Scarlet used to think that she was someone who couldn't be angry for too long, but after the situation with Emily and Henry, she had come to realize that she had just never been in a situation where she needed to be angry for a long time.

Currently, she was watching Emily walk down the altar to where Henry stood with a massive smile on his face, and every fiber of her being was boiling with so much anger that she felt like she could explode at any moment.

She wanted to avoid standing out too much, so she made sure to wear something casual that wouldn't draw any attention to her because the last thing she wanted was to get caught in this place. She didn't even want to imagine the look people would have on their faces when they saw her there, attending her sister's and her ex-husband's wedding.

She knew she was already a laughingstock to many people, but she certainly wasn't ready to get caught and watch them laugh in her face.

The fact that nobody seemed to see anything wrong with what was happening here made her even more upset because it was public knowledge that he and she had just divorced four months ago.

Now all of a sudden, he was marrying her sister, and the typical moral police that usually saw a problem with anything and everything were quiet and supportive.

The hypocrisy!

When Henry and she first got married, she saw several news outlets and articles questioning her character and claiming that she simply married him because of his money, even when they had no idea how they got married in the first place. Their marriage happened so suddenly because neither one of them had expected that they were going to be getting married to each other. Because of this, everybody else assumed that she rushed the marriage because she was a gold digger who wanted to cement herself into his family and have a taste of his family fortune.

It was very upsetting at first because she didn't even want to marry him of her own free will, and yet, she was getting dragged by people who had no idea who she was over something that she had no control over.

She hadn't seen any article, not one, criticize the fact that these two people were getting married, and for every article that she had read in the last few days, they kept praising Emily and indirectly shaming her by writing that she was nothing like her because she was a genuine person who fell in love and helped Henry get out of his previously loveless and forced marriage.

How ridiculous, right?

So, right now, her father, who had walked her down the aisle about a year ago, to marry Henry, was walking her younger sister down the aisle to marry the same man that his first daughter had married not too long ago.

She was seated way behind, but she could see every one of her family members staring at Emily with massive smiles on their faces, and it reminded her of the day she was getting married and how they all had similar smiles on their faces like they were genuinely happy for her.

The situation just made her realize that they weren't happy that she was getting married; they were just happy because of who she was getting married to and how her marriage to him was going to elevate their status in society. It took her a while to realize it, but now she knew that the only thing they wanted was to keep Henry Jones as their son-in-law, even if he had to divorce one daughter to shamelessly marry the other daughter.

They didn't care what people thought, and people also weren't concerned with the weird situation because Henry's family was a big-shot family in the country, and no one would want to get on their bad side simply because of their unsolicited opinion.

Emily and her dad continued making their way down the aisle, and she just kept watching them with the feeling of emptiness and hurt growing inside her. After what felt like a decade, Emily finally arrived at the altar, and she watched her dad place her hand on Henry's with the same smile he had on his face on her wedding day.

"Dearly beloved," the priest started, "we're gathered here today to witness the lovely union of two wonderful people who are about to be joined in holy matrimony."

Hearing him use the words 'lovely' and 'matrimony' made her have the sudden urge to puke.

He kept going on and on about how God had brought them together and blah blah blah, and her eyes kept rolling continuously. She was pretty certain that anyone who saw her right now would think that she was a bitter witch who wasn't happy for them, and even though it was true that she was the farthest from being happy for them, she had very valid reasons not to be.

The more she heard him speak and the more she saw the reaction on people's faces, the more it dawned on her that everybody in this hall except herself was a bloody hypocrite because about 80% of the people here right now were also present for her wedding, and they were simply repeating the same reaction they had when Henry and she were getting married.

The fake smile, the fake gasp, the teary eyes, and the most common one of them all, the showering of comments on how they envy you, how they wish to be in your shoes, how beautiful you look, and how happy they are for you. The comments and the lies were just never-ending.

Bloody hypocrites!

"Now, you shall recite your vows to each other, promising before God and man what your partner will always mean to you," the priest encouraged, and her heart clenched a bit when she realized that she would have to hear him making vows to her sister, just a year after vowing to always be with her.

"I, Henry Jones, take you, Emily Parker, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my best friend, my companion, and the love of my life from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family, and friends, I vow to be a faithful partner to you, to love and to cherish you in sickness and good health, in the good times and the bad, to love and support you unconditionally and to respect you for as long as we both shall live," Henry recited and hearing it directly from his lips broke her heart even more.

It made her sad, but even more than that, she was mad because he didn't even put any effort into his vows. He repeated almost the same things that he said to her when they got married, and it pissed her off to realize just how much he didn't regard her or their wedding, that he even went ahead and repeated the same vows he made to her, to her sister.

"I, Emily Parker, take you, Henry Jones, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To love and to cherish you, to be with you through the good and the bad times, to support and encourage you in everything you do, and to respect and honor you for as long as we both shall live," Emily said in her vows, and she couldn't help but scoff at both of them.

Two liars, cheats, bastards, fools, idiots, and betrayers, that deserved to rot in hell were getting married, and she was unfortunate enough to witness such a disgusting event.

She could feel herself getting angrier and angrier, and she knew that was her cue to leave so that she didn't end up reacting in a way that would expose her because the last thing she wanted was for everybody there to find out that she also attended this sham of a wedding.

She stood up quietly after a while and proceeded to walk out of the hall. She bowed her head, carefully covering her face with the scarf over her head while walking briskly out of the place.

She had successfully managed to leave the wedding hall, but just when she was about to heave a sigh of relief that she didn't get caught, a hand grabbed her arm suddenly, and when she looked up to see who it was, she was met with the face of a man that literally almost took her breath away.

So angel-like humans exist? She wondered internally, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be bolting out of there at full speed.

"Who-" she was about to ask after snapping out of it, but he cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Forgive my audacity, beautiful, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," he said in the most calm and respectful tone ever, and before she knew what was happening, she was getting pulled away by some strange guy.

Sadly, she couldn't scream for help because that would only call attention to her, and she'd get caught, so she had no choice but to allow herself to get dragged to heaven knows where.

Scarlet had been at the wedding hall just a few minutes ago, and now she found herself seated in the backseat of a black Mercedes-Benz SUV, with an unbelievably beautiful yet unfamiliar man seated right next to her.

She would have focused on how crazily attractive he was if she wasn't so scared of getting kidnapped at this moment.

"You better have a very good explanation for bringing me here, or else, I won't hesitate to report you to the authorities for dragging me against my will and forcefully making me sit in your car," she hissed, reminding herself that he was a stranger and that she might be getting kidnapped right now. "In case you don't know what that means, it means that I'll have you arrested for kidnapping," she snapped, watching him with curious eyes.

The car was parked in a space with dim lighting, so she couldn't make out his features as clearly as she wanted to. She could only pick up on the fact that he had short black hair and pretty green eyes, which she noticed when he dragged her from the hall earlier.

'Snap out of it, Scarlet! He's a kidnapper,' she reminded herself, still wondering why she was in this car with this strange man and why in the world he had brought her here.

He had a small smile tugging on his lips, and she didn't need anyone to tell her what that smile meant; it couldn't be anything else but confidence and top-notch cockiness.

"I sincerely apologize if I startled you, but please relax and be rest assured that I'm not kidnapping you. I just wanted to have a private conversation with you, and that is why I escorted you out myself so we could speak privately without any sort of interruptions," he explained, leaving her confused.

"What exactly do we need to talk about in private? Do you even know who I am? Have we ever met before, because I don't remember ever meeting someone like you, and I'm certainly not interested in having a private conversation with somebody that I don't know?" she retorted, folding her arms across her chest instinctively.

She could tell that he wasn't someone ordinary, which made it all the more surprising that he wanted to have a conversation with her. She was also quite surprised that he even recognized who she was.

"I just want to speak to you for a short while. I promise that I won't take up too much of your time," he responded, and she scoffed.

"If you wanted to speak to me, you should have used the right means instead of kidnapping me and forcing me here. You didn't make a good impression, so I'm not interested in speaking to you," she told him sternly.

She was carefully watching the expression on his face, waiting to see if he would look in any way aggressive at any point, just in case he was a dangerous person. Surprisingly, the expression on his face remained the same, and she suddenly started to feel a sense of superiority from him.

"Once again, I'm deeply apologetic for bringing you here without your permission and leaving a bad first impression. The truth is, I've wanted to speak to you for a while now, and I was planning to visit you much later, but after seeing you here, I decided it would be best to just speak to you now that I have the chance," he explained, worsening her confusion.

"You know who I am?" she asked.

"Yes. Scarlet Parker, isn't it?" he replied, and she was startled.

"How did you recognize me? Was it that obvious that I was the one behind the scarf?" she asked, horrified at the thought that everyone else had recognized her, and she was only fooling herself by thinking she was slick enough.

"Don't worry, you weren't obvious at all. The only reason I recognized you was because I had seen you earlier without the scarf when you arrived," he answered, and she let out a relieved sigh.

Her dignity was already so fragile, and it would have been completely shattered if it turned out that everybody in there knew who she was and that they were only watching her try to hide while mocking how much she'd hit rock bottom.

"So, if you know who I am, what do you want with me? I would have assumed you were a reporter looking to exploit my sad story for an interesting exclusive. But considering how expensive this car is and how you look, I'm pretty sure you're not a reporter, am I wrong?" she asked, sizing him up.

He didn't look like a reporter to her because he had this classy and expensive aura around him that just screamed that he was a rich individual.

He chuckled. "Your story is sad, isn't it?" he responded, taking her aback with his remark.

"I know that I mentioned that my story was sad, but I certainly didn't need you to repeat it to me," she hissed sharply, feeling slightly embarrassed by his remark.

She had never really spoken to anyone, except Isabella, about what happened with Emily and Henry because it was an embarrassing story for her. The fact that he just threw it back in her face that her story was sad made her feel embarrassed and annoyed.

"I apologize if how I said it offended you, but well, your story is one of the reasons I'm here today. But before I explain anything else, allow me to introduce myself. You may or may not have heard of me, but my name's Ryan Marchetti and I am the CEO of Marchetti Construction," he introduced himself, leaving her momentarily speechless.

For the first few seconds after he introduced himself, she couldn't say anything because she was in complete shock. She may not have recognized the face, but there wasn't anybody in the country who wouldn't recognize that name.

Ryan Marchetti of Marchetti Construction was a very famous man, known for his anonymous nature and his business ethics.

She had formerly worked as a project manager for an advertising company, and that was when she was first introduced to the name. She was later introduced to the name again after she married Henry because Marchetti Construction was like the powerhouse construction company in the country, putting Henry's company in second place, and Ryan Marchetti was Henry's worst nightmare.

"If you're really Ryan Marchetti, that's all the more reason for me not to want to talk to you. I mean, why would you, of all people, want to have a conversation with me? What business do we have with each other?" she asked, genuinely confused.

He chuckled. "I know you don't think we have anything to say to each other, but contrary to what you're thinking, we do have something in common currently, and I have a proposal for you that you might be genuinely interested in," he answered.

"A proposal? What do you mean?" she questioned, not sure if it was a good idea to keep asking questions. She should be refusing to say anything else to him instead of questioning him, but for some reason, she couldn't help her curiosity.

"It's simple, Scarlet. I want us to use each other. I'll use you for my plans, and you'll use me for your revenge. How does that sound?" he responded, leaving her even more bewildered.

"Did anything you just said make any sense to you at all?" I asked with a look of disbelief on my face.

"What part doesn't make sense to you?" he responded.

I scoffed.

"Are you trying to pretend like you don't see anything wrong with what you just said? What do you mean by saying you want to use me? How did that sentence even make any sense to you?" I retorted, wondering if he was stupid or just pretending to be.

He mentioned that he wanted me to use him for my revenge and that he'd use me as well, and never in my life had I heard a statement that confusing.

"I can see why you would think that, but allow me to explain," he replied, not wanting me to think he was a weird man. "Don't ask me how, but I know everything that happened between you and your ex-husband Henry, and I also know that you want nothing more than to have your revenge. Now, as someone who sympathizes with you, I want to help you get your revenge," he explained, and I brows furrowed in confusion.

"Let me get this, Mr. Marchetti. You're saying that you sympathize with me, and you wish to help me get revenge? Me?" I inquired, trying to make sense of his words.

"That is exactly it. I'm someone who likes to be straightforward, so I'm going to be very direct with you. I understand that you feel a certain way about your sister and ex-husband getting married, and I would like to help you get rid of the anger you have in you, but of course, I also have my reasons for wanting to help you," he explained, and strangely, I was starting to find this conversation interesting.

I became curious to understand the thought process behind why he thought I could be of any help to him, and I also wanted to understand why he even intended to help me get revenge on Henry.

"I'm going to be honest with you; the more you say things, the more confused I get. I mean, I have an idea, but I'm curious to understand where you're getting at. Don't get me wrong, though; this doesn't mean I have any interest in going along with whatever crazy idea you have, but I do want to hear you out," I replied.

"That is understandable. I'm just telling you directly that I would like to help you get your revenge on Henry and Emily; that is, of course, if you'd like me to help."

"And why do you think that I want revenge on them? What made you think that I'd be interested in getting back at them?" I asked.

He sighed. "I'm not somebody who makes such moves without properly investigating the people involved, and knowing the kind of person you are, I think it's most likely that you'd want to get your revenge. I'm just offering you a perfect opportunity to do just that," he responded, and I could tell by his tone that he was confident.

"Hmm, interesting. What if I don't want to? What if I'd just prefer to move on with my life?"

"No offense, but if you had any intentions of just moving on with your life and pretending like nothing happened, you wouldn't have foolishly come here," he replied.

I initially wanted to be offended that he had indirectly called me foolish, but knowing that he had a point, I decided not to be.

"Listen, I know my approach is quite unusual, and it's understandable if it makes you uncomfortable, but I can assure you that I don't mean any harm, and I'm just offering a way for both of us to help each other," he added.

"And how would I be of help to you? Why would you want to help me take revenge on Henry?" I asked.

"I have scores to settle with your ex-husband, and I intend to use you to settle those scores. To put it more bluntly, your anger towards Henry is beneficial to me, and as the saying goes, there's nothing more dangerous than a scornful woman," he responded, and I didn't know when I let out a dry, bitter laugh.

I may not have been offended when he called me foolish earlier, but it certainly did not feel good to hear him refer to me as a scornful woman. It felt as though he just stepped on the last bit of pride I had left.

"You know, we just met today, and you've already referred to me as a foolish person and a scornful woman. Don't you think your use of words is a little extreme?" I complained.

"I'm sorry if my words offended you, but I'm just trying to be as honest as possible because I don't like to beat around the bush. Henry is a thorn in my flesh, and there is nothing that I want more than to get rid of him. I also know that you would like to get back at him for what he did to you, which is why I want you to accept my offer," he explained.

I could tell that his tone changed when he mentioned Henry's name, and that confirmed to me that he and Henry must not get along because he sounded pissed just by mentioning his name.

I wasn't surprised that Henry had many enemies because he was not exactly the best at making friends and being polite. I was also curious to know why Ryan disliked him so much and what he could have done to get him to hate him to the point where he approached his ex-wife for a revenge collaboration.

"So, are we going to be like a Henry Jones hate club or something?" I questioned, and he chuckled, showing off a smile for the first time since I met him.

'Oh, the man is gorgeous!' I thought to myself, as his strong facial features almost made me forget that I was still an angry, bitter divorcee.

"Hate club? I don't think so. I'd like to think we'd just be two people putting an undeserving bastard in his place," he responded, and I almost chuckled at how silly his response was.

"I can understand why I'd want revenge, but how can I decide to work with you when your reason still isn't clear?" I pointed out.

"Henry and I are rivals. We're both in the same line of work, and that gives me more than enough reason to have a problem with him. I'll admit, though, that I do have a specific reason why I suddenly want to get rid of him, but for confidentiality reasons, I can only give you the full details if you agree to my request," he explained, and I couldn't argue with that since it was understandable.

"So, let's say I agree to your request. How exactly are you going to help me get revenge?" I asked.

"First things first, we'd get married," he responded, and that had to be the most unexpected response I had ever received to a question.

I was not expecting him to suddenly mention anything about marriage, especially since he knew that I only recently got divorced and the last thing I would be interested in was getting married again.

"Was that a joke?" I asked, hoping that it was.

"I don't make such expensive jokes. I know you were not expecting that reply, but hear me out. There is a lot I can't explain right now, but if you agree to partner up with me, you and I will get married first, which would be my first step in helping you. I am a man with an impeccable reputation and, status-wise, I am superior to Henry. Wouldn't marrying me also make you superior to him and your family?" he responded, and I was shocked.

I was still and quiet for a while because I didn't know how to respond to that. True to his words, he was superior to Henry in both looks and status, and marrying a man like him would put me way up there on the social ladder.

Ryan was a freaking billionaire, a man who looked and smelled like money, and having such a man as my husband would make me an object of pure envy. Now, as good as that sounded, I wasn't interested in being on top of the social ladder. I had never liked to be the center of attention, and I didn't think I could deal with always being in the public eye.

"Is that superiority going to help me ruin the people who betrayed me?" I retorted.

"What do you think? Is there anything you can do to get back at them in your current state? Won't marrying me make you powerful enough to pull them down?"

"Fair enough," I responded, understanding where he was coming from.

"I won't pressure you into accepting my request because I know it's a difficult decision. I'll give you time to think things over, and when you finally make up your mind, kindly let me know, and we'll proceed immediately," he said, handing me his business card, and I simply stared at it.

I wanted revenge against Henry and Emily, but just like Ryan had said, there was nothing I could do on my own, and he was currently the only way available to achieve what I wanted.

Now the question was, can I marry a stranger who regards me as nothing but a spiteful ex-wife?