Chapter 2
"I don't accept this. I'll never recognize her, not even if it kills me," Yasmin screamed.
When she saw the photo of the marriage certificate, Yasmin totally lost control, screaming as she tried to snatch Alexander's phone.
Alexander dodged her easily, slipped his phone back into his pocket, his expression cold.
"My marriage doesn't need anyone's recognition," Alexander said coldly.
Alexander turned to me, grabbed my wrist so tightly I couldn't pull away. "Come with me."
Alexander dragged me out of the Grant Manor, a war zone in its own right.
Behind us, Emily's gut-wrenching screams and curses rang out. "Alexander, she's fooling you. She's a gold-digger. Sloane, you better watch out. I'm not done with you."
Those harsh words pierced right through my heart.
*****
Alexander forced me into a black Bentley Mulsanne.
The heavy silence inside the car was suffocating.
I was shaking all over, half from anger, half from humiliation.
I finally couldn't hold it in anymore. I turned to the stone-faced man beside me and demanded, "Why did you lie to me?
"Is this fun for you? Watching me run around like a fool for you. Does that make you feel proud?"
Alexander kept his eyes locked on the road, steering with one hand.
He didn't spare me a glance. "I never said my name was Michael, and I never told you who I was.
"You were the one who mistook me for your date and dragged me to city hall."
His voice was steady, but it sent a chill straight through me, freezing me to the bone.
He left me completely speechless. I couldn't get a single word out.
From beginning to end, it was all me fooling myself, thinking there was something when there wasn't.
*****
That day, my mom basically dragged me to a date, saying the guy was some overseas-educated hotshot named Michael.
I waited forever in the bar booth we'd agreed on, and finally, a guy in a white shirt walked over and asked if I was Sloane.
When I saw his ridiculously handsome face, my brain short-circuited from how good-looking he was.
With the alcohol buzzing in my head, I had no idea where I found the guts, but I grabbed his hand and blurted out, "Forget the date. That's way too much hassle. Let's get married instead."
He froze for a second, then actually laughed and said, "Sure."
And like that, less than two hours after we met, we made it official at city hall.
Looking back now, I was so clueless it was almost funny.
I mistook him for someone else, and he rolled with it like it was nothing.
What was he really after?
As my mind was spinning, my phone started buzzing like crazy.
It was Emily. Her insults poured in, one after another, a blizzard of venom.
[Sloane, you seriously disgust me. You schemed your way close to me to snag Alexander, didn't you? You really set up a big game.
[Look in the mirror. You're not fit to tie Alexander's shoes. A nobody like you, thinking you can marry up.
[Wait, I won't let you off easy. I'll make sure you know exactly what happens when you mess with me.]
Staring at those nasty, toxic messages, my chest felt so tight I could barely breathe, like someone was crushing my heart in their fist.
*****
We were roommates all four years of college, the kind of best friends who shared everything.
I really believed nothing could ever break our friendship.
I treated her like she was the most important person in my life. I gave her my all, trusted her with everything.
But to her, I was nothing more than a doormat, a lackey she could trample on, a broke nobody not worthy to breathe the same air as her.
Our friendship was worthless in the face of her snobbish sense of superiority, cheap, insignificant, not even worth a dime.
Tears slipped down my cheeks, uncontrollable. I bit my lip hard, determined not to let a single sob escape.
My dignity wouldn't let me show any weakness in front of Alexander.