Chapter 1
My fiancé, Sidney Wood, wanted to have a child to continue his best friend Kurt Silva's family line.
A month before our wedding, he insisted on having a baby with Kurt's wife, Kaylee.
I asked him, my voice shaking with emotion, "Why does it have to be this way? Couldn't she adopt a child instead?"
But Sidney said nonchalantly, "Kurt was my best friend. He passed away suddenly, and Kaylee has already tried to kill herself several times.
"Can you stop being so dramatic? I'm the only person Kaylee knows here. If she doesn't turn to me, who else?"
Later, I lost all hope entirely when I saw Kaylee was pregnant with Sidney's baby.
So I decided to change my groom.
*****
With just a month left before the wedding, Elena decided it was time to change her groom.
So, she posted on her feed: [Looking for a wedding buddy. Does anyone know a reliable single guy? Hit me up.]
Soon, the comments section was swarmed by the peanut gallery, everyone eager to gossip and throw in their two cents.
Some people asked if she had had a fight with her fiancé, since the wedding was just a month away.
Others tried to talk her down, saying after all this time together, she and Sidney should learn to put up with each other.
And then there were Sidney's friends, grilling Elena about why she was doing this.
Seeing all this, Elena smirked.
If Sidney hadn't betrayed her in a way she could never forgive, there was no way she would've given up on over ten years of love.
As she thought, a wave of overwhelming bitterness settled in her chest.
Elena sniffled, just about to put her phone away, when a new message suddenly popped up on the screen.
She looked closer and saw it was from "The Tyrant Boss."
That was her boss, Myron Garcia.
The Tyrant Boss: [So, you need someone to marry?
[How about me?]
Elena froze, but before she could react, another message popped up.
The Tyrant Boss: [When do you want to get married?
[I mean it. I'm not joking.]
Thinking about Myron's ridiculously handsome and totally straight-faced look, Elena hesitated, her fingers trembling as she typed: [In a month.]
Unexpectedly, Myron agreed right away, saying they could register their marriage as soon as Elena finished dealing with her stuff.
Probably worried Elena wouldn't believe him, he immediately video called her.
Without thinking, Elena tapped accept.
"Elena, will a month be enough for you?" Myron said.
His handsome face appeared on the screen, and his voice, cool as a mountain breeze, brought Elena back to her senses.
She nodded.
Myron hung up, satisfied.
Elena stared at the dark screen, spaced out for a long moment.
'Did I just go from zero to hero overnight?' she wondered, still in a daze.
But just then, her phone rang, yanking Elena out of her thoughts.
It was Sidney.
She swiped to answer.
What greeted her was a storm of accusations from Sidney.
"Elena, are you out of your mind? What the hell are you posting on your feed?" Sidney snapped.
He continued, "Do you really have to broadcast our business to everyone? I've explained this a million times. Kurt was my best friend.
"He died out of nowhere, and Kaylee's been left all alone. She's tried to kill herself more than once. Maybe if she had a kid, it would help her get through this."
Lately, Elena and Sidney had been fighting nonstop, and it all came down to Sidney's fixation on Kurt's widow, Kaylee.
Sidney insisted on having a kid with her.
As soon as Elena found out, she confronted Sidney, totally confused and pissed.
"If she wants a kid, she could just adopt, marry someone else, or pick a donor in the sperm bank. Why does it have to be you?" Elena asked.
Elena and Sidney had known each other for fifteen years and had been dating for thirteen.
They were supposed to get married in just a month.
But now, the man she loved was making her go through something so gross.
Because of the whole drama, Elena and Sidney had barely spoken for almost a month.
Over that time, Elena came to realize that the man she loved had probably moved on.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be acting like this and completely ignoring her feelings.
"Silent treatment won't help. Since you clearly don't care about what I want, we might as well postpone the wedding," Sidney snapped.
He hung up on her, not giving Elena a chance to respond.
Elena bit her lip.
'Sidney, I'm not going to marry you,' she thought.
But when Elena's gaze fell on the framed photo sitting on the cabinet, her eyes welled up with tears.
They had known each other for fifteen years.
And now, because of Kaylee, they were about to end things for good.