Chapter 1

On my wedding night, my heart was soaring as the veil was gently lifted.

But the face looking back wasn't Damian's.

It was Liam, the "Idiot" son of Damian's family's housekeeper.

Laughter erupted around us, mocking and cruel.

Serena, Damian's childhood friend, smirked, her voice dripping with fake pity:

"Since the veil has been lifted, by tradition, you have to spend your wedding night with the groom."

Then she turned to Damian, batting her eyelashes. "I'll make the sacrifice, Damian darling. I'll keep you company tonight instead."

It was only then that Damian casually strolled in.

"Chill out, Cassidy. It's just a prank. Don't be such a sore loser."

He shrugged, a dismissive sneer on his face. "Anyway, he's an idiot. He won't know anything. Spending one night with him won't kill you."

His sarcastic tone, his cruel indifference – it made me laugh. A cold, bitter laugh.

"If he's the one who lifted my veil, then one night won't be enough, will it?"

My voice was icy. "If I'm marrying him, I'm marrying him for life."

My bridesmaids, who had been expecting a harmless prank, stared, dumbfounded.

"Are you serious, Damian? You want Cassidy to spend her wedding night with… with an idiot?" Chloe burst out, disbelief etched on her face.

Ashley chimed in, "It's your wedding day! Even a joke has limits!"

Damian just scoffed, raising an arrogant eyebrow. "What's it to you? My fiancée doesn't mind, so why are you making a big deal out of it?"

He walked up to me, his voice dropping to a low, menacing tone. "Last month, you publicly humiliated Serena and docked her half a year's bonus. Tonight, I'm getting my revenge for her."

He paused, letting his words hang in the air. "Either you sleep with this idiot for a night, or… our engagement is off!"

Threatened by Damian like that, I felt less anger and more a profound sense of absurdity.

Last month, Serena, who was my assistant, accompanied me to an auction. But she ignored all my instructions, bidding recklessly during the auction. Our company ended up buying an artifact for far more than our budget.

Afterward, I disciplined her according to company policy, and the incident spread through the office. Naturally, it gave Serena a bad reputation. But if she hadn't ignored my orders, I wouldn't have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to company rules, she should have been fired. I only docked her half a year's bonus as a light punishment, mostly out of respect for Damian.

Yet, Damian stubbornly insisted I was just finding an excuse to target Serena and make her look bad. No matter how I tried to explain, he wouldn't listen, convinced I was cold and ruthless.

He forced me to make a public apology, a statement that twisted the facts and painted me as an uncaring boss, all just to "make amends" to Serena. It cost me a lot of respect and damaged my professional standing. Only then did he reluctantly drop the issue.

I thought that whole awful episode was behind us. I never imagined it would come back to haunt me like this.

My heart, in that moment, turned to ice.

To appease Serena, he was willing to orchestrate this ridiculous charade on our wedding day. I could already imagine the gossip, the ridicule that would follow. I'd be the laughingstock of everyone we knew.

Damian's posture screamed his certainty that I loved him too much to defy him. He was smug, convinced that even if this was an obvious trap, I'd willingly jump into it.

But what he didn't know was that even the most passionate love couldn't endure such reckless extravagance and blatant disrespect.

I let out a soft huff, tearing my gaze away from them.

Instead, I knelt down on one knee in front of the man who was happily munching on wedding candy.

I took his hand, looking up at him.

"Liam, will you marry me?"

The words had barely left my lips when Damian's eyes widened, shocked.

"Cassidy, are you insane?! I only told you to spend one night in the bridal suite with him. Are you actually going to marry this idiot?"

Serena quickly grabbed his arm, whispering urgently, "Damian, calm down. Cassidy would never actually marry a fool like him. She's just trying to provoke you, waiting for you to back down."

"If you lose your cool now, you'll be playing right into her hands."

Hearing Serena's words, Damian stopped, a smirk slowly spreading across his face.

"Cassidy, make sure you scrub yourself clean before you come crawling back to me tomorrow. I don't want to catch anything dirty!"

When I ignored him, Damian rolled his eyes.

"Well, if the bride wants to marry someone else, then we might as well make up for the bachelor/bachelorette party! Tonight, we party until we drop!"

With that, he grabbed Serena and stormed out of the bridal suite without a backward glance.

I remained kneeling, my hand suspended in the air, a hollow ache in my chest.

Just then, a warm, soft hand gently touched my palm.

I instinctively looked up, my eyes meeting Liam's.

He gazed at me, a soft smile slowly curving his lips.

His voice was quiet, yet incredibly clear.

"I do."