This slap hurt, but not only physically. Worse was the shame of the circumstances and being watched by a crowd as I was hit.

As Cole pulled his hand back, I felt the blood rise to my head.

“Curse you.”

I was completely enraged. I threw all my manners out the window and lunged at Cole.

If I let this insult stand, I would become the laughingstock of Jansburg.

However, the second I moved, my father rushed to my side. He grabbed my arm tightly.

His grip was so unexpectedly strong that it hurt. It did not seem like he was trying to talk me out of doing something rash. It felt more like he was apprehending me.

“Eli, calm down!” he growled at me lowly. His expression was dark, and veins stood out on his temple.

“Calm down? How in the world am I supposed to calm down?”

I tried to shake him off as I glared at Cole. “He slapped me at my own wedding! Twice! What’s wrong with you? Didn’t you see that?”

“We can’t escalate things more when we haven’t gotten the situation straight.”

Mom came over as well. She stood between Cole and me. Her back was to him as she faced me. Her expression was stern, and there was some panic in her gaze.

“Mr. Martin must have had a reason to do that.”

A reason? The absurdity of it made me even angrier.

What kind of reason could justify a bodyguard slapping her employer’s husband in front of so many people?

“What kind of reason is so important that it can’t be talked about in private? Why did he have to do this today and at my wedding?”

My voice trembled, and I felt the rage nearly burn through my chest.

“Well, maybe you really did something? Mr. Martin isn’t an unreasonable person.”

I stared at Mom in disbelief.

How was this my fault when I had been slapped? What could I have done? All I had done today was attend my own wedding.

“What have I done? Tell me then, what have I done?” I questioned her. My voice grew louder, riling the guests up once again.

Dad tugged me hard and interrupted me. His voice was judicious. “Listen to your mother, Eli.

“Mr. Martin is a professional. He must have spotted something out of the ordinary. Maybe he did that for your safety?”

My safety? I looked at Cole, who looked serious even though he did something so ridiculous. I felt a chill run up my spine.

What had they done? Why were my parents trying so hard to defend Cole? Did they think of me as their son at all?

Right then, Amelie came forward. Tears swam in her eyes as she pulled my free arm. She sobbed and said, “Don’t do this, Eli. Your mom and dad are right. There must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Cole wouldn’t do anything reckless. Don’t be angry.”

Seeing how pitiful Amelie looked, my rage and frustration mixed and became stronger. I felt suffocated.

Why were they all looking at Cole?

I shook Amelie and Dad off. I pointed at myself and then at Cole. “I’ll make Cole pay for this if it’s the last thing I do!”

I fished out my phone, ready to call the police.

Then, Amelie slapped me.

It was not a hard hit, but the insult stung harder than the slap.

I looked at her in disbelief.

She cried as she said to me, “Eli, stop throwing a tantrum!”

Then, Dad became livid. He shouted, “I’ll disown you if you dare to make that phone call.”

Mom came up to me and snatched the phone. Her voice was shrill as she said, “Are you intent on embarrassing the Bennet family before all of Jansburg? What will people think of us if you call the police over such a small thing? What will they think of you?”

I saw the open panic on their faces and felt even more desolate and helpless. I felt as if I had been doused in cold water. I was shivering.

Right then, Cole made a move.

He only took a small step forward. His icy gaze was locked on me, and he was unwavering.

It was as if that intense fight before had nothing to do with him. He raised his hand again and made to slap me for the third time.

I was frozen in place as I watched that hand come closer. My loved ones seemed unaffected. They were simply allowing this to happen.

My heart was caught in the depths of despair. I did not even have the strength to avoid the slap.

As Cole’s third slap was about to land, I watched my parents, who were holding me down with panic and a warning in their eyes.

They did not seem bothered that I was going to get hit.

My heart was cold, and I did not bother to duck. I even thought that Cole should hit me. At least that way I could see what happened next and try to figure it out.

In the split second before the slap landed, someone squeezed between us. It was Amelie.

She flung her arms out wide and shielded me with her back. Her voice was tearful but strangely firm. “Enough, Cole! You can’t keep slapping him!”

Cole’s hand stopped in midair, just a scant inch from the back of Amelie’s head.

I looked at Amelie before me and felt my heart clench. I did not know what I was feeling in the mess of my emotions.

The resentment and suspicion I felt toward her just a while ago faded.

In the end, Amelie was still my wife. When it mattered, she still cared for me.

Dad and Mom seemed to relax, but still they held me in place.

“Move aside, Amy,” Cole said in a low voice. His tone brooked no argument.

“I won’t! Even if Eli did something wrong, you can’t just hit him! This is our wedding!”

Warmth spread in my heart. I was about to say something when Amelie kept speaking.

“Eli, Cole has been with me for so long. He wouldn’t hit people for no reason. He really must have noticed something important. Think about it. Where did that mud on your shoes come from? Did you go somewhere you shouldn’t have?”

What was this about the mud again? The rage I had suppressed came flaring back.

“I did not go into the back garden. How many times do I have to tell you that? There’s no mud on my shoes either!” I yelled.

The feeling of being blamed for something without justification was driving me insane.

“Look at him. He won’t tell the truth even now,” Dad said.

Mom agreed immediately. There was a heartbroken look on her face. “Eli, you have to admit your mistakes. Stop denying it.”

I stared at them and watched how they played along with each other.

Then, there was Amelie, who was standing before me and seemed to be defending me. However, she also kept bringing the topic back to the mud and the back garden.

I suddenly felt a pulse of fear.

They were in on this together! The thought cemented itself in my head and made me feel cold all over.

I was shaking in rage, and my tone shifted as I said, “You don’t believe me, do you? You all think I should be slapped, right?

“Let go of me! I’ll call the police myself. Let the police take a look and see who here has gone mad!”

This time, I struggled even harder, and Dad nearly failed to hold me.

Amelie suddenly moved to face me. Her face was streaked with tears, but her gaze was strangely sharp. Her clear voice cut right through my angry howl.

“You disappoint me, Elijah.” She paused. Her gaze swept over my leather shoes meaningfully. Then, she looked abruptly at Cole.

“Cole, call the police!” she said clearly.

Her words were like an explosion, making my ears ring.

I was frozen in place as my blood seemed to turn to ice.

What was she talking about? She was asking Cole to call the police. Was it so that they would arrest me? Had she not been defending me just a second ago?

Cole shot a meaningful look at Amelie, and it held a kind of intimacy that I did not understand.

Without saying anything, Cole took out his phone and tapped on it. The ringing of the phone was like a hammer to my chest.

“You can’t call the police,” Dad yelled. His face was white.

“Hang up!” Mom was panicked as she tried to snatch the phone from Cole.

However, it was too late. Cole put the phone to his ear. He did not even look at my parents. He kept staring at me as he said calmly into the phone, “Hello, police? I would like to make a report. We’re in the ballroom of Wintervale Hotel.”

He paused, and his gaze landed on my shoes again. He smirked.

“The groom’s shoes are muddy.”

The reasoning he gave for making a police report was absolutely absurd.

The police thought it was a prank at first and even lectured Cole about abusing public resources.

However, what Cole said next made everyone panic.