Chapter 1

On my wedding day, instead of the red bridal convoy that was supposed to take me to my new home, I received a summons from the government.

The man who was supposed to be my husband was standing tall and poised in the courtroom, as if he'd been waiting for me for ages.

Harry Glisson stood protectively in front of a woman behind him, who looked on the verge of tears.

With righteous fury, he accused me of trying to ruin her reputation and even of attempted murder.

But that night, Harry suddenly announced he wanted to take another wife, and we ended up in a huge fight.

I was about to ask him to speak up for me.

But then I saw Harry smirking, raising an eyebrow as he glanced toward the mayor, Paul Silva.

Paul caught Harry's look, turned to me, and slammed his gavel down.

"The evidence is clear. You won't escape prison today!"

At this point, I realized what was going on.

I thought Harry had finally dropped that absurd notion of taking another wife.

But I never expected he'd stoop to this to force me to give in.

But he seemed to have forgotten that I used to be one of Cormir's top lawyers.

If he wanted to smear my name, he'd better be ready to pay the price.

*****

"Rosemary, do you plead guilty?" Paul barked at me.

He slammed his hand on the table, fixing me with a hard stare.

Harry stepped forward, scooped up the red veil from the floor, and shielded me with it, putting himself between me and the judge as he pleaded for me.

When Paul's expression finally eased a little, Harry crouched down, leaned close to my ear, and whispered in a low voice.

"Rosemary, since today's supposed to be our wedding day, Mr. Mayor's willing to look the other way and let us work something out privately, so you can spare yourself a trip to jail."

I looked up and crashed right into his eyes. His worry looked so real.

If I didn't know better, I'd almost believe he was trying to save me.

Harry continued, "Gillian's agreed to drop the charges and sweep all this trouble under the rug if you take a step down and become my secondary wife.

"Once she's part of the family, she won't hold this over your head. You'll still be my wife, like before."

My heart went cold. The man I thought I knew so well suddenly felt like a stranger.

Paul's icy, impatient urging and Harry's persistent, almost nagging persuasion echoed in my ears.

It felt like I had no choice but to agree to their terms if I wanted to save myself.

I stared at Harry, and suddenly, the three years I'd spent with him felt like a joke.

My bright red wedding dress was already a mess, the hem stained with mud that wouldn't come out no matter what.

I decided to give up on this marriage.

I straightened my spine, quietly slipping out of Harry's reach without betraying a hint of emotion.

Word by word, I shot back, my tone unwavering.

"You want a confession? Where's your evidence?"

Harry's eye twitched, his hand hovering in the air before curling into a tight fist.

"What do you mean? We are a couple. Do you really think I'd ever harm you?" Harry said.

Gillian shrank behind Harry, her voice quivering, on the verge of tears.

"Let it go. I'm sure Rosemary didn't do it on purpose. But if she ever tries to take revenge on me in the future..."

Harry spoke gently to comfort her. "Gillian, you're a lady from a distinguished family.

"There's no way I'd let you be mistreated here without making things right for you. Leave it to me."

That was a tenderness I'd never experienced from Harry before.

I'd always been more independent than other girls. My family always said I had to handle things on my own.

I thought being with Harry would mean I finally had someone I could really open up to, but he always cut me off whenever I tried.

"Deal with it yourself. No need to drag me into your troubles," he'd say.

Seeing them so close together, a bitter ache welled up inside me.

It turned out that he never really loved me.

Harry shot me a fierce, unforgiving look.

"You won't learn your lesson until it's too late, huh? If you're going to be this stubborn, don't blame me for being hard on you," he said.

Paul announced, "Rosemary is suspected of working with bandits outside the city. Out of jealousy, she tried to ruin Gillian's reputation. Bring in the witnesses!"

The guards marched in four rough-looking guys who looked like bandits.

As soon as Gillian saw them, she was so scared she passed out, falling right into Harry's arms.

The four bandits shared a quick glance with Harry.

Without so much as a look in my direction, they fell to the ground, banging their heads on the floor, and confessed without hesitation.

"It was all Rosemary's doing. She paid us a fortune, and we lost our heads!" one of them blurted out.

Paul narrowed his eyes and followed up, "Witnesses alone aren't enough to convict her. Did you find any dirty money or cash as evidence?"

The leader of the bandits, shaking all over, nervously pulled a cloth pouch from inside his jacket.

Inside was a bright green emerald hairpin, with gold threads decorating the flower at the tip.

My breath caught. That was the engagement token I'd given Harry back then.

Paul frowned, his face set in righteous indignation.

"You keep claiming you're innocent, but if you didn't use this to make a deal, how would it end up with them?" he demanded.