Chapter 1
When Kolten Ellison lost his memory, he fell for a college student.
Once he got his memory back, he gave her a million dollars and came back to me.
He said, "She was just a con artist who took advantage of my situation. She didn't mean anything to me."
Our life went back to normal.
She moved on, got herself a new boyfriend, and was getting ready to tie the knot.
But on her wedding day, Kolten stormed into the chapel, seized the bride by the throat, and kissed her fiercely.
The video of Kolten and Delaney Adams making out blew up online overnight.
Netizens jumped on it, fueling the hype.
[It's the 21st century, girls, and I just saw a real-life overbearing CEO crash a wedding.]
[When fiction becomes reality. Seriously, who could say no to a guy that hot grabbing you by the throat and confessing his love?]
The video blew up so fast that by the time I saw it, the buzz was unstoppable. People started digging up even more pics of the two together.
There was Kolten, all dirty and disheveled, selling sweet potatoes with Delaney, looking totally out of place. Another showed him bending down to help her put on shoes.
But the most eye-catching one was Kolten, wearing a patient's gown, curled up in Delaney's arms.
All of these were just glimpses of their daily life back when Kolten didn't remember anything.
Six months ago, Kolten vanished after a skiing accident, tumbling off a cliff. When we finally found him, he'd lost his memory and didn't trust anyone but Delaney, the one who found him.
He had a life-threatening blood clot in his brain and needed immediate surgery, but he refused to let anyone get close. His parents, Patrick and Teresa Ellison, were out of options. They had to call Delaney in.
Only after Delaney calmed him down did he finally agree to the surgery.
That photo? It was snapped while Delaney was comforting him. I was right there, watching it all happen.
As I looked at those photos, my chest felt heavy.
These days, things between Kolten and me had gotten so normal again that I'd almost forgotten how crazy sweet and tender he was with Delaney when he lost his memory.
The ridiculous part was that before all that, he used to shower me with that same tenderness.
After a moment, I pulled up my chat with Kolten on my phone.
Our conversation had stalled since 5:30 yesterday afternoon, when I'd sent him a few wedding dress photos for him to check out.
His reply? Barely a word. [Whatever.]
Scrolling up, it was all wedding planning stuff, me basically talking to myself the whole time, and Kolten would only bother to reply every now and then.
Most of his responses were just "Whatever" or "Anything's fine."
I couldn't help but chuckle looking at it.
Kolten's change was so obvious that it was right there in front of me.
But I was still stupidly convincing myself we could go back to the way things were.
I still believed he was that same guy whose ears would turn bright red just from kissing me on the forehead.
Taking a deep breath, I typed out a message.
I asked: [Do you care what the wedding invitations look like?]
I hit send.
The message just disappeared into the ether. No response at all.
That night, I tossed and turned, unable to get any real sleep.
I drifted in and out, my dreams pulling me back to the old days over and over.
I dreamed of Kolten at six, clutching my hand and telling me he'd marry me when we grew up.
Kolten at ten, standing protectively in front of me, swearing he'd always keep me safe.
Kolten at eighteen, kneeling down on one knee, his hands shaking as he slipped a ring onto my finger, declaring to everyone that I was his one and only bride.
I was jolted awake by a call from the housekeeper, urging me to hurry back to the Ellison family estate.
From the call, I could already guess what was up.
Patrick was livid about what happened yesterday.
When I got there, Kolten was kneeling in the middle of the living room, his back a bloody mess.
The air was thick with tension.
Patrick sat on the couch, his face dark with anger. Teresa grabbed my hand the moment she saw me, promising over and over that they'd make things right for me.
"Aubree, don't worry. You're the only one who can be my daughter-in-law," she said, her tone serious.
She put on a serious face, but squeezed my hand even tighter and gave me a secret look.
So that was what she wanted. She wanted me to beg for Kolten.
Lowering my gaze, I quietly walked over to Patrick and handed him the guest list I'd put together. My voice was calm as I said, "Patrick, I've already informed the Whitney family."
Patrick's expression softened a bit when he heard that. He looked up at me, clearly pleased.
"Aubree, you're always so thoughtful," he said.
"I don't agree," Kolten said suddenly, his voice firm.
He'd been silent the whole time, but now he finally spoke up, cutting through the tension with his resolve.
"I'm not marrying her," Kolten declared.
I stood there, speechless, not daring to turn around because I couldn't bear to see the rejection and finality on his face.
The tension froze in the room again, and Patrick's face turned even darker.
Just as Patrick was about to lose it, Teresa jumped in. "Kolten, we let you act out however you wanted when you lost your memory, but now you remember everything. If you don't marry Aubree, what do you expect her to do with her life?
"Everyone already sees her as your bride!"
As she said this, she dragged me right in front of Kolten, making him face me, whether he wanted to or not.
I didn't say a word.
I was the bride custom-made for the Ellison family.