Inside the Parisian haute couture bridal salon, the custom gown I'd waited six months for was on someone else's body.

Millicent Abbott. A-list actress. Wearing my dress.

The boutique manager stood trembling, stealing glances at Dominic Kessler where he sat on the sofa, sweat beading along her hairline.

Dominic rose and personally smoothed the train of the gown for Millicent, his tone perfectly casual. "She's got a red carpet next week and needs a showstopper. She's just borrowing it. Pick something off the rack and make do. Don't make a scene."

Under the fitting room lights, Millicent admired herself in the mirror, beaming.

I caught my own reflection beside hers — street clothes, no makeup — utterly out of place. And suddenly, this wedding I'd spent a year planning struck me as absurd.

I didn't raise my voice. I simply slid the engagement ring off my finger and set it on the coffee table.

"Mr. Kessler is right. Off-the-rack is perfectly fine." I met his eyes. "So I'll find a groom who's willing to stand beside me in it."

——

The air in the salon went dead.

Dominic's hand froze mid-adjustment on Millicent's train.

He turned slowly. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes narrowed with cold appraisal.

"Gabriella Robinson. What did you just say?"

His voice carried the weight of a man unaccustomed to being challenged.

I looked at that handsome face and felt my stomach turn.

"I said the wedding is off."

My voice didn't waver.

A laugh broke the silence.

Millicent pressed her hand to her lips, shoulders shaking with barely concealed amusement. She gathered the crystal-encrusted train of my gown and sauntered over.

"Gabby, don't be so petty."

She blinked those wide, doe eyes, her voice dripping syrup.

"Dom was just worried I wouldn't have anything impressive enough for the film festival next week."

"This gown on me maximizes its commercial value."

"You're usually so sweet and accommodating. Why pick now to be difficult?"

Dom. She called him Dom like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I looked at her, ice in my gaze. "Take it off."

Millicent flinched and shrank behind Dominic, her eyes instantly rimming red.

"Dom, she's scaring me."

Dominic pulled Millicent behind him in one swift motion, his brow knotted tight.

He closed the distance between us in two strides, irritation radiating off him.

"Gabriella, are you done with this tantrum?"

He said it in that particular tone of his — the one designed to cut.

"Millicent is the company's biggest earner. Funneling resources her way is an investment in our future."

"You're a kept woman who doesn't work. Who exactly are you wearing a gown like this for?"

The entitlement in his voice hit me like a slap.

Five years. Five years of everything I'd given, and in his eyes, it amounted to who are you wearing it for.

I drew a slow breath. My nails dug into my palms.

"Dominic, this gown was made to my measurements. I waited six months for it."

"You decided to lend it out. Did you once ask what I thought?"

He scoffed, utterly dismissive.

"Ask what you thought?"

He stepped closer, his presence bearing down on me.

"This gown cost three million dollars. I paid for it."

"The clothes on your back, the things you use every day — name one thing that didn't come from me."

"And now you want to talk about your opinion?"

His finger jabbed hard into my shoulder.

"Gabriella, learn some gratitude."

"Just because I've indulged you doesn't mean you get to pull stunts like this."

I stared at the man in front of me — this arrogant, self-assured stranger.

He genuinely saw nothing wrong with giving away his fiancée's wedding gown.

In his eyes, I was nothing more than an accessory. A possession that existed at his convenience.

I had no interest in wasting another breath on him. I turned and headed for the door.

"Stop right there!"

Dominic's voice cracked through the air like a whip.

He closed the distance in one stride, his fingers clamping down on my wrist like a vise.

"Dominic, let go of me!" I hissed through clenched teeth, the pain sharp enough to steal my breath.

He didn't let go. Instead, he tightened his grip and yanked me toward him.

His head dipped low, his lips nearly brushing my ear, his voice a dangerous murmur laced with warning.

"Gabriella. Don't push your luck."

"Go pick out something off the rack like a good girl. The wedding next week goes ahead as planned."

"Do as you're told, and once Millicent's done with the red carpet, I'll book out an entire island and throw you an even bigger ceremony."

"But if you walk out that door today..."

He paused. Something cold and predatory settled behind his eyes.

"I guarantee you, not a single bridal shop in all of Grandview will sell you so much as a veil."

I endured the searing pain in my wrist, lifted my chin, and stared straight into his eyes.

"Dominic, you make me sick."

I wrenched my arm free with every ounce of strength I had.

A ring of angry red marks already bloomed across my wrist.

I didn't spare him another glance. I turned and walked away.

Behind me came the sound of Dominic's arrogant scoff, followed by the mechanical click of the glass door's lock engaging.

Click.

The bridal shop's heavy glass doors sealed shut behind me.

I turned around.

Dominic stood on the other side, tossing an electronic key fob he'd taken from the shop manager, flipping it lazily between his fingers.

He watched me through the glass, one corner of his mouth curling upward.

"Gabriella. I told you. Without my say-so, you're not going anywhere."

I slammed my palms against the glass. "Dominic! This is unlawful imprisonment! Open this door!"

"Imprisonment?"

He strolled back to the sofa with the unhurried ease of a man who owned the world, sat down, and crossed one leg over the other.

"I'm simply teaching my fiancée what it means to follow the rules."

Millicent sidled over and leaned against his shoulder, flashing me a taunting smile through the glass.

"Gabriella, just stop making a scene. Dominic's only doing this for your own good."

"Besides, it's about to pour out there. You can't even get a ride."

Dominic pulled out his phone and dialed a number right in front of me.

"Cancel every supplementary card under Gabriella Robinson's name."

"Freeze all her hotel VIP privileges."

"Notify every car service and ride-hailing platform in Grandview: anyone who accepts a booking from Gabriella Robinson is making an enemy of the Kesslers."

He hung up and rapped his knuckles against the glass.

"Gabriella. That pride of yours? It's worthless."

"Without me, you can't find a place to sleep in this city."

"I'm giving you two hours to think it over."

"When you've come to your senses, you can get on your knees outside this door and beg."

The sky darkened fast.

Wind tore through the street, and then the rain came, sudden and merciless.

It soaked through my clothes in seconds, chilling me to the bone.

I stood beneath the narrow awning outside the shop, shaking from head to toe.

I pulled out my phone. The screen was flooded with notifications.

Dear valued customer, your credit card has been frozen by the primary cardholder...

We're sorry, Ms. Robinson. Your ride request has been forcibly canceled by the system...

Dominic hadn't been bluffing. He was using everything at his disposal to seal off every exit.

He wanted to back me into a corner with no way out, to make me understand that I was nothing more than something he owned.

I clenched my jaw and scrolled through my contacts.

I would not give in.

I dialed Vivienne Hartwell.

"Vivienne, come get me. I'm outside the bridal shop on Champs-Élysées."

On the other end of the line, Vivienne's voice came through thick with tears.

"Gabriella... I'm so sorry..."

"Dominic just called my dad. He threatened that if I dared come pick you up, the Hartwell family's entire funding chain would collapse by tomorrow."

"My dad locked me in my room... Gabriella, please, just give in. Dominic's lost his mind!"

My heart sank.

Dominic had cut off my very last escape route.

Through the rain-blurred glass, I could see him holding a glass of red wine. He swirled it lazily, savoring the sight of me standing in the downpour.

Millicent was kneeling at his feet, massaging his legs.

The scene burned my eyes and killed whatever feeling I had left for him.

I realized then that you shouldn't go digging through the trash for something worth keeping. Garbage was garbage. It belonged in the bin.

I drew a deep breath and shoved my frozen hands into my pockets.

If no one was coming, I'd walk.

I turned around and plunged into the rain.

Bang! I hadn't taken two steps before a black Maybach screeched to a halt in front of me, spraying a curtain of muddy water.

The window rolled down. Spencer stepped out under a black umbrella.

He looked me up and down with open contempt, then dropped a garment bag at my feet.

Through the half-open zipper, I could see a cheap white bridesmaid dress inside. The loose threads hadn't even been trimmed.

Spencer stared at me, his tone dripping with condescension.

"Miss Robinson, Mr. Kessler has been generous enough to extend an offer."

"Miss Abbott is walking the red carpet tonight, and she's short an assistant to carry her train."

"Mr. Kessler says all you have to do is put this on and attend to Miss Abbott this evening."

"Your credit cards will be unfrozen by tomorrow, and there might even be a seat for you at the wedding."

He wanted me to carry the train for the woman who stole my gown?

Wearing this?

It was pure humiliation.

I stared at the garment bag on the ground. My whole body was trembling from the cold, but my spine stayed straight.

"Go back and tell Dominic."

"He can drop dead."

Spencer's expression shifted. He jabbed a finger at my face and started cursing.

"Gabriella, don't bite the hand that feeds you!"

"You think you're still the future Mrs. Kessler?"

"You're nothing now! Without Mr. Kessler, you can't even afford your next meal!"

He snapped his fingers, and the rear door of the Maybach swung open.

Two bodyguards jumped out and seized my arms from both sides, wrenching them behind my back.

"Let go of me! What are you doing!"

I fought with everything I had, but my body was so numb from the freezing rain that I couldn't summon any strength.

Spencer picked up the mud-soaked bridesmaid dress from the ground and shoved it into my arms.

"Mr. Kessler's orders. You had your chance to do this the easy way. Now we do it the hard way."

I was forced into the car. The door slammed shut behind me.

The Maybach tore through the storm, heading straight for tonight's film festival red carpet.

The air conditioning inside the car was set low. I sat there in my soaking clothes, lips turning purple, teeth chattering.

Spencer rode in the passenger seat, watching me through the rearview mirror with a thin smirk.

"Miss Robinson, if you'd known it would come to this, you might've saved yourself the trouble."

"Women. All you have to do is swallow your pride and play nice, and you'd have everything you wanted. But no, you had to go head-to-head with Mr. Kessler. And who's the one suffering for it?"

I closed my eyes and refused to listen to another word.

Half an hour later, the car pulled up behind the red carpet venue.

The bodyguards shoved me out.

In a lounge not far away, Millicent was wearing the bridal gown that should have been mine, surrounded by a swarm of reporters clamoring for interviews.

Dominic stood beside her in a tailored suit, gazing at her with open adoration.

When he saw me being dragged over, he excused himself from the press and strode toward me.

His eyes dropped to the mud-stained bridesmaid dress clutched in my hands, and a slight frown creased his brow.