I waited for my fiancé, Charlie Boyd, to arrive for the wedding, but the one who pushed the door open was Conrad Parker, the deranged son of his family’s chauffeur.

Amid the crowd’s mocking laughter, Charlie’s elegant secretary, Crystal Henderson, covered her mouth and said with a smirk, “Your future husband has come to pick you up. Shouldn’t you hurry off and marry him?”

“As for Mr. Boyd, I’ll make sure to keep him company today.”

Just then, Charlie strolled to the doorway with practiced nonchalance.

“It was just a prank. Why the sour face?

“That idiot is nothing but a lunatic. Just treat it like a childish game of make-believe.”

I met the amused gleam in his eyes and said calmly, “He came wearing a groom’s suit to pick up his bride—how could that be a game?”

“If we are marrying, then let it be a real ceremony.”

The scene stunned the bridesmaids around us.

“Charlie Boyd, Kendall Light is your fiancée! Are you going to let her marry someone else?”

“Marriage is a major life event—how could you turn it into a prank?”

Charlie let out a snort through his nose.

“We have no objections. Why are outsiders whining here?”

He sauntered into the room with lazy steps, his face glowing with the satisfaction of petty revenge.

“Last week you sent Crystal to the hospital, and she’s still heartbroken. You don’t think you shouldn’t pay a price?”

“Be obedient and marry that madman, or don’t think about being my fiancée again!”

Hearing his deranged accusations, I let out a breathless laugh.

Last week, his secretary, Crystal Henderson, had volunteered to deliver something to me.

Then, she rummaged through my office without permission and spilled coffee onto important documents, putting me at a disadvantage during the negotiations that followed and costing me a large profit for nothing.

Enraged, I reprimanded her.

Crystal fled in tears, ran into the corner wall, and scraped her arm.

Who knew Charlie would rush over, make a spectacle of it, and escort her to the hospital, after which he forced me to spend the whole night trying to apologize to Crystal before he finally let it go.

I had been deeply shaken.

After five years of dating and six months of wedding preparations, I endured it.

But today was the final straw.

Just because Crystal felt wronged, he chose to humiliate me publicly at my own wedding.

In front of all our guests—if I submitted, how could I ever hold my head up again?

Charlie’s expression brimmed with arrogance.

He believed I was hopelessly devoted to him and would never dare refuse.

He trampled my dignity just to coax a smile out of Crystal, and expected me to cooperate without complaint.

The love I had offered him for five years had already been exhausted.

I smiled faintly, then extended my hand toward the tall, striking man before me.

I clasped his warm, broad palm and asked, “Conrad Parker, will you want to marry me?”

Charlie’s face twisted into a frown, and he shouted, “What’s this stunt you’re pulling?

“I only told you to hold a ceremony with him in the church—I didn’t tell you to actually marry him!”

Crystal leaned sweetly against Charlie and said in a coy voice, “Don’t fall for it. Kendall has always wanted to be Mrs. Boyd.

“She just wants the name.

“If you give in once, you’ll have to do it for the rest of your life.”

A look of sudden realization flashed in Charlie’s eyes, quickly turning into smug pride.

“After the ceremony, change into another dress. A wedding gown tainted by a madman is filthy!”

Before I could speak, he wrapped an arm around Crystal’s waist and squeezed her hip with a laugh.

“Kendall is going to the church with the madman. I’m not interested in the show. I’m heading to the office for a meeting!”

He strode out laughing, not sparing me a single glance.

I stayed seated on the wedding bed, a coldness blooming in my chest.

Suddenly, a warm presence enveloped me.

Conrad had leaned down as he gently embraced me.

Startled, I met his eyes.

He gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“Yes, I do. I will marry you.”

His expression was pure and innocent, full of childlike simplicity.

He didn’t look at all like the volatile, unpredictable madman he usually appeared to be.

A strange feeling flickered through me, and I immediately laughed at myself for thinking it.

My emotions were tangled.

I drew in a deep breath and said softly, “You said you’re willing to marry me. Do you really understand what marriage means?

“It’s not as simple as eating together or playing games.”

I held his dark eyes in mine.

He nodded rapidly with a bright, foolish grin, then pulled me up and spun me in place.

Joy radiated from him so strongly that it reached me.

Smiling, I took his hand, and together we went to register our marriage.

During the photoshoot, he smiled so hard his eyes nearly disappeared.

The photographer reminded him several times not to look so excited.

He reacted warily to the stranger, glaring and lifting his fist as if to strike.

My heart tightened.

I grabbed the hem of his jacket.

Unexpectedly, he pressed his lips together and lowered his hand at once.

His eyes fixed on me—aggrieved yet hopeful—like a child restraining himself while waiting for praise.

Before long, we received our freshly printed marriage certificates.

He stared at the one in my hand, pressing his own against his chest, looking back and forth, unwilling to tear his gaze away.

I guided him into the car and tucked his certificate into his pocket.

“I still have something to do. Go home first and wait for me, alright? I won’t be long.”

His hand tightened over his pocket.

Tension and reluctance filled his expression, but he still murmured a soft “Okay.”

I went to Charlie’s company and headed straight for the top-floor office, then I kicked open the door.

Two entangled figures scrambled apart.

The wide desk was a complete mess, and clothes lay scattered across the floor.

Smudged lipstick stained Charlie’s face, while Crystal’s skin was marked with red patches.

Yet Charlie had told me he was not interested in her.

After five years of dating, I had suffered deeply when I sensed he was cheating.

I even wondered if I was too reserved, too inexperienced to satisfy him.

So I gathered my courage, prepared red wine, roses, and custom lingerie.

But he wrinkled his nose in disgust, as if I were something filthy.

“Have some shame, Kendall. If you want to act like a whore, go work at the nightclubs. Don’t disgust me here!”

He slammed the door and left.

After that, he only grew bolder with Crystal while I drank the entire bottle of wine alone, as I threw both the lingerie and the wine into the trash.

Now, this man who claimed he hated my advances was tangled up with Crystal in his office.

Crystal jumped off the desk, shrugged on her coat, and flashed a proud, mocking smile.

“Shouldn’t you still be at the church with that lunatic? Hehe… you really can’t stay away from Mr. Boyd, can you?”**

Charlie paused, grabbed his clothes, and put them on.

He patted her lightly.

“Enough. Go pour me a glass of water.”

Then he glanced at me.

“I told you not to come to my company without an appointment,” he began impatiently.

“What if someone sees you? How would that look?

“You never had a sense of propriety. I’m used to it, so I won’t even bother arguing.

“Go back on your own. The company is busy. We’ll have the wedding next week.”

When I saw the scene before me, I staggered and grabbed the doorframe to keep myself from collapsing.

As I remembered the years of coldness he had shown me, something like a surge of electricity ripped through my body, then a sharp pain followed by a hollow numbness.

The love I once felt for this man drained away completely.

I showed the marriage certificate to him.

“Don’t worry. I won’t come again.

“From now on, nothing about your life has anything to do with me.

“There’s no need for a wedding either.

“And if there is one, it would be between my husband and me.”

Charlie froze, disbelief twisting his expression.

“Are you insane, Kendall? You actually registered a marriage with that lunatic?

“Ridiculous! When you divorce him and marry me, wouldn’t that make me the fool who married a used woman?”

Even now, that was all he cared about.

As if, after everything, the worst disaster he faced was the possibility that the great heir of the Boyds might have to marry a second‑hand bride.

He still believed I would eventually marry him.

Crystal had finally managed to put on her clothes and covered her mouth with a soft laugh.

“You really humiliated yourself and Mr. Boyd by acting without thinking just because you were angry?

“If the news spreads, what would people say about him?”

I laughed coldly.

Who was the one who forced me to marry Conrad?

Who was the one who abandoned me at the wedding and came here to fool around, pretending he had a meeting?

And now, everything has somehow become my fault.

Charlie went to pour a glass of water for Charlie.

When she approached, she brushed against something and let out a delicate cry as she fell onto the carpet.

Hot liquid splashed everywhere and seeped into the hem of Charlie’s trousers.

He immediately crouched down to help her.

When he reached for tissues and found the box empty, he barked at me, “Hand me your scarf!”

I froze.

That light sky‑blue velvet scarf was the one he had given me when he confessed to me.

He had asked about my favorite color and fabric in advance, and—despite being who he was—made it by hand himself, spending a full month on it.

He told me it was the most effort he had ever put into a gift in his life, and that I had to wear it every day.

I agreed—and I did.

And now, just because Crystal had spilled water on him, he demanded it back as if it meant nothing.

The last thread of sentiment inside me broke.

I smiled, removed the scarf, and, from a full meter away, tossed it straight onto the two of them.

“Here. I’m returning it. We’re finished.”

He hurried to wipe the water off Crystal with that scarf and scolded me without even lifting his head.

“It’s just an old scarf, why are you making a fuss? You look so pathetic! You can wash it—or buy another one anywhere on the street!”

So he had even forgotten he made it himself.

I refused to say another word and turned to leave.

My footsteps seemed to provoke him, and he shouted, “Who do you think you are? I’m not putting up with this!

“I’m giving you a way out now—if you don’t take it, even if you beg me later, it’ll be useless!”