Chapter 1

A week before the wedding, my fiancée, Seraphina Thorne, declared she had to marry her ex-boyfriend first before she could marry me.

Her ex, Caleb Reed's mother, Mrs. Evelyn Reed, was critically ill, with not long left to live.

Her last wish was to see her son married and with a child.

"Mrs. Reed has always hoped Caleb would have his own family, a child. I'm just trying to fulfill a mother's dying wish, don't overthink it, Leo."

But my company had already tied our "True Love Collection" jewelry launch to the date of our extravagant wedding.

She frowned, "It's just a few billion dollars, can it compare to a mother's last wish? If you're so desperate for that money, go find someone else to marry!"

Her cold words left me with a bitter understanding. I turned and dialed my brother, Adam Vance.

"Adam, find me a new bride."

My brother sounded utterly disbelieving. "You're calling off your wedding?!"

"No, she's marrying someone else."

I forced a wry smile.

To be with Seraphina, I had defied immense pressure from my family. I even convinced the board to link our multi-billion dollar 'True Love Collection' project to our wedding date, making it a commercial testament to our love.

But now, it was all for nothing.

Adam was silent for a long moment. Then he said, "Then it has to be Blair Sterling. Her family is pushing hard, and she's also looking for a husband lately."

My brow furrowed. Blair Sterling, my arch-rival. On the day of my engagement, she'd even mocked that my marriage wouldn't last. I never expected her words to become a chilling prophecy.

Time was short. I could only say, "Alright, she's the one. See what she thinks. If not, I'll figure something else out."

Adam blurted out, "No need to ask, she'll definitely agree."

"What?"

I wanted to ask more, but a group of people suddenly surrounded me.

"You must be Sera's fiancé, you're so handsome!"

"Are you here to pick up Sera from work? She'll be right down. You two are just adorable."

I gripped the steering wheel, my gaze dropping to hide the self-mockery in my eyes.

Seraphina had introduced me to her colleagues and friends early on. In everyone's eyes, we were the envied model couple.

But no one could have imagined she was about to marry another man.

After bidding goodbye to the others, Seraphina got in the car and handed me a watch.

"Caleb asked me to give you this. Yesterday at the hospital, you said those things in front of his mother, it made him look really bad. Apologize to him when you get a chance."

The watch was clearly a freebie with a full-priced purchase; I'd seen it in Seraphina's online cart just a couple days ago.

I said flatly, "I don't want it."

Seraphina frowned. "What are you trying to pull now? You barged into the hospital room and said I wasn't his fiancée, embarrassing him. He isn't even holding a grudge, he even thought to bring you a gift, and you're being so ungrateful?"

The Seraphina who used to defend me was gone. Now, she cherished someone else.

Seraphina irritably rolled down the window, letting the wind blow through. After a long silence, seeing that I wasn't going to humor or coax her as usual, she finally said, "Fine, whatever. Today we have a fitting for the wedding dress, I'm not going to argue with you."

It was the first time she'd backed down all year.

At the bridal boutique, a sales assistant greeted us.

"Miss Thorne, Mr. Vance, your twenty custom-made suits and wedding dresses are ready."

Seraphina's attention wasn't on the clothes. She was staring down at her phone, a hint of urgency on her face.

Catching my eye, she quickly put her phone away, a flicker of apology in her expression.

"Leo, something's come up with Caleb, I need to rush over right away. You try on the suits yourself, and pick a wedding dress for me, I trust your taste."

With that, she hastily hailed a taxi and left, leaving me standing there alone.

The sales assistant quickly approached, tentatively asking, "Mr. Vance, would you like to personally select the wedding dress?"

I withdrew my gaze and nodded.

Of course I would select the wedding dress. Just not for Seraphina.

After all, the bride had changed.

I got in my car and drove home, expecting Seraphina not to return all night. Instead, I saw her before dinner.

She walked purposefully towards me, holding a gift box.

"I practically scoured the entire city to get these for you, your favorite artisanal chocolates from that one shop."

I looked at the box of chocolates.

There were three fewer than usual, and one of them had a tooth mark, clearly bitten into.

Half an hour ago, I'd seen Caleb post on his SnapChat story.

The picture was of the exact same chocolates in my hand.

"My amazing wife, always thinking of me, even late at night! Love you!"

I set the box of chocolates down with a bitter laugh. My appetite was gone.

"I don't feel like eating them. Throw them away."

Seraphina instantly glared at me with displeasure but held back her anger. She sat beside me and began to complain.

"You have no idea how pathetic Caleb was today. My parents went to his house and told him his family was poor, couldn't even afford decent gifts. He literally cried."

"Caleb just got back to the country, he doesn't have much savings. I was hoping we could divert the assets you prepared for our wedding to him first."

Her unquestionable tone filled me with disgust.

I looked at her with a sneer. "So, I'm supposed to pay for your husband to marry you?"