“Miles, that new skincare your assistant bought me is terrible. Tell her to get the expensive one again.”

Something about the way she looked made me lose focus for a second.

There was a time when Ruby Dickerson lit up over a ten-dollar bouquet of roses I'd bought her.

My expression darkened. “Ask your baby's father to buy it.”

Ruby froze.

I caught the flash of panic across her face, and my chest seized with a sharp, ugly pain.

Back in that cramped studio apartment, she'd given herself to me willingly.

She told me that even if the whole world threw me away, she'd still be right beside me.

She told me the father of her children would only ever be me.

Ruby faked annoyance. “What are you even talking about? You are the father of my baby.”

She wrapped her arms around my waist, pressed herself against me, then slipped into the master bedroom.

“Can't do that during the first few months. Separate rooms tonight. Good night!”

The door shut behind her. My phone lit up.

I'd set up a home security app on her phone just minutes ago. Their messaging app chat window was mirroring to my screen in real time.

【He's still mad I won't marry him. Now he won't even claim the baby.】

【Had to hug him a few times to calm him down. Made my skin crawl.】

【Hang in there babe. We already got our courthouse marriage, remember? If he touches you, we'll sue.】

My hands were shaking.

I had never once doubted either of them. In front of me, those two always acted like they couldn't stand each other.

I saved every screenshot, then spent the rest of the night pulling up every home security camera in the house. Every room. Every corner. They'd been in nearly all of them.

I doubled over the trash can and threw up until my stomach was empty, eyes raw and stinging, tears running down my face that I couldn't stop.

I drove through the night to the woman's place and held out my hand.

“Will you marry me?”

The next morning, fans packed the entrance of the biggest hotel in Riverton for Ruby Dickerson's singlehood wedding event.

Ruby stepped out of the bridal car in a white gown.

She saw me standing at the hotel entrance, and the color drained from her face.

“Didn't I tell you not to come? If my fans see you here, everything's ruined.”

Once she went inside, I watched the message she fired off to Sebastian.

【His money will be ours eventually. The man's a lovesick idiot. He can't survive without me.】

I smiled coldly and killed the screen.

I followed the crowd inside and walked straight up to the emcee's side onstage.

Ruby frowned. “What do you think you're doing?”

I half-smiled at her, all teeth and no warmth. “This venue's booked under my name, paid with my money. You tell me what I'm doing.”

I turned to face the crowd below. ：“Welcome, everyone, to my wedding.”

The look on Ruby's face curdled. “I can't have a wedding with you. You'll destroy my career.”

She turned to the audience and laughed. “This is my friend. He's just joking around.”

Down in the front row, Sebastian Delgado sat in the most prominent seat in the house, wearing a couture suit.

That suit was worth millions. I'd barely gotten my hands on it myself, but he asked twice and I handed it over.

Because I thought he was my brother.

Ruby pointed to a seat crammed in a back corner. “Sit over there.”

I didn't move from the stage.

A faint smugness crossed her face. She turned to her fans and friends below. ：“Just a suitor of mine. The man is obsessed.”

Applause erupted. “Our Ruby is just that irresistible! But boys, hands off the queen!”

The people who actually knew what Ruby and I were to each other just sat there, faces tight, not a word between them.

They were all major players in the business world. Ruby had invited them using my name.

For years they'd tried to set me up with their daughters, and every time I'd turned them down.

I'd talked about Ruby like she hung the moon. Every word I'd ever said about her was coming back to hit me in the face now, twice as hard.

They stood up. “Ms. Dickerson, if this is your singlehood wedding, then there's no reason for us to be here.”

Her fans erupted instantly.

“What's that supposed to mean? Sticking up for this pathetic clingy loser?”

Ruby turned her back to the crowd and grabbed at me. “Miles, if they leave, I'll be all over social media getting torn apart.”

Her fingers tugged at the hem of my jacket, shaking it back and forth.

But when her fans called me a pathetic loser, she didn't say a word.

I turned to the business partners who'd stood up for me：“Stay. Sit down. You didn't bring gift money for nothing. Today really is my wedding.”

Ruby pinched my arm hard. “That's not what this is! Do you have to marry me today? Come on, Miles.”

Sebastian suddenly stood. “Miles, a man's supposed to have some class. Since when are you this overbearing?”

I looked at him and smiled. Finally showing his true face.

My son had told me what happened after Ruby and Sebastian worked together to drain me dry. They didn't live happily ever after.

Sebastian only wanted to use her to steal my money.

Once he had it, he burned through everything—kept pretty actresses around, then married some young college girl on the side. Ruby and the child were swept out the door.

“You really think I'd love a woman Miles Henson already used up? Who even knows whose kid a slut like you is carrying.”

So now Sebastian was standing up for her. The only reason was simple: my money still wasn't in his pocket yet, but Ruby's influencer income—hundreds of thousands a month—was already landing in his account.

“Overbearing?”

I let out a cold laugh.

A large group of people swept through the hotel entrance. I smiled and greeted them.

Ruby went pale. “Why is your whole family here? I'm not joking around, Miles. I am not marrying you today.”

I waved my parents to their seats.

Ruby's fans lost it. “He's forcing her to marry him! Freeloader!”

Security was already asking them to vacate their seats. The fans refused. “What the hell is this? We're calling the cops!”

Ruby was seething. “Miles, do you have to cause a scene today? I'll make it up to you with a wedding later, all right?”

She shoved me back and screamed at the crowd below：“He's an obsessive pursuer who's been pressuring me to marry him! I never agreed, and now he's trying to force it!”

Her fans rallied behind her, some of them already shoving my family members.

My parents came up to me. “Miles, what……what's going on here?”

They glanced at Ruby a few times but didn't dare say anything.

My parents had met Ruby before. Every time, she'd been sweet, warm, attentive. Now she was pointing in their faces and screaming：“What kind of parents raised a son like this?!”

My parents were getting older. All they wanted was to see me married, to have grandchildren.

I steadied them. “Go sit back down.”

Ruby's fans wouldn't give up their seats, so my family ended up shuffled to other tables at the edges of the room. Dishes were brought out and set down in front of them there.

Sebastian came up onto the stage too. He leaned close to my ear.

“Miles, what's gotten into you today?”

I shook him off and gave him one long look.

“Funny. You're dressed just like the groom.”

His expression locked up. “What are you talking about? Ruby said I should come as her public rival. That way I can sit in the audience and the fans won't get suspicious.”

The emcee opened his mouth. “Welcome, everyone, to the wedding of Miles Henson.”

Ruby and Sebastian traded a look.

Down below, the fans exploded. Phones were already up, livestreaming the whole thing to tear me apart.

“This guy's a CEO and he pulls this? Disgusting. This is what money and power look like when they think they can buy a person.”

“Our Ruby can take care of herself! Get lost! Get lost!”

My assistant called in a panic—people were flooding in reports against the company.

The livestream chat was nothing but abuse.

Someone had already photoshopped my face onto a funeral portrait and blasted it across every platform.

【Wanted a marriage certificate? Here's your memorial photo instead. Go die.】

Ruby scrolled through post after post. Not a single word in my defense.

“Honey……can you please stop making a scene?”

The guests were shifting in their seats. “What's going on here? He didn't even work this out with the bride first, and he's trying to get married?”

Her fans chanted：“Get off! Get off!”

The chanting kept going.

I still didn't say a word.

Half an hour. That's all it would take for my bride to finish her makeup and arrive.

I turned to the guests. “The bride and I have already talked this through. We've got our marriage certificate.”

Ruby and Sebastian both looked stunned. Especially Ruby.

She stepped forward. “Sweetheart, how could you lie to them like that? Faking a marriage certificate is a crime. You could go to jail.”

The second before her fingers could touch it, I passed the certificate to my parents.

They ran their thumbs over the photo. “This girl is beautiful.”

Ruby's lips curled when she heard that. “Calm down, okay? We'll get married quietly in a little while. Just give me some face today.”

She shoved at me, trying to push me off the stage. “Alright, enough of this. I guess I'm just too irresistible.”

Her fans rolled their eyes. “How embarrassing. Faking a marriage certificate? Even teenage fangirls don't pull stunts like that anymore.”

A glass of wine hit me full in the face. It ran down, soaking through my suit.

I raised a hand and wiped the wine from my face. “Sebastian. What do you mean by that?”

He wore his best righteous expression. “How can you bully a woman like this? I never should have given you money to start that company—all it did was let you do harm!”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“So he built his whole business off his buddy's money. What an ungrateful piece of work.”

“The guy standing up for Ruby is probably her boyfriend, right? I remember her saying she'd date when she felt like it.”

Where no one else could see, Sebastian leaned in close and whispered：“You're usually so clear-headed. Why did you have to make a scene today? You and Ruby have such a good thing. I can't just stand by and watch you two fall apart over this.”

I shoved him hard and walked out the door.

Behind me, the fans got in their parting shots. “Ran off like a stray dog with his tail between his legs. Pathetic.”

Outside, I had my assistant bring a fresh suit.

My phone was already lighting up.

【Three minutes until arrival at the venue.】

My son had sent a message too.

【That Ruby Dickerson also stole company secrets and gave them to Sebastian. He sold them to your competitor. That's a crime too.】

I handed every file, every piece of evidence, to the AV crew backstage.

“When I give the signal, you put these up on the big screen. One by one.”

I straightened my tie and walked back into the venue in long, steady strides.

The doors swung open. Ruby was already up on stage, dancing with easy grace.

Sebastian was her partner.

The fans below were going wild, cheering with everything they had.

“Ruby, this guy's pretty cute! And he knows how to treat you. Honestly, just lock him down!”

They were deep in it now, Sebastian's arm wrapped around Ruby's waist, the two of them pressed close with zero daylight between them.

Ruby laughed and called down to the crowd：“Watch and learn, girls! What matters most is having a good time while you can—especially with men. If he's fun, play with him a little.”

She grabbed Sebastian's collar, yanked it down, and pressed her lips to his.