I smiled anyway.
“Let’s go ruin a wedding.”
Mason reached us halfway across the ballroom.
“Claire.”
“Mason.”
His eyes darted toward Julian.
“You came.”
“You invited me.”
“Yes, but…”
His gaze moved between us.
“I thought you were coming alone.”
I smiled pleasantly.
“I changed my mind.”
Julian placed his hand around my waist.
Mason noticed.
Good.
Then Mason looked directly at Julian.
“I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
That caught my attention.
So Mason knew Julian.
Interesting.
I tilted my head.
“Apparently everyone knows everyone tonight.”
Before Mason could answer, Vanessa appeared behind him.
She wasn’t smiling.
Her eyes were locked on Julian.
“What are you doing here?”
Julian remained perfectly calm.
“Attending a wedding.”
“With her?”
Vanessa pointed at me like I was a piece of evidence.
I almost laughed.
“Yes,” I said. “With me.”
Vanessa looked at Mason.
“Why is Claire here?”
Mason rubbed his jaw.
“I invited her.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You what?”
“I thought it would be mature.”
“You told me we weren’t inviting exes.”
“It’s different.”
“How?”
Mason glanced around.
Guests were starting to notice.
His voice dropped.
“Can we not do this here?”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“You invited your ex-wife to our wedding without telling me.”
“I just wanted her to see that everything worked out.”
Silence.
Even Julian looked impressed.
Vanessa blinked.
“You wanted her to see us?”
Mason realized too late what he’d admitted.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Vanessa—”
“No. You wanted her here so she could watch you marry me.”
Several nearby conversations had stopped.
Mason noticed.
His face tightened.
“Please lower your voice.”
That was classic Mason.
Not I’m sorry.
Not you’re right.
Just:
Don’t embarrass me.
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Our wedding wasn’t enough for you?”
“Of course it was.”
“Then why did your ex-wife need to witness it?”
Mason looked at me like this was somehow my fault.
And suddenly I felt seventeen times lighter.
Because I knew that look.
I had spent years thinking I caused it.
Now I was watching him give it to someone else.
That was when Vanessa turned toward Julian.
“And why are you here with her?”
I smiled.
“My boyfriend?”
Julian glanced at me.
Something amused flickered in his eyes.
Then he drew me closer.
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“You’re dating?”
“That’s usually what boyfriend means,” I said.
She stared at me.
Then Julian.
Then Mason.
“This is insane.”
I couldn’t resist.
“Interesting choice of words considering how we all got here.”
Mason snapped, “Claire, don’t.”
I looked at him.
“Don’t what?”
“This isn’t the place.”
I laughed softly.
“Mason, you literally mailed me directions to the place.”
A woman near us covered a smile with her champagne glass.
Mason’s ears turned red.
Vanessa looked furious.
“This is what you wanted?” she asked him. “You invited her here for some kind of ego trip, and now my ex-fiancé is standing at our reception pretending to be her boyfriend?”
“I’m not pretending,” Julian said.
I nearly looked at him.
Nearly.
Instead, I stayed perfectly still.
Mason’s expression sharpened.
“You knew who she was?”
Julian looked directly at him.
“No.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa suddenly laughed.
Not happily.
“Of course.”
She shook her head.
“Of course this would happen.”
Mason reached for her.
“Vanessa—”
She stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
The room had become painfully quiet.
I watched them for another moment.
And then something unexpected happened.
I lost interest.
Not because the drama wasn’t spectacular.
It was.
But because I suddenly understood how small Mason looked.
This man had once seemed powerful enough to determine my worth.
Now he was standing in the middle of his own wedding reception trying to explain why humiliating his ex-wife had been important to him.
I didn’t need revenge anymore.
He had done a better job than I ever could.
I turned to Julian.
“Let’s leave.”
He looked surprised.
“You sure?”
“Completely.”
Mason called my name as we walked away.
I didn’t turn around.
For seven years, Mason had always gotten the final word.
That night, he didn’t.
We barely reached the parking lot before I stopped.
“All right.”
Julian turned around.
