After Iris Miller ditches me at the altar for the seventh time just to be with her childhood sweetheart, Aaron Trent, the Millers personally show up on my doorstep so that they can apologize to me properly.

"We'll add on another 11 pounds of gold, three buildings in the south-western district, and nine stores located in prime locations of the city center on top of the current list of wedding gifts in order to make it up to you."

Before Daniel Miller is done speaking, Iris, who's listening to the conversation from her phone, lets out a light scoff.

"As if Jasper deserves all these gifts. Believe me when I say I'll have him eating out of the palm of my hand with just a pebble I randomly pick up on the street. Grandpa, I might as well invest these wedding gifts in Aaron's art gallery."

Daniel quickly ends the call before looking at me in embarrassment.

Soft mocking laughter rings out around me. Everyone is waiting for me to quietly endure all the humiliation, just like before.

But I've already received such compensation six times in the past. I'm no longer interested in them. Heck, I'm no longer interested in Iris as well.

After thinking for a moment, I glance at the crowd with a raised brow, where I find myself staring at Taylor Miller, Iris' most hated half-sister due to her illegitimate lineage.

"Mr. Miller Senior, you mentioned that whoever I marry will become the future heiress of the Miller family. This promise still stands, right?"

It's fine if Iris refuses to marry me. Plenty of women are dying to marry me anyway.

Bewilderment crossed everyone's faces when they realized that I wasn't joking. After all, this wasn't the first time that Iris Miller had stood me up at the altar.

I had never mentioned wanting to call off the engagement. Not even when the Swanson family was ridiculed for six months after headlines like "The Heir of the Swanson Family Cheated on Again!" were plastered all over the news.

Iris' grandfather, Daniel Miller, immediately stepped forward to comfort me. "Iris just isn't thinking straight. Please wait a moment…"

He then called Iris again. However, he barely got a word in before she interrupted him.

"Stop lying to me. Jasper will never call off our engagement, no matter how angry he is at me. Besides, it's not like I'm breaking up with him. I'm just accompanying Aaron for now. I'll come back after he feels better."

Aaron Trent's voice echoed from the receiver. "I'm also testing him for you, Iris. If he's still willing to marry you even after you abandoned him so many times, it'll prove that his love for you is true."

The corner of my lips twitched as I listened to Iris' and Aaron's banter.

"Are you that confident that I'll keep waiting for you?" I asked.

Iris paused, seemingly not expecting me to be standing within earshot. She softened her voice and said, "Aaron's parents passed when he was young, Jasper. He treats me as the only family that he has left. It makes sense that he can't accept the fact that I'm getting married.

"Why don't we postpone our wedding for now? We can have the ceremony after Aaron comes to terms with reality."

Wasn't it enough that we had already postponed the wedding six times?

When Iris and I had first become a couple, Aaron had immediately returned to the country to cause a fuss.

Iris had stubbornly insisted that she only treated Aaron as a brother. However, she eventually caused me to become the laughingstock of Olsana because of her dear "brother".

Daniel sounded incredibly frustrated when he exclaimed, "There are still three hours left before the wedding starts! I've already bought a plane ticket for you. Come back here right now!

"There are so many reporters camping outside, waiting for the next big scoop. Did you ever stop to consider what a difficult position you've forced Jasper into?"

"I…"

The hesitation in Iris' voice was clear.

My heart throbbed.

Aaron swiftly interjected, saying, "I already bought the movie tickets, Iris. I'll ask another woman to accompany me if you leave. Besides, you don't actually care about me, do you?"

"No!" Iris shouted in panic and frustration.

Her voice was colored with helplessness when she said, "I really can't leave, Jasper. You've dealt with this sort of situation plenty of times. I'm sure you'll be able to handle this one too."

Her careless words made it seem as if the humiliation and mocking that I was forced to endure in front of the cameras were utterly insignificant.

My heart ached terribly. I couldn't help myself and barked out a bitter laugh, saying, "Do whatever you want."

It no longer mattered to me whether Iris returned.

Iris was so distracted by her thoughts of staying by Aaron's side that she failed to notice that something was amiss. "Be good. Don't be angry. I even bought a present for you."

She then sent a photo to me, showing off a watch that dangled from her fingers.

I knew that the watch belonged to Aaron. It seemed that I had turned into a trash can for his unwanted items.

I still remembered the first present that Iris had ever given me. It was a men's watch with a light brown strap.

Although brown was my least favorite color, I had cherished the watch like a precious treasure simply because she had given it to me.

One day, when I sent the watch to the shop for maintenance, I discovered that Aaron was the previous owner by tracking the serial number.

Iris hadn't shown even a hint of guilt when I questioned her.

"I'm not good at picking out presents, so I asked Aaron to help me," she had replied. "Stop being so petty."

She claimed that she was bad at choosing presents. However, everyone in Olsana knew that she would book the most expensive observation deck by the beach just so Aaron could enjoy the extravagant fireworks show that she prepared every year for his birthday.

She would also get her hands on rare collector's items that only appeared in auctions and allow Aaron to have his pick.

In comparison, the effort that Iris spent on me wasn't even a fraction of the effort that she spent on Aaron.

Even at that moment, she wasn't bothered enough to buy something new for me to temporarily appease me.

Aaron also didn't pick out the mocking edge in my voice. "I chose the present that Iris gave you," he said provokingly. "Do you like it? No need to thank me."

Aaron laughed smugly as he urged Iris to hang up.

A look of remorse crossed Daniel's face. He was too embarrassed to continue convincing me to wait for Iris.

"Are you sure you want to choose Taylor? Her history—"

I interrupted him before he could say more. I took a deep breath and stared into Taylor Miller's dark eyes, saying, "I choose her."

Mom had once told me that she had seen Taylor at an exclusive and private auction. Although it was undeniable that she was an illegitimate child, she was certainly not as simple as Daniel thought her to be.

Besides, the time had come for me to choose between love and profit.

Since we had to order a new wedding dress, Taylor and I agreed to postpone the wedding to next week.

A flurry of complicated emotions flickered in Daniel's eyes. He let out a long sigh and said, "I'll announce that we're changing the successor of the Miller family on the day of the wedding."

…

Since I now had a new bride, it was only natural that I had to change some other things as well.

When I went to the jewelry store to purchase a new wedding ring, I accidentally bumped into Iris and Aaron, who had just returned to the country.

Iris' smile faded a little when we made eye contact.

"I have to give it to you, Jasper. I didn't expect you to be able to convince Grandpa to freeze my cards. I hate it the most when someone tries to force me into doing something. Don't think for even a second that I'll marry you just because I'm back in the country!" she spat, irritation flickering in her eyes.

Her tone turned colder. "Did you also intentionally track me down? Did you come here to confront me?"

Aaron lightly pinched her cheek. "He's madly in love with you. How can you be so cruel?" he asked helplessly.

He then took her hand, completely ignoring the fact that I was standing right before them. He arched his eyebrow and grinned at me, saying, "It's my fault for spoiling Iris rotten. Don't take her words to heart. Don't worry. I'll set her straight before I hand her over to you."

Iris allowed Aaron to drape himself over her, looking at him with an adoring expression.

Yet in the past, when I tried to hold her hand while we were shopping, she had silently retracted her hand. She had said, "There are so many people looking. It makes me uncomfortable."

It turned out that Iris' discomfort only made itself known when I was the one who was trying to show her affection.

I took a deep breath and suppressed my turbulent emotions. "Don't worry. I won't force you to marry me."

Iris was briefly stunned by my words. The sales assistant approached me just as a frown appeared on her face.

"I've packed up the wedding ring that you selected, Mr. Swanson."

Iris scoffed and arched her eyebrow. "You've already picked out a wedding ring. Why are you still lying about not wanting to marry me?"

She grabbed my hand before continuing, "Put it on. Let me see whether it's a good fit."

The rest of her words died on her tongue when her gaze landed on the ring mark around my finger that hadn't fully faded yet. Her breath hitched before she asked, "Where's the ring that I gave you?"

"I threw it away," I answered calmly.

In fact, I threw it away the very same day I changed brides.

The ring had been the first gift that Iris had given me. Our initials had been carved on the inner side.

Iris, who had been spoiled and carried herself with a haughty demeanor all her life, had been as red as a beet when she roughly shoved the ring into my hand.

"I personally carved our initials on the inner ring," she had said. "I won't forgive you if you lose it."

However, in the end, she was the one who lost her ring first.

Iris had awkwardly averted her gaze when I fished out the damaged ring from the trash, saying, "Aaron got drunk and made a fuss about wanting to look at it. I don't know how it ended up that way. Just throw it away. I'll make a new one when the time comes."

I waited for a long time, but she didn't make a new ring even after the mark around her finger faded.

Iris frowned deeply as she glared in irritation at my empty finger.

"Can you stop causing a fuss now? I'm not going to go back on my word since I already told you that I'm going to marry you. There's no need for you to play hard to get."

A hint of glee flickered in Aaron's eyes. He suddenly pointed at the ring box I was holding and exclaimed, "That's the newest, limited edition design! I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet!"

Iris' furrowed brow smoothed out. She snatched the ring box from me and handed it to Aaron, saying, "Here. Why don't you try it on?"

Aaron's eyes lit up. He was just about to untie the ribbon when I grabbed his wrist.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you're not supposed to touch other people's things without their permission?" I hissed icily.

Although I barely exerted any force, Aaron suddenly grabbed his wrist and began screaming in pain.

Iris immediately panicked and shoved me aside. She didn't spare me a single glance, even when her sharp nails left long scratches along my arm.

"I just wanted to take a look. Why did you have to squeeze my wrist so hard?" Aaron whined.

Iris' heart ached terribly. She turned on me and shouted, "You crossed the line, Jasper!"

I barked out a bitter laugh as I held my arm.

The outcome was always the same. Iris would always unconditionally take Aaron's side as soon as he opened his mouth.

Suppressing the bitter sensation spreading through me, I held out my hand and demanded, "That's my wedding ring. Give it back to me!"

Iris' expression darkened. She pressed the ring box into Aaron's palm and said, "This design isn't suitable for a wedding ring. Choose another one."

It was a flimsy excuse. I knew that she just wanted me to give in to Aaron's whims yet again.

Besides, I wasn't marrying her. She had no right to tell me that the design wasn't suitable.

Just as I was about to inform Iris that she was no longer my bride, she pulled Aaron to his feet and snapped impatiently, "I don't want to hear your excuses! If you keep harassing Aaron, I'll have no choice but to seriously consider whether our relationship is worth maintaining."

I barked out a self-deprecating laugh as I watched her storm away with resolute steps.

"You don't have to do that, Iris," I thought to myself. "I've already made the decision for you."

…

Rumors of Iris and Aaron being glued to each other spread like wildfire through the city while I was preparing for the wedding.

Everyone was curious about how I would react.

In fact, someone had started a bet some time ago, betting on whether I would still marry Iris no matter how many times she stood me up.

Aaron bet all the money he had when he learned that the Swanson and Miller families were hosting a wedding again, hoping to earn a handsome profit.

Unfortunately for him, he would be losing all his money.

…

On the day of the wedding, I received a panicked call from my assistant right after I woke up.

"Bad news, Mr. Swanson! Ms. Iris brought her men with her and is trying to trash the wedding venue!"

It was one thing for her to abandon me time and time again. Why was she trying to stick her nose into my business when I was marrying someone else?

Suppressing my anger, I rushed to the hotel just in time to see Iris barking orders at the staff members to move the floral arrangements out of the hall.

I wasn't able to get a word in before she began interrogating me furiously.

"Didn't I tell you to postpone the wedding indefinitely? What are you doing? Are you trying to force me to marry you by having the ceremony without first getting my consent? Aaron was really upset because of what happened with the ring that day. We won't be getting married until we get his approval."

I stopped the staff members before they could leave the hall and hissed, "Put everything back."

Iris' expression darkened. "Don't you dare! Don't forget that I'm the successor of the Miller family. He still has to bend to my whims even after he marries me."

The successor?

It seemed that Iris still had no idea that she was going to be stripped of that title soon.

I was just about to call the Millers to tell them to take Iris away when Aaron suddenly appeared, dressed in a wedding tuxedo.

He tugged on his tie and said coyly, "I already told you that it's barely passable, but you just had to force me to put it on. Well, I've put it on now. I won't forgive you if you think that it looks ugly on me!"

He seemed to only notice me after he was done speaking. "Jasper, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Do I have to report to you when I'm going to my own wedding?" I asked mockingly, feeling irritated at the interrogative edge in his question. "Are you going to take off that tuxedo by yourself, or am I going to have to find someone to strip it off you?"

Iris' expression darkened as she shielded Aaron behind her. "You're being unreasonable, Jasper!"

Iris had tried to wreck my wedding, and Aaron had put on my tuxedo that took two years to make, and yet I was the unreasonable one?

I looked at the security guards, who were stationed by the door, and barked out my orders.

"Kick both of them out!"

Iris grabbed my wrist, her eyes burning with fury. "This wedding is hosted by the Millers. Why the hell are you acting as if you're the one who's calling the shots?"

She waved her hand and exclaimed, "Tear down everything in the hall and burn it all to ashes! I'm going to teach him a lesson he'll never forget!"

It was obvious that Iris had no idea that the Millers had taken the initiative to handle the wedding preparations to compensate me for her multiple transgressions against me.

The staff members also didn't know that Iris was no longer the successor, so they immediately leaped into action to carry out her orders.

I shot to my feet when I noticed a staff member moving a painting from one of the rooms.

"Put that painting down!" I shouted.