The officiant hadn't even begun our vows when my fiancé, Jeremy Nichols, pulled his childhood sweetheart, Callie Wilson, into his arms.

Drunk and rowdy, the groomsmen started chanting, "Kiss! Kiss!"

In front of all our guests, Jeremy and Callie shared a passionate kiss that stretched on for a solid minute. They only broke apart when the officiant coughed awkwardly and gasps echoed through the crowd.

Afterward, Jeremy brushed it off, telling me it was just a harmless prank among friends.

His childhood sweetheart played innocent, telling me not to take it to heart.

Smiling, I took off my veil and handed it to her.

"I don't mind at all. In fact, congratulations on your marriage."

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1

I noticed Callie's bridesmaid dress—a custom Vera Wang—wasn't just pure white; it was a near-perfect replica of my own wedding gown.

So when she slipped on my veil, she looked every bit the bride.

I took his hand, then hers, and placed them together.

"If you'd like, I can even be your witness."

The groomsmen's roaring laughter died instantly, and the air turned to ice.

Callie gazed up at Jeremy, her eyes brimming with adoration and tears.

"Oh, Jeremy, what have we done? I think Sloane is angry with us."

"Sloane, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen, I never..."

Jeremy's face darkened as he shielded her behind him.

"I told you, it was a joke. Don't be unreasonable."

His friends chimed in, rushing to his defense.

"Come on, Sloane, Jeremy is crazy about you. We were just messing around."

I stared at the handsome face that had once captivated me, now etched with concern for another woman, and the entire charade felt utterly meaningless.

If he truly cared about me, he wouldn't have let his childhood sweetheart show up to our wedding as a bridesmaid in a pure white dress.

And he certainly wouldn't have pulled her into his arms and kissed her in the middle of our Napa Valley vineyard ceremony.

Even now, a faint, self-satisfied smirk lingered on his lips.

I waved a dismissive hand.

"It's fine. Better to see the truth now. Go on, take your bride and get out of my sight."

With that, I strode toward the main gate.

Suddenly, a powerful grip seized my wrist.

Jeremy's face was terrifyingly dark.

"Haven't you made enough of a scene? Don't forget, this wedding is holding together the merger of our family empires!"

He was right.

I was the one who had pushed for this marriage.

Seven years ago, during an architectural design competition, he had given me his full support. I'd been utterly smitten with him ever since.

It took an instant to fall in love, but only a second to fall out of it.

I forced a smile, but my eyes were ice-cold.

"Don't worry. I'll never use our marriage to tie you down again."

The pressure on my wrist tightened, his voice turning frigid.

"Everything is set for the wedding, and you want to cancel now? Are you taking me for a fool?"

I glanced to the side and saw a faint smile flicker across Callie's face.

"Besides, this whole wedding was decorated to her taste, wasn't it? Champagne roses, her favorite, everywhere. Not the white lilies I prefer. So, it's perfect. The two of you can have it."

Callie immediately burst into tears.

"Sloane, I just wanted to help you... It's all my fault, I didn't consider that you might not like it..."

Jeremy cut her off.

"Ignore her. Your intentions were good; you have nothing to apologize for."

As he spoke, their hands found each other, clasping tightly.

I let out a self-deprecating laugh and strode past them.

Jeremy's cold threat followed me.

"Let her go! She'll just come crying and begging me to take her back!"

This time, he had seriously miscalculated.

I called a car and went to the nearest hotel.

I peeled off the wedding dress, scrubbed off my makeup, and sank into a hot bath.

By the time I finally felt like myself again, I realized my phone had been blowing up with messages.

Everyone was asking where I was.

Jeremy had sent a series of voice messages.

They were all threats—if I didn't show up in the next half hour, he would have the media paint me as a crazy, runaway bride.

I replied with a simple, decisive "OK."

A second later, his call came through.

The moment I answered, he was yelling:

"Sloane Ashford, have you lost your mind? Have I been too good to you? If you're not back at the venue in half an hour, the engagement is off!"

Just then, room service arrived with my new clothes.

I couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

"We were over two hours ago."

Not long after I hung up, Jeremy appeared at my hotel room door with Callie in tow.

No surprise there. The Nichols family owned nearly every luxury hotel in the city. I wasn't shocked he'd found me.

When he saw me in a bathrobe, my hair still dripping and my face bare, his expression twisted.

"Sloane Ashford! The reception is about to start! Are you planning to go dressed like that?"

I looked at him like he was insane.

"Well, since you wouldn't have me as your witness, I decided to skip the wedding."

He sucked in a sharp breath, a vein throbbing at his temple. He was furious.

"So you really have no intention of going through with this, do you?"

Callie's voice was a practiced blend of feigned grievance and barely concealed triumph.

"Sloane, today is your big day. Both your families are here. How can you be so selfish? Think of how embarrassing this will be for Jeremy."

I gave her a cold look.

"Then why don't you marry him? Just swap out the names in the vows. You won't even need a rehearsal."

She immediately covered her face and began to sob.

She kept muttering that it was all her fault.

It was clear he was pained to see her so upset.

He was about to lash out at me when his phone rang.

It was probably the family elders, calling to hurry them along. He gave them a quick, clipped response, then reined in his anger to persuade me.

"About the kiss this morning, I apologize. After we're married, I promise I'll make it up to you."

"That black card you've always wanted? It's yours. I'll have it sent over."

So he did remember.

But he still gave Callie the ring he should have proposed to me with, letting her flaunt it all over social media.

I should have seen it then. They were the real couple all along.

Seeing that I was unmoved, he licked his lips and leaned in to kiss me.

"You're just jealous I kissed Callie, aren't you? Fine. I'll make it up to you now."

The familiar, intimate scent of him turned my stomach, and I instinctively recoiled.

But he paid no attention, his grip like a vise.

He didn't let go until my lip split and I tasted blood.

I slapped him, hard, across the face.

"You're disgusting!"

My whole body was trembling.

Tears I couldn't control streamed down my face.

My shout stunned him, his expression frozen in shock.

"You think I'm disgusting?"

I laughed through my tears.

"You kiss another woman and then you try to kiss me? If that's not disgusting, what is?"

The next second, Callie appeared, dressed in the exclusive, custom Zuhair Murad evening gown that was supposed to have been mine.

"Jeremy, look, this gown is so beautiful. It fits me perfectly, not too big or too small. It's like it was made for me."

I clearly saw a flash of admiration in Jeremy's eyes.

Callie is my height, but she weighs ten pounds less than I do.

In the past, she'd often made subtle and not-so-subtle jabs about my weight.

Jeremy used to remind me that my figure couldn't compare to hers.

When this gown was commissioned, Callie was the one who finalized the details with the brand.

If the dress fit her perfectly, it meant she had ordered it for herself from the start. No wonder it had taken two assistants to wrestle me into it when I'd tried it on.

There was no way Jeremy didn't know.

Even today, when he came to pick up the bride... he wasn't really there for me, was he? He was there for her.

Bile rose in my throat. I hated myself for being so blind.

I looked at the perfectly matched pair in the full-length mirror and clapped slowly.

"A gown always looks best on the right person."

Callie feigned surprise, her eyes instantly welling with tears.

"Sloane, I wasn't trying to steal your gown. I'll go change right now."

Jeremy's gaze never left her.

I grabbed my clothes and headed for the door.

"You two can have the room. Consider it your honeymoon suite."

"Let's go, Callie! Let Sloane cool off by herself!"

Jeremy gripped Callie's hand, and the force of his abrupt turn sent me sprawling to the floor.

He didn't even look back.

Of course, he didn't see the triumphant smirk on Callie's face.