The Stepsister Who Stole My Wedding Chapter 1

On our sixth anniversary, my workaholic fiancé gave me a childish vinyl figure—the kind teenage girls collect.

Instantly, I knew: he’d fallen for his stepsister.

That night, I laid out his options coldly:

1. I’d walk away quietly, but wouldn’t take blame for their scandal.

2. He’d cut ties with her, and our business marriage would proceed.

He chain-smoked till dawn—a man who never smoked.

Next morning, he shipped her abroad, telling me:

“You’re the only one who can stand beside me, Clara. We’re equals.”

At our wedding, as elites cheered our “union of the century,” Sophie burst in wearing a wedding dress, tears streaming:

“Tedd, I just want to be with you!”

He moved toward her instinctively.

I gripped his tuxedo jacket, hissing: “One more step and we’re done.”

He tore free with a muttered “Sorry”—never looking back.

Left at the altar under a thousand stares, I watched them flee.

My heart’s last embers turned to ash.

Investment agreement: shredded. If he wanted war, I’d show no mercy.

* * *

The whispers from the crowd below rose like a tidal wave.

“Clara Norton has the worst luck. Her own stepsister-in-law just stole her groom.”

“I heard the stepsister is some kind of influencer, wrote a secret online diary about her crush for like, two thousand days. The whole internet is shipping their creepy step-sibling romance, and now they’re calling Clara the homewrecker.”

“You have to admit, the girl’s got guts. Everyone knows this merger was supposed to save both their companies.”

My father’s cane slammed against the marble floor, the sound echoing his rage. He looked like he was about to have a stroke. “The Crofts are grinding our family’s name into the dirt! Clara, come home with me! We are not going through with this!”

I placed a hand on his trembling arm, digging my nails into my own palm to steady my voice. “Dad, wait.”

I turned, facing the sea of mocking and pitying stares. With a decisive tug, I pulled the veil from my hair. “Please inform the guests that the wedding is canceled. The Norton Corporation will cover all expenses.”

Tedd’s stepmother scurried over, a fake smile plastered on her face. “Clara, dear, you have to understand. Sophie has always been so dependent on Tedd. Don’t overthink this…”

She’d been silent when Sophie made her grand entrance, but now that I was calling it off, she was full of excuses.

“Dependent?” I sneered. “So dependent she had to crash my wedding in a wedding dress? Mrs. Croft, your stepdaughter’s little online diary is more dramatic than a soap opera. I’m afraid I’m not cut out to be her future sister-in-law.”

Tedd’s father rushed to smooth things over. “Clara, in my heart, you’ve always been the perfect daughter-in-law! I’ll make this right. I’ll give you 20% of Croft Industries as compensation, and we’ll throw you an even grander wedding another day. Let’s just let this go! Any more drama will be bad for both our families!”

He wanted me to swallow this humiliation.

Drama? I was the one making a scene? They stood by while I was publicly shamed, but the moment I cancel the wedding, they all point their fingers at me.

I laughed, a cold, sharp sound, and brushed their hands away. “I’m not interested in your scraps. You seem to forget that I was the one who pulled Tedd back from the brink. Since you clearly don’t value that, we have nothing more to discuss.”

Tedd’s parents wouldn’t give up, but my father stepped in front of them. “My daughter poured her own money, two billion dollars, into Tedd Croft to save your family! She lost it all and never said a word!” he thundered. “Clients, venues, resources—do you have any idea how many times she had to beg and grovel to secure them for him? She asked for nothing in return, only the hope of a peaceful life. And this is how you repay her?”

“What happened today was a slap in the face to my family! From this moment on, the Norton Corporation is cutting all ties with the Crofts!”

My father’s declaration hung in the air. He took my arm and led me down from the altar.

When I finally looked at my phone, Sophie’s latest social media post was already trending:

【Day 2000. I finally have my light. @TeddCroft】

The picture was of them, locked in a passionate kiss. She was wearing her wedding dress and the ring that was supposed to be mine.

The comment section was a firestorm.

「Sophie is so brave! Two thousand days of secret love finally blossoming!」

「Tedd is a true romantic! Giving up a business merger for true love. This is a real-life fairy tale!」

「I knew it! The way they look at each other… I wish I had a brother who loved me like that!」

And then there were the comments about me. “Wicked witch,” “gold digger,” “old hag.” The words crawled across my screen like maggots.

I scrolled, a bitter smile on my face.

Sophie was a full seven years younger than Tedd. She and her mother had joined the Croft family when she was twelve. At first, I thought she was just a sweet kid and went out of my way to be kind to her. But she had a habit of interrupting my dates with Tedd. Once, I even found thumbtacks hidden in my slippers.

When I told Tedd, he berated Sophie, and their relationship became frosty. Or so I thought.

Then I discovered her Instagram account, where she meticulously documented her “secret love” for her stepbrother, day after day. Last year, she posted about “my brother getting drunk and sleeping in my room by mistake,” accompanied by a photo of one of Tedd’s shirts. The post went viral, and I was bombarded with messages from strangers asking when the “old hag” was going to die.

Three months ago, she posted a picture of herself in a drenched white dress, with the caption, “Waiting for my brother to bring me an umbrella outside his office in the storm.” That was the day Tedd had used a “work emergency” as an excuse to ditch me at a contract signing and rush to pick her up.

Her followers ate it up. “He’s totally into you! Make a move!” “No brother looks at his sister like that. Just get married already!”

That’s when I realized her innocent act was just that—an act. But I wasn’t worried. Tedd was always a pragmatist, putting his family’s business interests above all else. A scandal like this would be bad for both of us. I trusted him to be sensible.

Until today. Until she stood in my place, in a wedding dress, turning me into the villain who stood in the way of true love for the whole world to see.

It turned out Tedd’s feelings for his stepsister were far from simple.