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.

My footsteps gave me away. They were still pressed close, reluctant to let go—then they saw me, and the color drained from both their faces. They sprang apart.

The fans below were livid. “God, you just won't go away, will you? How desperate can you get!”

My parents and their whole group, who'd just been escorted out again, had all filtered back in.

The fans were riled up, hurling insults at me.

Ruby looked flustered, caught off guard.

But deep down she believed I couldn't leave her, and that gave her all the confidence she needed.

“What's wrong? You're the one chasing me. Who I kiss is none of your business.”

I clapped my hands. Security flooded in through the doors, and every last one of those fans was “escorted” to their feet.

“If you still want to stay at my wedding, you can stand. Your influencer didn't spend a cent on seats for any of you.”

One look from me and someone pulled Ruby and Sebastian down from the stage too.

Ruby screamed：“You can't marry anyone! Miles, you love me this much and you'd really stoop this low?!”

The staff cleared the wreckage in record time.

The emcee picked up the program. “Now, please welcome the bride!”

Ruby scoffed, arms folded across her chest. “I'm not marrying you today. Let's see how you finish this little show.”

She and Sebastian glared at me with open contempt.

Phones shot back up across the room, every lens aimed at the stage.

“What an embarrassment. I'd love to see where he pulls a bride from if Ruby won't have him.”

The doors swung wide, and a woman in a wedding gown walked slowly inside.

I took the bouquet and walked toward her.

Ruby charged forward in disbelief. “You've lost your mind! Just because I said no, you dragged some random woman in here?!”

She dropped her voice low, just for me：“I'm carrying your child. I won't let you marry her!”

I shoved her off hard. “You know exactly whose bastard that is.”

“Ruby, you're a married woman. What right do you have to tell me not to marry?”