Chapter 4

Victoria, standing next to Ryan, had her face instantly darken. "That's enough, Ryan. Look what you've done. Why did you bring her here?"

As she said this, she shoved the kid aside, as if she wanted to prove to me she was taking my side.

Watching all this unfold, my chest felt so tight I could barely breathe. But I forced a smile, keeping it classy. "Victoria, it's fine. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with someone who doesn't know how to act civilized.

"After all, when a dog bites you, you don't bite it back, do you?" I couldn't resist firing back with a little comeback.

But Ryan's face instantly hardened, catching me off guard. "That's enough, Melora. Stop trying to stir up drama between Gracie and my mom. Can you stop making a scene? It's literally our wedding day, and you're already acting like a drama queen."

Hearing Ryan say that, I felt my eyes sting with tears.

Right, how could I forget? We only got our marriage license at 9 AM yesterday.

Before that, I was over the moon. I tried on one dress after another. I hit up the salon for a fresh new hairstyle. I went through every pair of earrings I owned, trying to find the perfect match for my look.

But the moment we got that marriage license, everything changed.

My heart ached so much that it burned in my chest, but I still managed to look at Ryan, keeping my cool. "If you think I'm stirring up trouble, then so be it.

"The lucky hour is slipping away. Are you planning to walk down the aisle with me, or do you want to bring your girlfriend and your son along as well?"

Ryan shot me a furious look, jaw clenched, then stormed over and snatched my hand. "Don't worry, I'll give you the dignity you want." With that, he dragged me roughly toward the hall.

Back then, I loved it when Ryan held my hand. No matter where we went, I always wanted him to hold my hand.

When things were perfect between us, I'd lie on his lap, playing with his fingers and grinning up at him. "Ryan, will you always hold my hand, no matter where we go? Promise you'll never let me go, okay?"

Then, Ryan's lips curved into a gentle smile. He pinched my nose and said softly, "Alright, my little darling, I'll hold your hand for the rest of my life."

But what I never saw coming was that his so-called promise to hold my hand for life would turn out like this.

His left hand held mine, while his right hand wrapped around his mistress and her son.

Ryan and I walked into the venue, arm in arm.

As soon as we entered, the groom's relatives let out startled cries. Meanwhile, my side of the family all had ashen, grim faces.

The host seemed to have caught wind of something, too. When he called Ryan and me up to the stage, his voice was trembling.

But Ryan didn't notice anything strange at all. As we stepped onto the stage, he murmured to me, "You did great this time, with no drama or fuss. So, as a reward, I won't be spending our wedding night at Gracie's place tonight.

"Oh, and Gracie sent you a wedding gift. It's a black lace nightgown. Before we got married, you were so stiff. I really didn't want to share a bed with you.

"So now that we're married, you'd better take some tips from Gracie on how to keep me happy." After he finished, Ryan patted the back of my hand with a cocky grin.

That nauseating, greasy feeling crept back into my mind. For a moment, I nearly couldn't hold back and wanted to slap him right then and there.

But luckily, my bestie tugged at my wedding dress in time, snapping me back to reality.

After that, I forced myself to walk onto the stage with Ryan, my chin held stiff in disgust.

Normally, the plan was to talk about how Ryan and I got together, then raise a toast to our parents, and only after all that would we finally get to the ring exchange.

But since I'd already told my bridesmaids to skip those parts, the moment Ryan and I stepped onto the stage, the host barely managed a few words of congratulations before rushing us straight into the ring exchange.

The host's voice shook. "Next, let's invite the groom, Ryan, to place the wedding ring on the bride, Melora."

As soon as the host finished speaking, the groom's relatives burst into cheers. My whole family suddenly stood up together.

But Ryan was totally oblivious to the tension in the room. He grabbed the host's mic, looked deeply into my eyes, and said with heartfelt emotion, "Melora, thank you for agreeing to marry me.

"After seven years together, marrying you is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Melora, I love you." With that, he handed the mic back to the host and got down on one knee.

He took my hand, grabbed the ring from his groomsman, and slid it onto my finger.

I looked down at him, and the moment the ring touched my finger, my fingers instinctively curled.

This ring was worth 20,000 dollars. That was the only reason I managed to go through with walking onto the stage with him.

Stepping back twice, I grabbed the mic right out of the host's hand. Then I shouted in a raspy voice, "The wedding can officially begin now."