Chapter 1
My boyfriend was dead set on me wearing some tacky, cheap-looking pin at our wedding to "show respect" to his mother.
I was just about to tell him where he could stick that pin when a bunch of glowing comments popped up in front of me.
[Dang, Jeffrey is playing dirty. He knows nothing makes Vanessa angrier than this kind of pathetic brown-nosing. This whole cheap pin thing is totally a move to turn her against Gloria.]
[Plot twist: he's adopted, and his so-called parents never gave him the time of day. They've been spending years hunting for their daughter. And get this: their daughter is Vanessa, Jeffrey's girlfriend.]
[If Vanessa's accepted back into the family, Jeffrey's plan to steal the fortune with Betty is toast. He's already slumming it with Vanessa, and Betty is engaged. How long can these fake siblings drag out this toxic mess?]
I almost laughed out loud. Jeffrey and Betty were nothing but two shady cheaters pulling a fast one.
*****
As soon as Jeffrey's words dropped, the whole hall went dead silent.
He totally saw that coming. He was smug silently, and then tried to act all seriously. "She's been taking care of me for over twenty years. Is it really too much to ask you to wear her favorite pin just this once?"
Jeffrey was totally trying to get under my skin.
Before I could say a word, my parents jumped in, "Then you should do something to show your respect to us."
Jeffrey's disgust was written all over his face as he snapped, "Why should I?"
"Stop humiliating my daughter just to suck up to your mom. This is your fake little act. Don't drag my daughter into it. Back off, now," my mom shot back, not holding back.
Jeffrey glanced at me. "Is that what you think, too?"
My mom knew I'd had a thing for Jeffrey for years, and she was sure I'd say yes without having my head screwed on straight.
She grabbed my hand and hissed, "Don't you dare. I swear to god. I am not spending the next thirty years getting roasted by the whole family for raising a pushover."
"It's just one time, wearing a pin. Is it really that hard for you? Maybe you just don't love me that much after all." Jeffrey hit me with the guilt trip.
He was deliberately putting me on the spot, just to drive me crazy.
If those comments were a gut punch, then Jeffrey's every move was like a confirmation stamp. He really was only marrying me so my parents would never find me.
That was the real masterstroke—hiding in plain sight, right under everyone's noses.
Suddenly, the comments started popping up again.
[I seriously love how twisted and scheming Jeffrey is. He's marrying Vanessa just to stop her from ever reconnecting with her parents. The nastier the drama between her and his adoptive mom, the more he gets a kick out of it.]
[If Vanessa's parents hadn't been the reason Jeffrey's family got destroyed, he wouldn't be this messed up. Guess Jeffrey is just their payback.]
[Vanessa is such a hopeless simp; she'll definitely agree to wear that pin at the wedding. But then she'll probably throw the pin right in Gloria's face. Just picturing that cracks me up.]
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Jeffrey and said, "Fine, I'll do it. But I'm charging 30 thousand per minute. For 300 thousand, I'll wear it all day."
Jeffrey was stunned for a second, and then exploded. "300 thousand? Who do you think you are?"
I gave him an accusing look. "She raised you for over twenty years. Isn't that worth 300 thousand? Besides, it will show everyone that I'm a perfect daughter-in-law, making you look good."
Jeffrey got totally shut down. He wanted me to go nuts, but this was not the meltdown he was hoping for.
Knowing my temper, he was sure I was plotting revenge. To head it off, he pretended to play along. "Look, I'll throw in an extra 300 thousand on top of what your parents want. Deal? But that pin does not go near my mother."
He was hinting at me.
I glared at him, totally annoyed. "No, you've got it all wrong. Your 300 thousand is for me to wear that cheap pin. You need to send that money to me separately, and make it clear it's a gift."
If Jeffrey gave my parents another 300 thousand, he definitely would just go around telling everyone my family was selling me off, just to stir up more drama between his mom and me.
Jeffrey was just a VP in name and the company wasn't really his to run. His adoptive parents never trusted him with anything important, so he barely had any cash he could actually use.
He could cough up 300 thousand, but it would seriously sting.
Just to see me go off at the wedding, Jeffrey gritted his teeth and agreed, then threw in another warning. "Don't you dare throw that pin toward my mom."
He knew exactly what kind of person I was. Making me wear something cheap and gross at the wedding was both ridiculous and degrading. He was convinced that I'd find a way to get even.
Just to let him bask in his own smugness for a while, I played along and asked, "So, is this your mom's request, or is this your little scheme?"
Jeffrey was just waiting for me to ask that. He put on a whole act, pretending to be torn, hesitating forever before finally saying, "That's not the point. What really matters is whether you love me."
That wishy-washy answer was basically telling me it was Gloria who wanted to show me who boss was, making sure I got humiliated at the wedding.
But honestly, I knew it was all him behind the scenes. He was deliberately sabotaging the relationship between Gloria and me.