Chapter 1

Five years together, and my fiancé, William Carter, a CEO, cancelled our marriage registration 52 times.

The first time, a company intern offended a client, and he dropped everything to rush back and bail her out.

The second time, he found out the intern had a fever right before we were supposed to sign. He walked out to take care of her and left me standing there with the clerk in awkward silence.

After that, it didn't matter where we were or what time it was.

Whenever we were together, the intern always found some excuse to pull him away.

Eventually, I hit my limit. I decided to walk away from a relationship I'd only been lying to myself about.

What I didn't expect was that after I left, my fiancé would lose his mind trying to track me down.

*****

On the morning of our fifty-second appointment to register our marriage, I was up at five getting ready.

Makeup, dress, matching rings... I hadn't missed a single detail.

I'd even picked up a bouquet of red roses for the occasion.

We barely made it past the second intersection when his phone rang. The name on the screen. "Lillian Shaw."

The intern who made my blood boil.

William picked up the call, and the car slowed down.

I could hear a muffled female voice through the receiver, tinged with tears.

I couldn't make out the words, but William's brows knitted together instantly.

"Hey, calm down. I'm on my way."

He hung up with that single line and yanked the wheel into the next lane.

"What are you doing? This isn't the way to the registration office."

I watched the GPS route veer off course, and that familiar anger began creeping back in.

Fifty-one previous attempts, every single one derailed by Lillian Shaw. Paperwork errors, difficult clients, always something. And it always ended with William walking out the door.

"Lillian's got an issue with some paperwork. The client's breathing down her neck, so I need to swing by the office and sort it out."

William kept his eyes fixed on the road, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather.

That nonchalance set something on fire inside me.

"Paperwork?" I let out a bitter laugh. "She's been at your company for almost a year. She's about to graduate. She can't ask anyone else? You've got hundreds of employees, and she can't function without you?

"William, do you even know what day it is? We had an appointment to get our marriage license. Does that ring any bells?"

Over the past five years, I'd worked my way up from a regular employee to department head. I'd saved for an apartment and mapped out our entire future.

But every time I brought up getting our license, William had an excuse ready. Eventually, he'd become Lillian's personal knight in shining armor.

The very first time we tried to register, he'd taken a call and said Lillian had been reduced to tears by a client. I waited outside the registration office for three hours.

All I got was a text saying he'd "handled it." Not a single word about our registration.

And now he was pulling the same stunt again.

"Why do you always have a problem with the intern?" William finally turned to look at me, irritation written all over his face.

"She's fresh out of school. It's normal for her to panic. I'm her boss. What's the big deal? Can you stop being so petty and making a scene over nothing?"

"I'm making a scene?" I could barely believe what I was hearing. "Fifty-two times, William!

"Fifty-two times she's interrupted us! You call that just a boss looking out for his employee? What kind of boss dumps his fiancée on the road to go help an intern with 'paperwork'?"

My voice kept climbing, and my chest heaved with every breath.

I thought back to another attempt when he'd claimed Lillian had a fever and driven straight to the hospital, leaving me alone at the registration office, smiling awkwardly at the staff.

He'd promised it wouldn't happen again. But the next time, it was always the same story.

I took a deep breath and forced my voice steady. "William, listen to me. This is our 52nd attempt at getting that license, and it's the last.

"If you insist on going to the office for Lillian today, then we're done talking about marriage. Forever."

I thought that would snap him out of it, or at least make him consider my feelings for once.

Instead, he slammed on the brakes and pulled over.

He turned to face me, eyes blazing. "Olivia, what the hell? You're threatening me with calling off the wedding?

"Fine. You wanna leave? Get out. Don't hold me up from handling real business."

"Real business?" I stared at William and realized I didn't recognize him anymore.

Five years of us, and it still couldn't compete with an intern's so-called emergency.

In that moment, something inside me went cold. I unbuckled my seatbelt and pushed the door open.

"Alright, William. Have it your way."

Before I stepped out, I grabbed the roses from the passenger seat and hurled them at the dashboard. "Keep the flowers. Give them to Lillian."

The second the door shut, I heard him mutter "psycho" before the car shot forward.

Tires screeched against the pavement, and the car vanished around the corner.

I stood there on the empty road, crushed rose petals still staining my fingers.

The sun was blinding, but inside, I felt like someone had dumped ice water through my veins.

After all this time, I was finally done waiting.

Maybe it was for the best. It was time to stop lying to myself.