and your solution is to force a rival into marrying you It’s almost impressive. In a sad way.”
You two spent a lot of time rehearsing this,” I said. “Should I be flattered?”
Lily’s eyes flashed. “You should be embarrassed. You’re standing in a wedding dress Grayson never wanted to see you in, at a reception he never wanted to host, wearing a ring that means nothing. And you still somehow look like you think you belong here.”
Sophie tilted her head, fake sympathy dripping from every word. “It’s not her fault, Lily. Some girls never learn when they’ve been replaced. They just keep forcing themselves into rooms they were never meant to enter. Chase saw it. Now Grayson will see it too. Eventually she’ll run out of men to cling to ”
I looked between them, the two women who ha Successfully unlocked! enemy worth uniting over. Sophie, who had taken credit for a career she hadn’t built. Lily, who nau aneauy clameu a man standing at an altar with someone else.
“Are you finished?” I asked quietly.
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Sophie smiled “Not even close. I just think it’s important Lily knows exactly what kind of girl her sweetheart got stuck with A climber. A tiar. A girl so desperate for relevance she’ll wear another woman’s last name and pretend it fits.”
Lily nodded once. “Grayson will see through you Men like him always do. You’re not the kind of woman who lasts. You’re the kind who gets used for a purpose and discarded when the purpose is over.”
The hallway felt smaller with both of them in it.”
Their words were designed to cut, to leave marks, to make me feel small in a dress that already didn’t feel like mine.
I met Sophie’s eyes first, then Lily’s.
“You both talk a lot for women whose positions depend on men who aren’t fully theirs,” I said. “If you’re so confident I don’t belong here, stop wasting your night trying to convince me. Enjoy the party. You were both invited, after all.”
Sophie’s smile tightened. Lily looked like she wanted to say something crueler, something final to end this conversation.
Before either of them could, Olivia’s voice echoed down the hallway.
“Blair?”
My sister appeared at the far end, expression already darkening as she took in the scene.
Sophie and Lily stepped back just enough to pretend the conversation had been civil.
I didn’t give them another second.
I walked past them without waiting for permission, the weight of their insults sitting heavy on my shoulders and the bitter knowledge that this marriage had already made me a target for every woman who felt threatened by it.
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.