My fiance's childhood friend, Tori Kerr, calls him 999 times, begging him to cancel the wedding.

"I see it in the tarot cards. You can't get married this year. Cancel the wedding right now."

Mikael Jardine hesitates and says, "Tori's tarot readings are always accurate. Let's just listen to her."

My temper flares up immediately. The invitations are already sent, and the venue is booked. How can we just cancel it?

Seeing that I'm angry, Mikael ultimately decides not to listen to her. In a fit of rage, Tori blocks him.

I thought that was the end of it. But on the wedding day, Tori suddenly storms onto the stage.

The first thing she does is shout at my mom and ask her to leave in front of the guests.

Tori says, "I read it in the tarot cards last night. Your mom's rising sign clashes with Mikael's. She can't attend the wedding. Besides, your mom's just a cleaning lady. She doesn't deserve to be here!"

My mom, Flora Smith, was just about to take the wine glass that my fiance, Mikael Jardine, handed her. Upon being insulted by Tori Kerr in public, her face turned red all the way down to her neck.

I couldn't be sure whether it was by accident or not, but the wine glass in Mikael's hand suddenly tilted and spilled all over my mom.

I clenched my fists and bellowed sternly, "Are you the one getting married, or am I? You don't get to butt in!"

But Tori ignored me and ran straight to Mikael to explain herself. "Mikael, you have to listen to me. I'm doing this for your own good. I'm a professional tarot reader, and what I predict never goes wrong."

Mikael tossed the wine glass aside casually and said indifferently, "In that case, you should just head home first, Flora."

Mom lowered her head and twisted her fingers nervously. Just last night, she had been overjoyed and was all smiles while carefully picking out a dress to attend my wedding.

But now, Mikael still called her by her first name icily instead of "Mom" like we'd agreed on. I held tightly onto my mom's hand. Our brief silence seemed to irritate Mikael.

"Harmony, if you love me, you should listen to me," he said.

Standing beside my mom, I tried to steady my breathing. "You're marrying me. What do my mom's astrology signs have to do with it? Tori is the one causing trouble at our wedding. She's the one who should leave."

Upon hearing that, Mikael grew anxious. "The wedding date wasn't set according to Tori's advice, and she's already really upset about that.

"Now, you're embarrassing her by not listening to her in front of all these guests. Don't you think you're making her look bad now?"

Mikael was twisting the truth! It was Tori who came here to humiliate me and Mom. At that moment, Mom's embarrassment and unease reached their peaks. "Maybe… Maybe I should just go home."

Tori snorted coldly. "Flora, you shouldn't have come today. Mikael is the heir of the Jardine Group, and you're just a cleaning lady.

"You should bow and call him Mr. Jardine respectfully when you see him. Now, you expect him to call you 'Mom'? Are you even worthy of being called that?"

I stepped in front of Mom, trembling with rage. "Tori, you're not allowed to insult my mom!"

Mikael sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "I knew you wouldn't leave quietly."

Tori clapped her hands, and five or six burly men jumped onto the stage. "Mikael is my best friend. I can't just stand by and watch him get bullied by you two. If you won't walk out on your own, then I'll have them throw your mom out instead."

Mom flinched, and her voice took on a hint of a sob. "Harmony, let's just go. I'm sorry... I've embarrassed you."

Watching my mom get humiliated like this made my head spin with anger. "Fine! Then, I'll go with you. Mikael, this wedding is off!"

My mom raised me as a single mom. She worked as a cleaner her whole life to raise me. I built my business from scratch just so she'd never have to be looked down on again. If Mikael couldn't even respect my mom, I didn't want to marry him at all.

But instead of being shocked, Tori burst out laughing. "Harmony, are you a momma's girl? If you love your mom so much, why are you even getting married?"

Mikael slipped his arm around my waist. "Come on, just let your mom leave. We'll carry on with the wedding. This isn't the time for you to throw a tantrum."

As soon as he said that, those men rushed forward and grabbed my mom. They started dragging her toward the door.

I rushed forward to stop them, shouting for them to let go of Mom. But before I could even take two steps, two of the bodyguards pinned me down and held me so tightly that I couldn't move.

Mikael crouched in front of me, his eyes dark and unreadable. "I never said I wouldn't marry you. What are you getting so worked up about?"

I ignored him completely and struggled against the men with all my strength. But no matter how hard I fought, I could only watch helplessly as they dragged Mom out of the hall.

My family had no relatives here. Every guest in the audience was acquainted with the Jardine family. With such chaos unfolding, everyone just watched and gossiped. Not a single person stepped in to help.

Once Mom was gone, Mikael reached out and took my hand again like nothing had happened.

"Alright, let's continue the wedding," he said.

I yanked my hand away. "Didn't you hear what I just said? I said: This wedding is off!"

I threw the bouquet I had carefully curated to the floor and turned toward the door.

Mikael panicked and rushed over to block my way. As we struggled, Tori pulled out her deck of tarot cards again. She said soothingly, "Don't worry, Mikael. Harmony is only acting out because of her energy field. If I just adjust her frequency a little, she'll go back to normal."

I could practically feel the blood pounding in my head as fury surged within me. I lifted my hand and tried to slap Tori. "Enough with your stupid witchcraft!"

Tori squeaked and darted behind one of the bodyguards stealthily like a sneaky rat. My hand caught nothing but air.

Then, she pulled something burning out of her purse and hurled it straight at me. Instinctively, I raised my arm to block it. The flames struck the back of my hand.

There was a sharp sizzle, and then searing pain.

Mikael clapped his hands and laughed. "Tori told me that burning sage purifies a person's magnetic field. Go on. Thank her."

I clutched my burned hand. In my current state, I regret the choice that led to the scenario today. I should have ended things long ago, on the very first time Mikael believed one of her tarot readings.

On our first anniversary, I had booked a fancy restaurant a month in advance. I showed up that night in my favorite dress. With a gift I had prepared, I waited for Mikael.

Two hours passed, and he still didn't show up. I made every excuse I could think of for him, telling myself not to get angry. But it all came crashing down when I saw him sitting outside his office with Tori, eating cheap street food from a stall.

I ran up to him, demanding an explanation. He just replied calmly, almost bored, "Tori saw in the tarot that we wouldn't have a happy date tonight, so I decided to stay and keep her company instead."

I held back my anger and asked, "I called you so many times. Couldn't you have at least explained the situation over the phone?"

He took out his phone and glanced at it. Then, he said perfunctorily, "A tarot reading can't be disrupted when it is ongoing. So, I silenced it."

That was when I first realized that everything between Mikael and me revolved around Tori's tarot cards. He checked the tarot before every date and every trip we went on.

Even when I had an asthma attack and needed to get to the hospital, Tori stopped the ambulance just to ask the driver's astrology signs.

I had fought with Mikael about it before. But every time, he would back down and apologize. I'd forgive him again and again, losing myself in the illusion of his tenderness.

But not this time. I was done with compromising. I said, "Mikael, I'll say it one more time. No matter what tricks you and Tori try, I won't marry you."

Mikael's parents, Nathan Jardine and Lisa Potter, watched his outrageous behavior from the sidelines like they were watching a show. It was obvious that just like him, they looked down on Mom and me from the bottom of their hearts.

When they saw that I really was about to leave, Nathan finally stood up with an annoyed expression.

He said, "Harmony, don't say I never gave you a chance. If you dare walk out that door today, I'll never let you become a member of our family ever again, even if you come begging later."

Tori chuckled beside him and said sarcastically, "Harmony, you better calm down. This is your only chance to get into a different social class.

"Your mom's already humiliated herself just to help you marry Mikael. How can you be so unsensible?"

I did my best to stop myself from losing my cool as I left the hall without looking back.

Outside, Mom was sitting near the entrance. She was wiping her tears as the cold wind bit through her thin clothes. She wasn't crying because she felt wronged but because she thought she had embarrassed me in front of all those people.

That thought made my nose sting, and my own tears began to spill over. I helped her to her feet. "Mom, let's go home."

Once we got back, I tore down every ribbon and balloon in the house. Then, I stood under the cold shower until my restless, furious heart finally calmed down.

When I checked my phone, there were over 20 missed calls, all from Mikael. As he called again, I declined it and blocked his number.

It was always hard for two people to come together, but the breaking up part was easy. With that, we were done, and it was over. But I never expected things to spiral out of control so quickly.

The next day at noon, I suddenly got a call from one of Mom's coworkers. "Where are you, Harmony? You need to come to Jardine Group right now!

"Your mom's being accused of stealing something. They're about to take her to the police station!"

My blood froze. My mind went blank as I sprinted out the door. As soon as I entered the Jardine Group lobby, I saw Tori and Mom surrounded by a crowd.

Mom was gripping a broom tightly, her face streaked with tears. There was a fresh, red handprint on her cheek.

The sight riled me up with rage. I shoved through the crowd and lunged at Tori. I only managed to slap her once before the security guards grabbed me and pulled me back.

Tori clutched her chest, glaring at me with exaggerated indignation. "Your mom stole Mikael's watch, and now you're hitting me? What are you, a family of bandits?

"Mikael's the heir of the Jardine Group, and your mom's just a cleaner here. Her poverty must have driven her to theft!"

Mom hid behind me and spoke up uneasily. "I didn't steal it… I don't know how Mikael's watch ended up in my bag…"

Lisa stood nearby and scrutinized Mom with an unfriendly, piercing gaze that was full of disdain. She chimed in, "Yeah, right. Could the watch have walked into your bag on its own?

"How disgusting. Not only are you poor, but you're also cowards. You can't even admit what you've done."

I was about to argue when my phone buzzed with a message notification. The man I had saved as "Deadbeat" in my phone sent me a text.

He wrote, "My dear daughter, I really miss you and your mom. Please give me a chance to make things right, okay?"

I quickly typed out a single line in reply, "Can you protect Mom?"

The reply came almost instantly. "Of course I can."