Chapter 1

The night before the wedding, Andrew Preston went to see Vivian Lane.

Caught at the hotel, he said with righteous indignation, "I'm just saying goodbye to my youth. Don't make trouble out of nothing."

The woman behind him looked pitiful, with a vivid red mark on her collarbone catching the eye.

Back then, because of me, Andrew had been detained for fighting; Vivian had begged in the principal's office for an entire day.

He always believed that it was Vivian who saved his future.

Whatever she asked for, he felt he should give unconditionally.

Even he himself could belong to her.

Andrew said, "Charlotte Summers, don't be unreasonable. After tonight, I'll always be yours."

I looked at him with disgust. "Get out. You're filthy.

And one more thing, the person who saved you back then was me, I snapped.

*****

The night before the wedding, I got a call from Rebecca Quaid, my bestie.

She teased me, "Charlotte, you're getting married tomorrow. Can't you two wait? Take it easy and save your energy, or how are you going to make it through the wedding?"

I was totally confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. I saw you and Andrew checking into a hotel room," she teased.

I glanced down at the documents in my hand. With the wedding tomorrow, I'd been working late into the night and hadn't even stepped out of my study.

Andrew, on the other hand, said he was meeting up with friends, skipped dinner, and he still hasn't come back.

Rebecca saw him at a hotel with me.

I narrowed my eyes, keeping my voice steady. "Which hotel?"

*****

Rebecca and I made it to the hotel in a hurry. Turns out the owner was one of my business partners, so I called him up and got Andrew's room info right away.

We made a beeline for room 808, and Rebecca rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" someone called out.

Inside, a gentle, refined woman's voice answered.

Rebecca cleared her throat and said, "Hi, room service here. We've got a complimentary bottle of red wine for you."

The person inside didn't suspect a thing and just came right over to open the door.

As soon as the door swung open, we came face-to-face with the woman inside, and Rebecca blurted out, "Vivian? Why are you here?"

Vivian's face went ghostly pale, and she instinctively tried to bolt, but Rebecca grabbed her before she could get away.

Her nightgown had come undone, revealing a scattering of red marks on her collarbone, and her lips were slightly swollen, clear evidence of what had just gone down.

The sound of water from the bathroom was harsh, grating on my nerves.

I walked straight into the bathroom without hesitation.

When I saw Andrew's familiar body, the last thread holding me together snapped.

Starting a catfight would have been beneath me. I didn't lose control. I just looked at them, icy and detached.

Andrew was wrapped in a towel, sitting on one side of the room, while Vivian sat on the other. Neither of them dared to look at me, both looking guilty as hell.

Rebecca had been cursing them out for a solid twenty minutes, and when she finally ran out of steam, she just sat down and took a sip of water.

Only then did I speak up, my voice cold and steady. "How long have you two been sneaking around?"

Vivian's voice trembled, "Charlotte, what are you even implying? I've got dignity, you know. I'd never stoop to being some homewrecker."

Andrew glared at me, his eyes dark. "Charlotte, you're crossing the line. If you're pissed, come at me. Don't drag Vivian into this."

He was acting like he had to shield his precious girl from some monster, as if I was about to tear her apart.

That actually made me laugh, but not in a good way. "How exactly am I humiliating her? Did I rip her clothes off and toss her into your bed? Did I hold a gun to your head and make you sleep with her?"

Andrew shot me a look full of contempt. "Charlotte, you're so vulgar."

I let out a cold laugh. "Who's the real trash here, me, or you two with your little show?"

Tomorrow was supposed to be my wedding day, but my fiancé spent the night before in a hotel room with another woman. And now, after I caught him, he was actually trying to make it my fault.

He just threw all caution aside and wrapped Vivian in his arms. "If you hadn't broken Vivian and me up, we would've been married ages ago. The only reason I'm with you now is because of your family name and connections."

He said it like he had every right, not a shred of guilt on his face.

After all these years together, it was like I was seeing him for the first time.

I never break him and Vivian up.

I didn't even know they'd ever been together.

It was all meaningless.

I said coldly, "Congratulations, Andrew. Take your precious girl and get out of my house, now."

"You're really going to cancel the wedding?

"The invitations are already out. If you call it off now, can you really afford to lose face like that?" Andrew stared at me, his eyes cold and unwavering.

The wedding was going to be the biggest event in Clusia, with all the city's elite, my parents, and every friend and family member showing up. If I canceled, I'd be the laughingstock of the whole town.

And to make things worse, Andrew and I had already gotten our marriage license a week ago.

If this scandal got out, I'd be the biggest joke in Clusia.

I kept quiet, my mind racing, plotting how to deal with this cheating scumbag and his side chick.

Andrew hurriedly got dressed, trying to sound all apologetic.

"Charlotte, seriously, what guy doesn't fool around a bit? Don't go making drama out of nothing.

"I just wanted to put the past behind me. Don't be so uptight.

"Besides, after tonight, I'm all yours, forever," he said.

Vivian jumped in, all self-righteous. "Charlotte, you snatched Andrew away from me back then. Now we just want to say goodbye to our old feelings, is that really so unforgivable?"

I just stared at them, cold and deadpan.

Andrew was absolutely shameless, hungry for my family's status, but still couldn't let go of his old flame.

Vivian was just as despicable, taking all the favors from my family, yet still had the nerve to play the side chick and wreck my marriage.

I shouldn't make things easy for them.

And there was no way I was letting a man call the shots just to keep up appearances.

In that instant, a plan started to take shape in my mind.

I looked straight at Andrew. "Don't forget to show up at the wedding tomorrow, on time."

"Charlotte," Rebecca blurted out.

With the way I was, there was no way I'd ever let this kind of crap slide.

But right now, it really felt like they had me right where they wanted me.

I squeezed Rebecca's hand and gave a mocking smile. "No matter what, the wedding's still happening. Andrew, tonight's your bachelor party, go wild if you want. It's on the house, so might as well enjoy it."

With that, I pulled Rebecca out of the room.

If I stuck around any longer, I'd probably puke.

Once we were far enough away, I finally pulled out my phone and called the wedding planner.

"I need to make some changes to tomorrow's wedding," I said.