On the day of our wedding, Rowena Lane ditches me on the altar just so she can go to the hospital to take care of her childhood friend, Adrian Cole's son.

As I meet the mocking gazes of the guests, I take the boutonniere off my chest before heading toward the hospital to demand an explanation from Rowena.

But that's when I witness her holding Adrian's newborn son with blatant love in her eyes.

Adrian says purposefully, "Rowena, today is your wedding day, yet you're here taking care of my baby for me. What if Justin gets mad at you for doing this?"

"I can throw another wedding any day. But your baby being sick is a very critical matter. I'm seriously worried that you can't take care of him all by yourself.

"From now on, I shall be the baby's mother. I swear that I won't let you two get bullied in this world."

Later on, when I choose to marry someone else at another wedding, Rowena crashes into the scene like a madwoman. There, she begs me to give her another chance.

I walked out of the hospital in a daze, then pulled out my phone and made a call.

"Clara, when you said you'd marry me, did you mean it?"

Her voice came through the line, cynical as ever. "Justin, what do you take me for? Your backup plan?"

"If you won't do it, I'll ask someone else."

"I'll do it!"

Clara Sutton bit out through gritted teeth, "Justin, you're the one who said you'd marry me, so don't you dare go back on your word!"

"It's a deal."

After we settled on the wedding date, I hung up and returned to the wedding venue.

I apologized to all the family and friends who had come that day and informed everyone that the wedding had been postponed for a month.

Once I had everyone settled, I dragged my exhausted body home.

I had barely sat down when I heard movement at the door.

Rowena Lane walked in and looked at me with guilt written all over her face. "Justin, I'm sorry, but there really was an emergency today."

A bitter smile tugged at my lips. "An emergency? What could've been more important than our wedding?"

She looked at me and said, "A friend of mine got into an accident. It was a matter of life and death. I didn't even have time to explain because I had to rush him to the hospital first."

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes—the picture of her standing there with Adrian Cole and his child—like they were a family of three, maybe I really would've believed her.

On the day of our wedding, Rowena never showed up, and I couldn't get through to her phone.

At first, I thought something had happened to her on the way there, and I was worried sick.

It wasn't until I saw Adrian's Instagram post that I realized she had gone off to play mother to his child, Theo Cole.

Looking back at it now, I was a complete fool.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. I didn't want to cry over her, but my heart was aching despite myself.

The moment Rowena saw that, she panicked. She pulled me into her arms and tried to comfort me. "Justin, I know my actions today have hurt you, but I promise I won't miss our next wedding."

I braced a hand against her shoulder and pushed her away. My voice cracked. "That won't be necessary. There won't be another wedding for us."

But she didn't believe me. "Don't say things you don't mean. I know you already moved the wedding to a month from now."

I was just about to tell her that the new bride wouldn't be her when her phone rang.

The second Rowena answered, her expression shifted. "Okay. I'll be right there."

With that, she let go of me and headed for the door.

It wasn't until she reached the entryway that she bothered to explain, "I need to deal with this right away. Be good and wait for me at home. When I get back, we'll talk about the wedding."

I didn't respond.

Later, I picked up my phone and tapped on Instagram, only to see that Adrian had posted again.

The photo showed Rowena's profile as she held the baby, gently soothing him.

The caption read, "Can anyone relate to how exhausting taking care of a baby is? It's a good thing his mom is here to help out. She's seriously amazing at calming him down!"

I let out a mocking laugh.

So that was the urgent matter Rowena absolutely had to handle?

I grabbed a chair and smashed it against the wall, shattering our wedding photo. Then, I called in the cleaners and had them throw out everything in the room that had anything to do with Rowena.

The next morning, I got up, washed up, and went to work.

I could allow myself to be heartbroken, but I would never allow myself to fall apart.

Maybe I had really been cursed with bad luck lately. On the way to work, a car made an illegal cut into my lane and hit me, injuring my leg.

I was taken to a nearby hospital for medical attention.

By sheer coincidence, I ran into Rowena just as she was coming downstairs with Adrian on her arm.

The moment our eyes met, Rowena withdrew her hand from him and hurried over anxiously. "Justin, what happened to you?"

I kept my expression flat. "It's nothing serious. I hurt my leg in a minor accident."

She immediately revolved around me, rushing off to stand in line for my scans and medication.

I caught the flash of jealousy in Adrian's eyes. He looked at me and said provocatively, "Justin, your wedding never happened, so I win.

"But I did underestimate you. You're a lot more tolerant than I thought. Still, if you think that means you can stay by Rowena's side, then you're sorely mistaken."

I had met Rowena at university.

On a rainy day at the library, we shared the same umbrella, and that was how it all began.

Her gentleness and the way she favored me gradually made me fall head over heels in love with her.

We had been together for five years. On campus, we were the textbook definition of a perfect couple.

Just when I thought we would keep loving each other and eventually marry, Adrian, the childhood friend she had grown up with, came back from abroad.

He showed up carrying a newborn child and forced his way into our relationship.

"Believe it or not, as long as I'm here, Rowena will never marry you," Adrian had said.

At first, I had scoffed at him. After all, Rowena and I had five years of history between us.

Adrian, on the other hand, was a bachelor with a motherless child. I didn't believe Rowena would ever give me up for him.

It wasn't until our wedding day that reality slapped me awake.

But even if I had lost, I still didn't want him to get the satisfaction of gloating.

I looked at him coldly and said, "Regardless, I'm still Rowena's fiance. In what capacity are you even speaking to me right now? Is being a homewrecker some kind of prestigious career path these days?"

Adrian lifted his chin and said, "No, the one she's not in love with is the real homewrecker."

Just then, the ground suddenly started to shake.

"Earthquake!" someone shouted.

Rowena, who had been standing in line to get my medication, immediately ran toward us, grabbed Adrian by the arm, and bolted for the exit.

"Rowena, the baby!" Adrian reminded her in a panic.

She immediately spun around, ran back upstairs to get Theo, then took both Adrian and Theo with her as she fled.

My eyes stayed fixed on her the entire time, but she never once turned back to look at me.

At that moment, I had no choice but to admit that the history Rowena and I shared meant absolutely nothing compared to Adrian.

I hadn't lost to Adrian. I had only lost to her.

It wasn't until the shaking stopped that Rowena seemed to remember I existed at all. She pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of me.

Stammering, she said, "J-Justin, I was too worried about the baby earlier, so… I forgot about you."

I curved my lips into a bitter smile. "It's fine. The baby's more important."

The instant she heard my forgiveness, relief washed over her. "Justin, I'm so glad you understand. Let's get you home."

But Adrian stood behind her, holding the wailing baby, looking helpless as he said, "Rowena, I think Theo got spooked…"

Panic immediately flooded her eyes, and she turned around at once. "I'll take the baby and Adrian upstairs first. Wait for me here."

I silently nodded.

But the second they went upstairs, I turned and left.

I wasn't waiting for her anymore.

After taking two days to rest at home and let my leg heal, I went back to work as usual.

What I didn't expect was that when I got home from work, I would find Adrian standing in my house, holding the baby.

The moment he saw me, a smug smile spread across his face. "Mr. Ford, you're back. Rowena was worried I wouldn't be able to take care of Theo properly after being discharged from the hospital, so she brought us here."

My eyes locked onto the pajamas he was wearing, and I clenched my jaw. "Take that off. Who said you could touch my clothes?"

Adrian set Theo down to the side and walked toward me, the smile on his face growing even wider. "Rowena did. And it won't stop at your clothes. I'm going to take everything you have!"

The second he finished speaking, he swung a fist at my face.

I immediately raised my hand and retaliated, but he flew backward from the force of my punch.

"Mr. Ford, I didn't mean to wear your clothes," he said, raising his voice. "Please don't be mad. I'll give them back right now..."

As he spoke, he yanked the shirt off himself, revealing his bare chest to me.

Theo was startled and began wailing as well.

After a moment of shock, I quickly realized that he had set me up.

But before I could say a single word, Rowena pushed open the door and rushed in. The moment she saw this, she shoved me aside.

"Justin, when did you become this cruel? How could you lay your hands on a baby?"

Rowena carefully picked Theo up. Then, she picked up the shirt and draped it over Adrian's shoulders.

Adrian leaned against her shoulder, looking utterly aggrieved. "Rowena, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have worn Mr. Ford's clothes. Please don't blame him for this."

His words only stoked her anger as she glared at me and snapped, "I'm the one who permitted Adrian to wear your clothes. If you have a problem, take it up with me!"

The way she defended him without even getting the full picture was utterly disappointing.

I tamped down the bitterness rising in my chest and snarled, "This is my house! What gives you the right to bring him here? What gives you the right to let him wear my clothes?"

Rowena helped Adrian to his feet, then looked at me and said, "Adrian can't take care of the baby by himself, so I brought them back here so I could look after all of you together. I've already been more than considerate of you.

"His clothes got dirty while he was taking care of Theo, so I just grabbed one of yours for him. I had no idea you were such a petty, small-minded man. If you can't stand them, then I'm taking them and leaving!

"Stay here and think about what you've done. When you've thought it through, apologize to Adrian. Otherwise, don't expect me to marry you!"

With that, she left with Adrian and Theo.

Her angry accusations kept echoing in my ears. The second the door shut, all the strength drained out of me, and I collapsed onto the floor.

I wasn't planning to marry her anymore anyway.

A month later, I changed into a custom suit, got into the car with Clara, and headed for the reception hall.

On the way there, I received a message from Rowena. "It's already been a month. You should've reflected by now. We're celebrating Theo's one-month milestone today. Get a gift, bring it over in person, and I'll consider it your apology."

I smiled, took a selfie with the groom's boutonniere pinned to my chest, and texted her back. "I'm busy getting married today."