Chapter 1
On my wedding day, I accidentally overslept for six hours.
By the time I showed up, my fiancé, Darren Ferguson, had gone through the whole wedding with his first love, Jane Keller.
Seeing me drenched in sweat, Darren grinned and admitted it straight up.
"Yeah, I drugged you. Jane wanted her big wedding, so I let her have it. No big deal," he said.
Like he was worried I'd make a scene, Darren shrugged and said, "Behave, and I'll go register the marriage with you next week.
"Besides, throwing a tantrum won't change a thing now.
"Look, even if Jane takes off the wedding dress, it wouldn't fit you anyway."
My eyes settled on the bride, wearing the dress I'd spent almost half a year picking out.
Everyone was holding their breath, thinking I was about to blow up.
But I let out a big sigh of relief.
If only Darren had told me earlier. I'd been wanting out for a long time.
My ex-boyfriend gave me a ten-carat diamond ring when he proposed, and I got to keep it.
*****
I didn't stick around to watch them toast.
I went straight home.
My neighbor stared at me in disbelief.
"Maggie, why are you home? Weren't you supposed to be getting married today?" she asked.
I'd spent ages planning this wedding, so almost everyone around knew about it.
So when I got ditched at the last minute, there was no way I could fake it.
I kept opening the door, acting like nothing was wrong. "Nope, not getting married. He's busy," I said.
He was busy giving his first love a wedding.
My neighbor's face softened with sympathy, and she didn't press me any further.
Once I closed the door, I rushed straight to the bathroom.
As soon as I opened my mouth, I started puking my guts out.
By the time my stomach was empty, I collapsed to the floor, wiped out.
My body reacted badly to sleeping pills.
Darren knew that, but he still gave them to me anyway.
I was lucky to wake up today.
As I got up to rinse my mouth, my phone started blowing up with notifications.
It was a group chat with both Darren and me in it.
[Darren's a legend. Look at that. Maggie showed up and didn't dare say a thing.]
[How does Darren do it? Maggie's so well-trained. You don't see that every day.]
[Maggie's got no family, and Darren's rich and powerful. She'd never dare say anything.]
They were all cracking up when someone suddenly piped up, [Hey, you think Darren's gonna go home tonight?]
The replies came flying in.
[Dude, are you brainless? Even a toddler could tell he's not coming back. What do you think the groom's up to tonight? Of course, he's off making out with his new bride.]
The group exploded with crude jokes and innuendos.
But suddenly, Darren's childhood friend panicked. [Guys, you're drunk. Wrong group. Maggie's here. Delete it, quick.]
Everyone scrambled to fix it, but most of the messages had been sent and couldn't be deleted.
Someone laughed and drawled, [Who cares if she saw it? It's not like she'll say anything.]
I didn't react at all. I got up and made myself something to eat.
As I finished my last bite, the door suddenly swung open.
Darren walked in, smelling strongly of alcohol.
Seeing I didn't rush over to greet him like before, he let out a quiet laugh.
He came over and loosely put his arm around me.
"It was a wedding, nothing to make a fuss about," he said.
It was no "big deal" that I got publicly humiliated and mocked by everyone.
"Yeah, right?" I said.
I got up, grabbed my plate, and slipped out of his arms into the kitchen.
Darren followed me in.
Something cold brushed against my neck. I looked down and saw a sapphire necklace.
It was not to my taste, as always.
It was his first love, Jane's favorite style.
"Thanks," I said as I kept doing the dishes.
Darren looked relieved and moved in closer, like he wanted to get intimate.
I put up a hand to block him and slid the plate into the cabinet.
I gave him a little smile. "Did you forget? I'm allergic to alcohol."
Darren's brows knitted together. He stared at me, like he wanted to say something.
But before he could, his phone rang.
It was Jane calling.
His face instantly brightened, and he answered the call, heading for the study.
He locked the door behind him with a click.
After wiping the water off my hands, my phone rang, too.
Darren texted, [I'll take you to get our marriage registered on Monday morning.]
I replied, [Okay.]
After replying, I got up and went to the bedroom to pack my things.
But when I opened the closet, I found a piece of clothing that didn't belong to me.
It was racy and sexy, but wrinkled.
It looked like it had been stuffed in there in a hurry.
On closer inspection, there were still some crusty stains on it.
The door creaked open, and Darren walked in.
He saw my eyes were red and immediately realized what was up.
Without missing a beat, he took the clothes from my hands.
"Maybe Edwin and his buddies left it here when they came over with their girlfriends," he said.
I kept my head down, my hands trembling.
It wasn't sadness. It was plain disgust.
Darren misread the situation. He ruffled my hair affectionately, like he thought I needed comforting.
"Maggie, do you know what I like most about you?" he asked.
Before I could answer, he said, "You're always so obedient."