It was the day of our wedding trip, and my fiancee only hurried over to the airport at the last minute.

Right before we boarded, she got an urgent message from her male secretary. "Sorry, honey. There's a big project that needs my attention. Just showed up. You go ahead without me. I'll catch up once I'm done with work."

It was a shame, but work was important. "Yeah, I get it."

Then, I tore up the flight ticket after my fiancee was gone. My fiancee talking about a big project when I just bought the whole company hours earlier? Well, I'd like to see who was the idiot who worked around their new boss to talk to someone who did not exist.

Caught in the Act

I followed my fiance all the way to the multimillion-dollar hotel I gave her when we first started dating. It was to be our wedding spot, and the words printed on the welcome banner were now an eyesore.

'Congratulations on the wedding, Ms. Zoey Chandler and Mr. Bartholomew Lawson.'

On the perfectly decorated wedding photo was Zoey Chandler, beaming in a wedding gown. The guy who had his arm around her?

Not me.

Instead, it was Bartholomew, her male secretary, who texted her earlier.

That answered everything. No wonder she didn't want to hold a grand wedding. "I already have to put up with all the actors at work. All I want is a quiet wedding trip."

She went through the photoshoot, the wedding, and took the license with someone else. Before I went into the hotel, I grabbed a phone and made a call.

Then I took a seat with the best view. As the host made their announcement, Zoey's father came in holding her hand as they went on with the procession. Slowly, they stopped beside me. Bartholomew came from the other side, and he extended his hand toward Zoey solemnly.

As Zoey's father gave her daughter's hand to Bartholomew, and the couple was about to hold hands, I swung my leg at Zoey's calf, and she dropped to the ground headfirst. Her veil fell, and her bouquet scattered.

Even Bartholomew was pulled down.

Zoey was going to yell curses at me, but the moment she saw my face, she froze up like a statue.

Bartholomew kept asking her to pick him up, but she could not even look at him. She was panicking and still on the ground, and I asked, "Well, this is embarrassing. Are you waiting for my help?"

My voice shocked Bartholomew, and he looked at me in disbelief, his face white as a paper. He was going to hide behind Zoey, but Zoey's father pulled him back.

Benjamin Chandler was always the cunning one. He jabbed a finger at me haughtily and yelled enough for all the guests to hear, "You're still after my daughter, you homewrecker? I thought I chased you off at the entrance! How'd you get in?"

Everyone had their eyes on me.

"Yeah, he does not look like a good guy at all. I can see why he tried to wreck someone's family."

"Zoey is a loyal woman, and she loves Bart more than anything. No one can take her away."

"They’ve been together since middle school—practically grew up together. Right after she graduated and made money, she took Bart into her own place. She even made him a senior exec and helped her with the company. This guy thinks he can wreck that couple? Give me a break."

Childhood friends who've been together since middle school. No wonder. I kept nodding.

Zoey relentlessly pursued me back in college, and her persistence touched me when I was in my senior year, and I decided to go steady with her. That meant I was forced to be a homewrecker for three years.

There was a reason she pursued me even though she and Bartholomew were a couple. My father was the richest man around, and my mother was a diva. I had more money than most people could make in their lifetime.

Surrounded

Perfect. Just perfect.

I kicked Zoey down again. "You're calling me a homewrecker too?"

She shook her head fervently, guilt holding her down. Just when she was going to say something, Bartholomew jumped to her rescue, screaming. "Are you alright, Zoey?" He held her and gave her quiet messages with his eyes.

Zoey met his gaze and slowly calmed down. A calculating gleam flashed in her eyes.

Her relatives would not stand for this violence. "You can't hit her, you homewrecker!"

A guy rolled his sleeves up and raised his hand. Just when he was about to swing his fist, Zoey spoke up.

She no longer had that guilty look on her face.

"You've been harassing me for a whole year, Winston. I've said it a million times, no. I've told you I had a boyfriend. It's my big day today, and I will not let anyone ruin the wedding I spent so much time planning for Bart! Leave, or I'll call security!"

I met her gaze with a sneer. "Did you forget who gave you this hotel? You can't kick me out. Even if you can, that doesn't mean your dirty little secrets will be hidden forever."

Bartholomew held Zoey's hand and stepped forth. "Winston, I know you've always liked Zoey, and it hurts to see me marrying her. But the one she loves is me. You can't force love. We're getting married, and I don't want you to harass her anymore."

I was not surprised about these two, to be honest.

It was that discovery that led me to taking back the company I spent money and effort building for Zoey.

I had not told her that, of course. At first, I thought this was cruel and cold, and I wanted to give her one last chance.

Now I knew how wrong I was.

I was going to throw the reclamation papers into Zoey's face, but Benjamin came up with another wicked idea, and he raised his voice, "Oh, I know! You're that male secretary who tried to assault her! She told me about you!"

That nearly made me laugh, and I kicked Zoey's feet. "Really? Me, your secretary? Not fitting our status. Your father doesn't even know what his son-in-law does?"

A guy hurled a watermelon rind in my face. The hall erupted into laughter.

"You gold-digging swine! You don't even know how rich your target is? Zoey's a multimillionaire and a successful business owner with a list of companies! She has tons of supercars and mansions lying around!"

He added, "See this big and extravagant hotel? Zoey owns it! And Bart? He helps her handle all her companies and snagged loads of mega projects. He added millions to her companies' net worth and made them one of the world's top 100!"

Bartholomew, handling Zoey's companies, snagging deals, and raising their net worth so much they became one of the world's top companies?

Get real. I was the one who spent millions investing in her. I tapped into my folks' connections to help her network. I dealt with the clients to snag the deal, even though the appointments were beneath me.

I burned the midnight oil talking her through every project's completion, and I had to help her finish her job because she was limited by her extremely narrow scope and inexperience.

She was just a broke country girl who couldn't make enough for college tuition. Without my help, she'd never have made it on her own. Her kids would have to work to their bones.

Insult

My attitude rubbed someone the wrong way. They told Zoey, "I think you're too kind with your employees. A secretary shouldn't be messing with your wedding. The gall! I'd have fired him if I were you. Teach him a lesson!"

The other guests agreed right away. Zoey looked at me and started chastising me like I was her employee. "I can't keep you around anymore, not after this. But you've been a loyal man. You've worked hard. I'll assign you to a subsidiary. You won't really lose your job. But if you don't know your place, I will fire you!"

That got a lot of cheering from the crowd.

"That's a successful business owner for you! She gives second chances even to scum!"

I spat in the face of that offer and sneered. "You, firing me? I'd like to see you try. Go on!"

Someone sarcastically remarked, "Of course. Termination doesn't scare him. He can sell his body. Not like secretaries make much anyway."

Everyone gave me weird looks. Then, a greasy, half-naked guy leered at me. I saw him drool. "Nice bod, mate. I can do anything I want with you? How much for one time? I can't give you much. Not a rich guy. But I'm still Ms. Chandler's relative. How about a family discount?"

I glared at Zoey, my expression dark and stormy. "You're going to hide the truth and let them insult me how they want?"

Zoey paused for a moment, and she turned her head away. "Bart is my husband. I will not betray him. If you leave right now, nothing will happen."

Bartholomew looked smug, like he'd won. "I know you started this because you hate what's going on. Now you ruined your reputation and got nothing in return. If this were any other day, Zoey wouldn't have minded your extortion, but not on her wedding day. Yet she did not fire you even after you slandered her. She's done enough. Don't you have a conscience?"

Bartholomew shed tears for Zoey, and she quickly wiped them off with tissue paper.

Alright, this act was getting on my nerves. I slammed my foot into Bartholomew's back. He gasped and fell into Zoey's arms.

Her lover getting hit stoked Zoey's fury. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Winston?" She slapped me hard across the face.

I fell onto a table and was drenched with piping-hot gravy. It was greasy, and the liquid seeped through my summer clothes, scalding my skin all over.

Zoey ignored that and held Bartholomew in her arms. Shrilly, she barked, "Apologize to him right now or else!"

Bartholomew was gloating. I held down the burning pain and pushed myself up with my elbows, but that took everything I had.

I was wobbling, and her naked arms burned angrily. It was like a maw, laughing at the joke called my love. The pain scorched hotter with every passing moment, but my voice was colder than it had ever been.

"You dated me for three years and never told me you had a boyfriend. Now, you're holding your wedding in the hotel I gave you, and you also want me to apologize to him? What makes you think you can lord me around? Just because I gave you everything you asked? I can take everything away from you right now, you know."

That stunned Zoey.

The guests whispered among themselves.

"Do you think it's true? The relationship, the wedding, and the hotel gift to Zoey?"