Chapter 2

After the wedding, I didn't go home. I went straight to Greyson Sweeney's company.

Greyson was Emmitt's older brother and my fiancé.

This whole situation was a long story, so long that Emmitt, the one at the center of it all, still had no idea what was happening.

When I walked into Greyson's office, he was deep in a video call. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit and gold-rimmed glasses, completely absorbed, his features sharply defined.

As soon as he saw me, he said to the person on the screen, "Hold on a second." Then he hit mute and stood up to come over.

"Hey, what brings you here? Did the wedding go smoothly?" His voice was deep and reassuring, with a magnetic quality.

"It went very smoothly," I said, placing the bouquet on his desk. "Here, a gift from your bride."

Greyson glanced down at the flowers, a small smile flickering behind his glasses. Instead of reaching for them, he naturally took my hand.

"Honestly, I like the person who brought them even more than the flowers themselves," he said, his thumb gently brushing the back of my hand. The warmth of his touch made my cheeks flush.

"You're so naughty," I said with a mock glare, trying to pull my hand away.

But he held on tighter.

"What's wrong? Getting shy around your real boyfriend?" Greyson leaned in, his voice low, warm breath brushing my ear. "Or do you actually prefer Emmitt's style?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "If you keep bringing him up, you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

Greyson immediately raised his hands in surrender, as if saying, "I'm sorry."

Just then, my phone, which I had blocked him on, began ringing insistently. The caller ID showed an unknown number.

I frowned and answered.

"Lucille, so you've grown a backbone, huh? You actually dared to block me!" Emmitt's roar nearly blew out my eardrums.

I moved the phone slightly away and responded flatly with a blank face, "Yeah."

My cold reaction seemed to set him off even more, and he started shouting without restraint. "Where the hell are you? Who are you seeing now? Don't think that announcing a wedding date means I'm scared of you. If you dare cheat on me, I'll—"

"And what exactly are you going to do?" Greyson's voice cut in, sharp and cold.

Emmitt froze instantly, losing his words.

I turned around and saw Greyson had already taken my phone and switched it to speaker.

His face remained calm, but his eyes were as cold as steel.

"G-Greyson? How come?" Emmitt stammered, all his arrogance disappearing in an instant.

"Do I need to tell you where I am?" Greyson said, his tone icy. "And you, talking nonsense like that. Is this how the Sweeney family raised you?"

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Emmitt hurried to explain, completely flustered. "Greyson, let me explain. Lucille—"

"Why did you call my girlfriend?" Greyson interrupted, his voice turning even colder.

Those words landed like a hard slap on Emmitt's face, and the line went completely silent.

I could almost picture Emmitt's expression right then. It had to be priceless.

Greyson did not give him another chance to speak. He ended the call and turned to me with a cold stare, clearly displeased.

"So you're going to let him treat you like that?" Greyson asked, frowning.

"What else am I supposed to do?" I shrugged. "Arguing with him? It's just not worth it."

Greyson let out a sigh and pulled me into his arms, resting his chin on my head. "From now on, that won't happen. You're my fiancée, not his punching bag."

I leaned into him, inhaling his fresh scent, and a sense of calm washed over me.

In fact, everything between Emmitt and me began as a complete misunderstanding.

A year ago, I visited the Sweeney family. Emmitt assumed I was the girl his parents had arranged for him, so he immediately started insulting me. "You think you can marry into the Sweeney family? Please, you're nowhere near good enough."

Then Greyson came down the stairs and said to his face, "This is my girlfriend, Lucille."

The look on Emmitt's face was unforgettable, as if he had swallowed something unpleasant.

After that, Greyson had to go overseas for an urgent project and was gone for more than half a year. Emmitt, being the reckless younger brother he is, began telling everyone I was his girlfriend and aggressively tried to pursue me.

I originally had no intention of paying attention to him, but then Ruth called me and said, "As your future mother-in-law, could you please help keep this hopeless kid in line?"

So I went along with it, though only half-heartedly.

It turned out Emmitt was not only useless but also incredibly arrogant, acting as if the world revolved around him.

Since he asked for it, he shouldn't blame me, his soon-to-be sister-in-law, for stepping in and showing him how things were done.