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The scent of three thousand white roses was suffocating.

It was all I could smell, thick and cloyingly sweet, as I stood at the altar, a perfect porcelain doll in a five-figure couture gown. The cathedral was packed. Five hundred of the city’s elite, all pretending to be moved by the union of the Monroe and Yates families.

My groom, Daniel Yates, was beaming. I was, for the first time in our eight-year relationship, genuinely happy.

The officiant smiled.

“May I ask the groom, Mr. Daniel Yates, are you willing to marry Miss Clara Monroe as your wife, no matter rich or poor, in health or sickness, staying with her for the rest of your life?”

I watched Daniel’s face, my heart pounding a hole in my ribs.

He opened his mouth. He looked at me, his smile faltering.

“I… Daniel…”

He blinked. He looked past me, into the crowd. His eyes widened.

“Lydia?”

A name. Not mine.

The crowd turned. A gasp rippled through the pews.

My best friend, Lydia Lane—my maid of honor—was swaying, her hand pressed to her head. “Daniel,” she whispered, just loud enough for the microphone to catch it.

“I… Lydia…”

And then she collapsed.

“Lydia!” Daniel screamed. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t look at me. He shoved past the officiant and ran off the altar, jumping the steps to get to her.

“Lydia! What’s wrong? Lydia!”

He scooped her up into his arms, his white tuxedo jacket bunching. The crowd was on its feet, a chaotic murmur of shock and confusion.

“Daniel,” Lydia whispered, her head falling weakly against his chest.

“Don’t worry about me. Go back. Clara is waiting.”

“How can I not worry about you?” he yelled, his voice cracking with a panic I had never, ever heard him use for me. He started running, carrying her down the aisle.

“This wedding is off!” he shouted back over his shoulder.

“It’s off! Let’s go to the hospital! Hurry!”

The great cathedral doors slammed shut behind them, leaving an echo and a terrible, ringing silence.

I was left standing at the altar. Alone. In front of five hundred people. The white roses suddenly smelled like a funeral.

“Hold it.”

My voice was dead. Flat. I turned to my “best friend,” who was suddenly looking much better, clinging to Daniel’s arm.

“Lydia is your bestie. What if something happens to her? Aren’t you worried at all?”

I looked at Daniel. The man I had loved since I was sixteen. The man who had just shattered my life, my reputation, and my family’s name in one, irreversible act.

“Daniel Yates,” I said, my voice shaking, but not with tears. With a cold, clarifying rage.

“I’ve given you so many chances over the years. Today is the last one.”

He actually had the audacity to scoff at me.

“Threatening me, huh?” He adjusted Lydia in his arms, settling her more comfortably.

“We’re done, Clara. Can’t you see she’s sick?”

We’re done.

He turned his back on me and walked out.

My mother was sobbing. My father looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. The press, gathered outside, was already exploding. I was the joke of the century. The runaway bride who was left at the altar.

I felt a hand on my back. “Richard,” a low voice said.

“Take Lydia. To the hospital. I’ll handle things here.”

It was Victor Yates.

The real power. Daniel’s father. A man known as the ruthless king of the business world. Cold, decisive, and the one person Daniel was truly terrified of. He was tall, impeccably dressed, and radiated an authority that made the air around him feel thin.

He turned to my father.

“My apologies. It’s my fault for not raising him properly.” Then his eyes, cold as steel, landed on me.

“That bastard Daniel. I’ll drag him right to your feet. He is yours to deal with.”

He was going to bring him back. To force this. To make me marry the man who had just publicly chosen another woman over me.

And in that moment, in the wreckage of my life, a new, wild, terrifying idea sparked to life.

I was done being the victim. I was done being the good, quiet, understanding fiancée.

“Since Daniel doesn’t want to marry me,” I said, my voice echoing in the stunned silence, “why don’t I just pick someone else to marry?”

My father’s head snapped up.

“Clara, what are you talking about?”

Victor Yates paused, his hand on the door. He turned, his expression unreadable. “What do you mean?”

I gathered my white dress. I walked off the altar, down the steps, past the shocked faces of my family, until I was standing directly in front of the most powerful man in the city. I looked him right in the eye.

“Mr. Yates,” I said, my voice clear and steady.

“Will you marry me?”

A collective, shattering gasp filled the room. Someone dropped a phone. My mother fainted.

Victor just stared at me. He didn’t move. He just… watched me.

“Oh my gosh,” someone whispered.

“Is she insane? She’s swapping grooms!”

“Victor Yates is ten times harder to handle than Daniel…”

I ignored them. I kept my eyes on him.

“Mr. Yates,” I continued, laying out my case like a business proposal.

“Though I’m young, I know how to act properly. I know what’s good for us. This way, both our families save face. The ceremony can go on as planned. Your guests are not disappointed. Our joint ventures are not compromised. And your son… is taught a lesson.”

A flicker of something—amusement? respect?—danced in his cold eyes.

“You’re actually much bolder than I thought, Miss Monroe.”

“Mr. Yates,” I said, not backing down.

“Yes or no?”

He looked at me for a long, agonizing second. Then, a slow, dangerous smile touched the corner of his mouth.

“Yes,” he said.

“I’ll marry you.”

The room exploded.

“Unbelievable!”

“This is ridiculous!”

“Are they both insane?”

Victor walked past me, taking his son’s place on the altar. He gestured for me to join him. I did.

The officiant, looking pale and terrified, stammered, “B-but… the ring…”

Victor slipped a heavy gold signet ring from his own pinky finger. “Forget that. I’ll buy you a new one. Okay with that?”

He was asking me. I nodded.

“No problem.”

“Great,” he said. He turned to the officiant.

“Proceed.”

The rest was a blur. The vows were a contract, spoken into a breathless void.

“Now then,” the officiant finally managed, “the groom may… kiss the bride.”

A new hush fell. Rumor said Victor Yates hadn’t been with a woman in a decade. That he was made of ice.

He turned to me. He was tall, and I had to look up. He was not Daniel. He was not a boy. He was a man. He leaned in, and his lips brushed mine. It wasn’t passionate. It was a seal. A promise. A final, definitive click of a lock.

“Ceremony complete,” he said, not to the crowd, but to me.

I was no longer Clara Monroe. I was, in the most shocking twist of my life, Mrs. Victor Yates.

The “wedding night” was sterile. We were driven to his sprawling, modern mansion—a fortress of glass and dark stone overlooking the city. Not the charming wedding house I had been planning to move into with Daniel.

A housekeeper showed me to a guest suite that was larger than my old apartment. Victor didn’t follow.

I found him an hour later in his study, a massive room lined with books. He was staring at a full-wall analysis of the stock market. He didn’t look like a man who had just gotten married. He looked like a general planning a war.

“I’m good now,” I said quietly from the doorway.

He turned. He’d removed his jacket. Broad shoulders, tapered waist. Even through his crisp white shirt, I could see the outlines of… abs. My God. I must have been staring.

“Still staring?” he asked, his voice laced with a dry amusement.

I blushed. “I… You can still change your mind,” I blurted out.

“We can declare this wedding invalid. Annullment.”

He walked toward me, slowly. He stopped just a foot away.

“I won’t change my mind, Clara. We’re already married.” He tilted his head.

“Wait. Don’t tell me you’re not up for it.”

Was he… flirting?

“How about,” I said, finding a sudden, strange burst of confidence, “you do a ‘test drive’ then?”

His eyes darkened. The amusement was gone, replaced by something hotter, more intense. He took a step, closing the space.

Then his phone buzzed.

He stopped. The moment shattered. He looked at the screen, and the mask of the CEO slammed back into place.

“I’m heading to the study,” he said, his voice all business again. He walked past me. “You go rest.”

As I stood in the hallway, I heard his voice, cold and precise.

“Andrew. I want the full analysis on Mr. Daniel… Yes. He had three chances. Skipping the wedding was strike one. He has two left.”

I went to bed alone, my mind reeling. I had married a stranger. A cold, calculating, and terrifyingly attractive stranger. But as I lay in the massive bed, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years.

Safe.

I woke up to the smell of coffee. Victor was already gone. A man named Andrew—the voice from the phone—was waiting for me in the dining room.

“Sir, breakfast is ready,” he said, as if it were any other Tuesday.

I sat. “Mr. Yates… Victor… he left?”

“Yes, ma’am. He had a 6 AM meeting. He asked me to brief you.” Andrew placed a tablet on the table.

“He wanted to check on the assets under Mr. Daniel’s name. The financials are here.”

“Okay…” I had no idea what to do with this.

“And about the wedding house,” Andrew continued, “what should we do with it?”

“The house I was… supposed to…”

“Yes. Since Mr. Daniel walked away from the wedding, Mr. Yates says he doesn’t deserve to keep it. He wants to transfer it under your name, as a gift.”

I was stunned.

“No… no need for that.”

“You don’t want it?” Andrew looked, for the first time, confused.

“Oh, no… no. I mean… yes. Thank you. Thanks for your gift,” I stammered. The rumors were right. He was bossy as hell. But this… this was a new level.

I had to see it.

I drove to the wedding house. My house. The one I had spent six months decorating. The one where I’d imagined raising my children with Daniel.

My stomach churned. Maybe this was a mistake.

I used my old key. It worked. I stepped inside. And there they were. Daniel and Lydia. On my sofa. Kissing. They sprang apart.

“Clara!” Daniel yelled, wiping his mouth.

“You… you came in time! I was looking for you.”

“Where were you last night?” I asked, my voice dangerously calm.

“I called. You ignored my calls. Nowhere to be found.”

“Where I went is none of your business,” he snapped.

“Let’s not forget, you ended the marriage yesterday.”

I laughed. A real, bitter laugh.

“I… I ended it? You’re delusional.”

“Clara, look,” he said, trying that old, placating tone that always worked on me.

“I know you’re still mad about the… runaway thing. But think about it. We’re still engaged…”

“No, Daniel. We’re not.”

“…and you’ve got your family backing you. Lydia’s completely alone. She has no one else but me!”

“So what?” I crossed my arms.

“So,” he said, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world, “you should act mature and give up the wedding house for her to live in.”

I just stared at him. The audacity. The sheer, galaxy-sized entitlement.

“Daniel Yates,” I said slowly, “you seriously need a brain check. What kind of sane person starts daydreaming in broad daylight like you do?”

“Daniel, don’t be upset,” Lydia whimpered, stepping out from behind him. She was, of course, crying.

“It’s all my fault. She has every right to be mad. I’ll leave now. I don’t want to be the reason people fall out…”

She made a show of walking to the door.

“Hey, don’t go!” Daniel grabbed her, pulling her back. He glared at me.

“Clara, are you done making a scene? There’s a limit to how jealous you can act! All this will do is make me love you less! Now, pack your stuff and move out.”

“Move out?” I asked.

“Daniel, who do you think you are to yell at me and try to kick me out?”

“I’m the owner of this place!”

“Not anymore,” I said, smiling.

“This house belongs to your mom now.”

He froze. His brow furrowed.

“My… mom? What are you talking about? Are you kidding?”

“No.” I walked past him, running my hand along my marble countertop. “She’s right in front of you. The house is mine.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? We’re not married yet, and you’re already after the house? Don’t buy it.”

“Why don’t you call and check?”

“Of course I’ll check!” he snarled, pulling out his phone.

“Hey, Andrew! Let me ask you something. Is the wedding house still under my name?”

I watched his face. It was a beautiful, slow-motion cascade of confusion, shock, and pure, unadulterated panic.

“Mr. Daniel, that house was transferred this morning… to Mrs. Yates’s name.”

He lowered the phone.

“Mrs. Yates? Wait… you mean… Clara?”

I leaned against the counter.

“Now, do you believe me? My dear… son, Daniel.”

His jaw dropped. “S-son?”

“It must be a gift from Uncle Victor to his future daughter-in-law,” Lydia whispered, her eyes wide.

“Daughter-in-law?” I laughed.

“Oh, honey, you’re not keeping up.”

“I… I really underestimated you,” Lydia spat, her mask of tears vanishing. The snake was finally showing her face.

“Just one day, and my… and his dad already gave you the wedding house. Clara, you’ve always had the best of everything! Don’t think that marrying rich means you’ll be better than me! I’m not letting that happen!”

“Daniel,” she wailed, turning the tears back on.

“What am I supposed to do now? I really don’t have anywhere else to go…”

“Don’t worry, Lydia. You’ve got me,” he said, puffing out his chest.

“So what if this house is yours? I’m the Yates heir! I’m moving in here with Lydia for sure!”

“Oh, yeah?” I said.

“Go ahead and try.”

“With pleasure.” He grabbed Lydia’s hand and started walking toward the master bedroom.

I stepped in his way.

“Clara,” Lydia suddenly pleaded, “right now I really have nowhere else to go. For the sake of all those years we were best friends… can you please just let me stay? Just a few nights?”

I looked at her. The woman who had planned her collapse at my wedding. The woman who was sleeping with my fiancé.

“Lydia,” I said, “you stole my man, tried to move into my wedding house, and now you’re talking about sisterhood? You’re just… disgusting.”

“Clara, I…”

WHACK.

Her hand cracked across my face. No, wait. That wasn’t right. My cheek didn’t even sting. Daniel, however, lunged.

“Clara, you’ve gone too far! Lydia begged you like that, and you still hit her! Hurry, apologize to her!”

I touched my face.

“She… she slapped herself. What are you talking about? Why should I apologize?”

“Still making excuses? You think I’m blind?” he roared.

I stared at them. The two of them. The gaslighting. The shared delusion. The sheer, toxic insanity of it all.

“You see?” I said, my voice dangerously quiet.

“This time… it’s me hitting her.”

WHACK.

My palm connected with Lydia’s cheek with a sound that echoed through the entire house. It was glorious.

“You… you dare to hit her!” Daniel yelled.

“Yeah, I hit her,” I said, rubbing my hand.

“What? Need my permission? Clara, you’re completely unreasonable! You really think I wouldn’t hit you?”

He raised his hand. He actually raised his hand to hit me.

“Fine, then,” I said, not flinching.

“Today, let’s just see who’s tougher.”

“Daniel! What are you doing!”

We all froze.

Victor was standing in the doorway. He hadn’t raised his voice. He didn’t need to. His presence sucked all the oxygen out of the room.

“Dad,” Daniel stammered, his hand still in the air.

“Come on,” I said, grabbing my purse. I walked straight to Victor.

“I’m done here. Hope you two live happily ever after.”

I walked out, brushing past my new husband. As I left, I heard Daniel’s panicked voice.

“Dad, it’s not what it looks like! She…”

I didn’t stay for the rest. I didn’t need to.

That evening, Victor found me in the mansion’s library.

“You’re in a good mood, aren’t you?” he asked.

“So, you already know,” I said, not looking up from my book.

“Andrew gave me a full report. Will you be mad at me?”

He chuckled. A low, surprising sound.

“He was the one who forgot his decency. Giving him a lesson is totally justified. All right.”

He held out a small, velvet box.

“What’s this?”

“This is an heirloom,” he said, opening it. A stunning, intricate bracelet of jade and diamonds rested inside.

“Carried by every lady of the Yates family.”

“I… I can’t take this.”

His eyes narrowed.

“What? Changing your mind?”

“I’m just…”

“Take it,” he said. It wasn’t a request.

I let him fasten it on my wrist. It was heavy. Real.

“Thank you.”

“Andrew,” he called out, though Andrew was nowhere in sight. The man just… appeared.

“Make a public announcement. The Yates family will hold a banquet next week. I’ll officially introduce my wife to the public.”

“Yes, Mr. Yates.”

“Also,” Victor added, his eyes on my new bracelet, “freeze all of Daniel’s assets. Make sure he learns his lesson so he knows how to honor his elders.”

“Yes, sir.”

Andrew vanished.

“Wait,” I said.

“When did he disrespect his elders?”

Victor’s lips twitched.

“He raised his hand to my wife, in my house. That’s disrespect.”

Oh.

“Wait,” Daniel’s voice screeched from my phone, which I’d apparently left on speaker. He must have been calling Andrew.

“What? My dad got married? Hey! You haven’t answered me yet!”

I picked up the phone.

“Mr. Daniel, the wedding house was transferred to Mrs. Yates’s name. Now you believe it, my dear son.”

“Mrs. Yates? Clara? Wait… Clara is the woman my dad just married? No! That’s impossible! Dad’s decisive! He plays by the book! No way he’d be into his own daughter-in-law! Clara must have said that to piss me off! She’s talking nonsense!”

I hung up.

The banquet was a sea of champagne and fake smiles. Daniel and Lydia were there, looking disheveled and frantic. They were clearly on the hunt.

“Daniel, this place is fancy,” Lydia cooed, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I wish one day we could have an event here.”

“Don’t rush, Lydia,” Daniel said, “All of the Yates money will be mine. All that matters now is to bond with my dad’s wife. Kill her with kindness. We just need to suck up to her, real good.”

I almost choked on my champagne.

“But Daniel,” Lydia fretted, “we don’t even know what she looks like. What if she’s tough to deal with?”

“Yeah,” another voice said.

“I still don’t know what kind of person the new Mrs. Yates is. My dad’s been super tight-lipped.”

“Mrs. Yates is here!” Andrew announced.

I stepped out from the side parlor, where Victor and I had been greeting my parents.

Daniel and Lydia rushed over, their faces set in greedy, welcoming smiles.

“Come on,” Daniel said.

“Let’s go see my mom.”

He stopped. He stared. His smile melted.

“Clara? Why is it you?”

“Of course it’s me,” I said, smiling sweetly.

The crowd erupted in whispers.

“Isn’t that Daniel’s fiancée? He ran away from the wedding… is she here to make a scene?”

“Clara, I have to admit, you’re pulling out all the stops,” Lydia spat, her composure cracking.

“You, Mrs. Yates? We’re not married yet!”

“Lydia,” I said, “I know you’re still mad about me and Daniel…”

“Don’t start,” she snapped.

“This is a Yates family event. If you upset Mrs. Yates, it won’t end well. Let’s talk in private. Don’t make a scene.”

“Sounds like Miss Lane knows quite a lot about Mrs. Yates,” I mused.

“Obviously,” she preened, “I haven’t met her, but if Mr. Yates picked her, she must be a real lady. From a distinguished family. Graceful in every way.”

“Nicely said,” I replied. “I’m loving this. Tell me more.”

“Come on, Daniel, look at her!” Lydia shrieked, finally getting it.

“Enough, Clara,” Daniel said.

“Quit the sarcasm. Don’t mess with her. You just want to get a chance to suck up to my mom so you can marry me, right? Dream on!”

I laughed. “Daniel, you think too highly of yourself. To marry you? What a joke. You’re not worth the effort.”

“First you impersonate my mom, now you taunt me! If you don’t want to marry me, then leave!”

“But if I leave, this whole party falls apart.”

“You don’t buy what I say?” he sneered.

“Well, then,” I said, holding up my wrist.

“Take a look at this. Only the lady of the Yates family can wear this bracelet.”

His face went white. “Why are you wearing it? My dad… he really married you?”

“Finally using your brain,” I said.

“No way! You scammed this bracelet! You still refuse to give up on me, you daydreamer!”

“Daniel,” Lydia whispered, her eyes glued to the jade.

“I used to dream all the time about a bracelet like this… it’s so fancy. Someone like me shouldn’t even be touching it.”

“It’s just a bracelet,” Daniel said, his eyes softening.

“Of course you deserve it. She’s not good enough for it. This bracelet… it doesn’t belong to you! Give it to Lydia! Hand it over, now! Don’t make me use force!”

“In your dreams,” I said, pulling my arm back.

“Give it to me!” he lunged.

“Let go!”

“Give it to me!”

“Hands off!”

He grabbed my wrist. Lydia grabbed his arm. I twisted away.

CRASH.

The bracelet, the ancient family heirloom, hit the marble floor and shattered into a dozen green fragments.

A collective gasp. Lydia pounced.

“Everyone, come look! Miss Clara Monroe is too arrogant! She smashed the Yates family heirloom!”

My parents rushed over, their faces pale with horror.

“Clara!” my father hissed.

“How could you destroy the Yates family’s heirloom? If you offend them, the whole Monroe family is going to suffer! Apologize to Mr. Daniel! Hurry!”

“You guys are just a bunch of traitors,” I whispered, my heart breaking.

“Me? Say sorry to him? He’s not worth it.”

“Still talking back!” my father roared.

“You ungrateful woman! You’ll kneel and plead for mercy or my name isn’t what it is! Down!”

He pushed me, hard, trying to force me to my knees.

“Down!”

“Let go of me! No way!”

“Bow till you drop!”

“Clara,” Lydia sneered, towering over me.

“From this moment on, Daniel and everything tied to the Yates family… belongs to me.”

“Fine,” I spat, yanking my arm from my father’s grip.

“Since he’s your favorite, focus on him. Keep him from causing havoc.”

“You’ve broken the bracelet and pissed off Mr. Yates,” Lydia continued, her voice triumphant.

“Before long, no place in this city will tolerate you. Let’s just wait for him and see.”

“He’s really screwed,” Daniel muttered to Lydia.

“Using my dad to threaten me… you evil, heartless witch. Are you going to report this? Is my destruction your goal?”

He suddenly grinned, a truly terrifying, unstable look in his eyes.

“You’re claustrophobic, right? Just wait till I lock you in a dark room. Let’s see how tough you act then.”

He grabbed me.

“What are you doing!”

“Lock this woman in the storage room!” he yelled to a pair of confused waiters.

“Don’t let her dirty my parents’ eyes!”

They dragged me, kicking and screaming, toward the dark service hallway.

“Dad! You’re here!” Daniel’s voice, suddenly cheerful, echoed from the ballroom.

“Uncle Victor!”

I heard Victor’s deep voice.

“What are you guys up to?”

“Nah, nothing! Just thinking how to make a good impression on my mom! Where’s my wife?”

“Your wife? Oh, my mom? I haven’t seen her either. I circled the area. No strangers. Wait… could she have gotten lost? Maybe she’s in the lounge? It’s her first official appearance, she has to look stunning!”

I pounded on the storage room door.

“VICTOR! IN HERE!”

“I’m asking,” Victor’s voice was closer now, cold, “where is Clara?”

“I’m in here!” I screamed, my panic rising. The walls were closing in.

“Daniel locked me in here!”

“Dad,” Daniel said, his voice high with false sincerity.

“Why are you asking about her? She’s not here either. None of us have seen her. She hasn’t been here at all.”

“That can’t be right,” my mother’s voice.

“She got here way earlier. She called us an hour ago, said she was here and had a surprise for us…”

“Mr. Yates,” Andrew said, “I checked the place. No sign of Madam anywhere.”

“Got it,” Daniel laughed.

“Clara’s got some tricks up her sleeve. She actually bribed Andrew! Calling her ‘Madam,’ huh? Told you, Dad. Clara never even showed up.”

“Hello.” Victor’s voice was pure ice.

“This bracelet was my gift for Clara. And you’re still saying she never came?”

A pause.

“What’s that noise?” Victor demanded.

“So many people, Dad,” Daniel stammered.

“Some noise is inevitable…”

“Uncle Victor,” Lydia cut in.

“The banquet’s about to start. Don’t let something so trivial spoil your mood. Everyone’s waiting…”

BOOM.

The storage room door flew open, the lock splintered.

Victor stood there, his face a mask of thunder. He saw me, gasping, on the floor. He saw the terror in my eyes.

He gently helped me up, his hands surprisingly warm.

“Victor,” I whispered, “I’m sorry…”

“Clara,” he said, his voice low.

“Who did this to you?”

“I… I’m fine.”

“Dad! You got me wrong!” Daniel yelled, running over.

“It was Clara! She…”

Victor’s hand shot out, grabbing his son by the throat.

“Daniel,” Victor said, his voice terrifyingly calm.

“I gave you everything. I held hope that beneath your recklessness, you’d someday grasp true responsibility. But you let me down. Over and over again.”

He released him, and Daniel crumpled to the floor, gasping.

“I said I’d give you three last chances. The first was the wedding. You ran off. I didn’t punish you. The second time, you humiliated Clara in her own house. I still let you off easy.”

Victor looked at the splinters of the door.

“But today, you crossed the line. You laid hands on my wife. From this day forward, I officially strip you of your status as the Yates heir.”

“Dad! I was wrong! I know I messed up!” Daniel scrambled forward, grabbing Victor’s legs.

“Please! Give me one more chance! I swear I’ll turn my life around!”

“One more chance?” Victor looked down at him with utter disdain.

“You chose cruelty over family. My trust and the Yates name are no longer yours to claim.”

“Dad, don’t do this! Please! It was Clara! She cheated on me first!”

My head snapped up.

“What?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Daniel!” I snapped.

“When did I cheat on you?”

“Still acting innocent?” he sneered, getting to his feet.

“Then answer me this! Who were you with on Wednesday night? And what were you doing?”

“Wednesday night?” I tried to remember.

“I… I don’t remember. But I’m sure it wasn’t with a jerk like you.”

“I didn’t plan on airing your dirty laundry,” he spat, “but you’re forcing my hand. Let me jog your memory. Wednesday night, 8:00 PM. You were spotted latching onto an old man at the Regal Hotel’s entrance. Is this enough to prove you cheated?”

I remembered. Oh, God.

“All right,” I said.

“Now I remember. That night… I was with another man.”

The room gasped. My father looked horrified.

“Clara! How could you!” my mother shrieked.

“See?” Daniel yelled, triumphant.

“Everyone heard that! She admitted it!”

“Yeah, I did,” I said.

“But I didn’t cheat. The moment you ran away from the wedding, our engagement was void. Whatever I do has nothing to do with you.”

“You… you… you’re that desperate? Turning down a young man to throw yourself at some old dude? What could he give you? Wealth? Power?”

“You were wrong,” I said, a slow smile spreading across my face.

“He’s not ‘some old man.’ Okay, maybe a tiny bit older than you. But in terms of grace, maturity, and dignity, he’s miles ahead. He’s responsible. He treats people with respect. And above all… he’s someone I can truly trust with my life. I have chosen him for life.”

“Bravo, Clara Monroe!” Daniel clapped.

“So you’re proudly admitting your affair! You’d better pray that old man can protect you, because one day I’ll make you beg!”

“Dad, you heard her!” he yelled at Victor.

“A shameless woman like her has no decency! She’s not worthy of being my wife, and she doesn’t deserve to cross our threshold!”

“You don’t get to judge her right to cross our threshold,” Victor said, his voice flat.

“Clara acts properly. But you… you disgrace our family for some woman with a shady background.”

“Dad, she admitted it! What spell did she cast on you?”

“Daniel,” I said, stepping forward.

“You accuse me of cheating, but you don’t even know who I supposedly cheated with. You’re so quick to slap a label on me.”

“I don’t know who he is, but I’ve got proof! I’ll show everyone what kind of old man could make you give up being the Yates daughter-in-law just to become a mistress! I’ll show everyone how this shameless pair ended up together!”

He pulled out his phone and pointed it at the ballroom’s large projection screen.

“You all saw that, right!” he screamed, as a video played. It was me, at the Regal Hotel. Holding hands with a man. “This shameless woman! They’ve ruined the Yates family name!”

“Oh my god… Mr. Yates…”

“Dad? How… how could it be you?”

The man in the video, the “old man” I was with, was Victor.

Victor stepped forward, pulling me to his side. He wrapped an arm around my waist.

“That’s right,” he announced to the entire, shell-shocked room.

“The man with Clara is me. Clara is my lawfully wedded wife. The rightful lady of the Yates family.”

“No… no way!” Daniel stammered.

“This is a trick! You teamed up to mess with me!”

“Clara is now my wife,” Victor stated, his voice final.

“You should call her ‘Mom.’”

“Mr. Yates married his son’s fiancée!”

“Now this is interesting!”

“Dad! Have you lost your mind?” Daniel shrieked.

“She’s my fiancée! You can’t just… if you want to marry someone, pick anyone! Why did it have to be her?”

“Do I need your permission to marry her?” Victor asked.

“I get it now!” Daniel pointed at me.

“She must have seduced you! She married you just to get back at me! Clara, using this cheap trick is plain stupid! He’s my DAD!”

“Seriously,” I said, “Your dad and I were both single. Why couldn’t we be together? You think I did this to get back at you? Who do you think you are?”

“Clara,” Daniel suddenly pleaded, his tone changing.

“I know you’re still mad… but Lydia and I are just friends. I was cold to you… I thought you cheated… Clara, you still mean something to me. Please stop making a scene. Let’s talk at home…”

He reached for me.

Victor’s arm shot out, blocking him.

“You’re not even worthy of touching her. Let me say it again. Clara is my wife. You should be calling her ‘Mom.’”

“Dad, you can’t do this!”

“I’ve made myself clear. As of today, you are no longer the Yates heir. To Clara, you’re just her son. We’re leaving.”

“No!” Daniel lunged at me. “This isn’t real!”

Victor moved. He didn’t just push Daniel. He threw him. Daniel crashed into a dessert table, sending champagne glasses flying.

“Does it hurt?” Victor asked me quietly, rubbing his hand where Daniel had grabbed me.

“No… I…”

“When I got hurt as a child,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft, “my mom would do this for me. She said it would help it heal faster.”

I stared at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes intense.

“I made you suffer today. I promise… stuff like this won’t happen again.”

“Aren’t you afraid?” I whispered.

“That I’m only marrying you to get back at Daniel?”

“Not at all,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Whether impulsive or not, becoming a Yates means you’re my chosen wife. You’ll always have my full backing. From now on, Clara, you’re not just the lady of the Yates family… but also the one I want to protect. If anyone even dares to lay a finger on you, they’ll have to get through me first.”

And in that moment, I knew. This wasn’t a marriage of convenience anymore.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Victor was true to his word. He cut off ties with a long-term business associate, Vanessa Shaw, after she publicly humiliated me at a cocktail party, dumping a glass of wine on my dress and calling me a “novelty.” Victor didn’t just defend me; he terminated a ten-year partnership on the spot, telling her, “You are just my business associate. You have no right to my wife.”

Our marriage, born from revenge and shock, was becoming… real. He gave me access cards, shared his daily schedule, and started coming home for dinner.

Then, Daniel’s grandmother showed up. Victor’s mother, Elara. She was a terror. She despised me, called me a “little seductress,” and, in a shocking power play, forced Victor to let Daniel and Lydia move into the mansion.

“He’s still your son!” she’d shrieked.

“Everything in the Yates family will be passed on to him! If he’s no longer the heir, who will inherit instead?”

It was a nightmare. Lydia, now living under the same roof, took every opportunity to taunt me. Daniel acted as if he were still the prince.

I was planning Victor’s 35th birthday, a surprise. I was designing custom rings, a vine pattern. Daniel saw the design and, in his typical, narcissistic way, assumed it was for him.

“You want to wrap around me like a vine,” he’d smirked.

The night of the dinner, he showed up, expecting a “reconciliation.” When Victor walked in, and I presented him with the rings, Daniel’s face was a picture of pure, pathetic humiliation.

“You were lying!” he’d screamed.

Victor’s response was cold.

“She is my wife. And your rightful elder. Do not forget it again.”

But the real drama started a week later.

I’d been feeling off. Drained. Nauseous. My friend joked, “What, are you pregnant?”

It was impossible. Victor… he’d had an accident years ago. He couldn’t have children. That’s why his mother was so obsessed with Daniel, the adopted heir.

I took a test anyway. And I saw two lines.

I was pregnant.

How could I tell him? What if he thought… what if he thought I’d cheated?

Before I could find the words, we were summoned to a family dinner at the grandmother’s manor. Lydia was there, engaged to Daniel, and smugger than ever.

The moment Victor was out of the room, she struck.

“Clara, how could you break Grandma’s favorite vase?” she screamed. I turned, and the priceless celadon vase, a keepsake from Victor’s late father, was in pieces on the floor.

“What? I didn’t touch it!”

“Lydia, you are lying!” I yelled.

“You shoved me!”

“You were the only one standing near it!” she cried to Elara.

“She said it was ‘old junk’ and smashed it!”

“I believe Clara,” Victor said, walking back in.

“I know what kind of person she is.”

“Well, let’s see,” he said, pulling out his phone.

“Mrs. Wong, go get me the hallway security footage. Right now.”

The footage was clear. Lydia, walking behind me, deliberately shoving me into the pedestal.

“So, it really was you, Lydia Lane,” Elara whispered, her face pale.

“You tried to frame Clara.”

“I… I didn’t mean to!” Lydia stammered. “I lost my footing! It was an accident!”

“Whether it was an accident or not,” Victor said, “the footage makes things clear. You’re manipulative and full of lies. You don’t deserve to marry into this family.”

“I now declare,” Elara said, her voice shaking with rage, “the engagement between Daniel and you is cancelled.”

“No!” Lydia shrieked, cornered and desperate.

“You can’t! You can’t throw me aside! I… I’m pregnant!”

The room went silent.

“Lydia… are you serious?” Daniel asked.

“Grandma, I’m pregnant!” Lydia cried.

“I’m carrying a Yates child!”

Elara’s eyes lit up.

“A Yates child… a blessing! After Victor’s accident… Daniel, he may not be blood, but this baby… this baby is the new heir! The Yates Group will be his one day!”

Lydia’s smirk was back, triumphant.

The stress, the shock… it was too much. Lydia, now the queen of the manor, began to order me around. “Get me water, Mom,” she’d sneer.

“I’m carrying the heir. You’d better do what I say.”

I refused. We argued. She lunged at me, and I stumbled, falling hard against a table. A sharp, terrible pain shot through my abdomen.

“Clara!” Victor yelled.

“Grandma,” Lydia whimpered, “she just fell down, all of a sudden!”

But I could feel it. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

At the hospital, the news was a double-edged sword.

“Mrs. Yates is pregnant,” the doctor announced.

“She had some spotting from the fall, but the baby is fine. 6 weeks.”

“Pregnant?” Victor was white as a sheet.

“My… my wife is pregnant? Doctor, are you sure?”

“Clara… why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered to me, his eyes filled with a dazed, unreadable emotion.

“I… I was afraid,” I admitted.

“Pregnant?” Lydia scoffed from the doorway.

“That’s impossible. Everyone knows Victor can’t have kids! This baby… it can’t be Uncle Victor’s! She cheated! It’s a bastard!”

“Enough!” Victor roared.

“I trust Clara. This child is mine.”

“Victor, don’t be so naive!” his mother snapped.

“We won’t tolerate this! Divorce her now!”

“I am not getting a divorce.”

“It’s easy to prove,” Lydia said, a vicious smile on her face.

“A DNA test will tell us the truth.”

“Fine,” I said.

“Let’s do the test.”

An hour later, the doctor returned with the results.

“So,” Lydia said, “that baby isn’t one of us, right?”

“The test results show,” the doctor said, looking at his clipboard, “the child Mrs. Yates is carrying belongs to Mr. Yates.”

“What! Impossible!” Lydia shrieked.

“You mixed up the reports!”

“Miss,” the doctor said, annoyed, “our testing is rigorous. Oh, and we also did further tests on Mr. Yates. It seems his previous diagnosis was a misdiagnosis. He has perfectly normal sperm motility.”

Victor grabbed my hand, his eyes shining.

“Clara… we can have a child.”

“Mom,” he said to Elara, “this is a blessing.”

“This is wonderful!” Elara cried, hugging me.

“A true hero to the Yates family! Oh, this is a double blessing! Both you and Lydia are pregnant!”

“Madam,” the doctor interrupted, “from what I know, Mrs. Yates is the only one pregnant.”

“What? But my granddaughter-in-law…”

“Ah, yes,” the doctor said, looking at Lydia.

“We examined this lady as well. She is not pregnant.”

“Nonsense!” Lydia yelled. “My period is late! I’m nauseous!”

“Our results are accurate,” the doctor said flatly.

“Those symptoms are caused by irregular eating and an upset stomach. To put it simply… you just ate too much junk food.”

The fallout was final.

Lydia, exposed as a liar and a schemer, was thrown out. Daniel, however, didn’t follow.

“Lydia, you messed up,” he’d told her, “and now you’re dragging me down.”

“Daniel, how can you do this!” she’d screamed.

“I sold everything! I borrowed from loan sharks! All to help you!”

“Shut up!” he’d yelled.

“You did this to yourself!”

But her words… borrowed money… sold everything…

Victor had been listening.

“You’re sure?” he asked Andrew, his voice low.

“Yes, sir,” Andrew replied.

“While you were… occupied… Mr. Daniel was selling core technology to our rivals. Taking bribes. Tampering with bidding data. We have all the evidence.”

Victor’s face was carved from stone. He walked into the living room, where Daniel was pleading with his grandmother.

“Even now,” Victor said, “you refuse to see the truth. Daniel, starting today, you are no longer part of the Yates family. And you have nothing to do with me.”

“Victor, you can’t!” Elara protested.

“All thanks to you, Victor Yates!” Daniel finally snapped, his true self emerging.

“Quit acting so noble! I’ve done so much for this family! Have you ever really treated me as your own? Now that you have your biological son, if I don’t think for myself, I’ll be kicked out with nothing!”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

“Mr. Daniel Yates?” two police officers said.

“We received a report. You leaked trade secrets and embezzled funds. Please come with us.”

I watched as they took him away, the man I once thought I’d spend my life with. He was just a pathetic, greedy boy.

Victor put his arm around me, his other hand resting gently on my stomach.

“Mom,” he said to Elara.

“It’s over now.”

A year later, I stood in that same cathedral. The white roses smelled sweet this time, not cloying. I was in a new dress, a simple, elegant ivory one. Victor stood across from me, holding our six-month-old son.

“Clara,” he said, his voice thick with an emotion I now knew so well.

“I’ve imagined this… our wedding… more times than I can count. Now, it’s finally coming true.”

He slipped the vine-patterned ring on my finger.

“Before I met you, I never thought about staying with anyone forever. But after I met you… Clara, you’re the only one I want to call my wife.”

I looked at my husband, and my son, and the life I had built from the ashes of my humiliation.

I hadn’t just gotten revenge. I had won.