Chapter 1

The day my fiancée cheated, I proposed without hesitation.

The night before the wedding, I knelt on the floor of my rental apartment, organizing six manila envelopes.

Each one contained evidence of my fiancée's affairs over the past three years.

Chat screenshots, transfer records, hotel receipts, intimate conversations with five different men.

One hundred and seventy-three pages.

Soon, these six envelopes would appear at the wedding banquet.

One for her parents, one for her boss, one for her best friend, one for her relatives, one for my parents.

The last one would go to the five men she'd been sleeping with.

At this dream wedding she'd spent half a year meticulously planning, I would give her a surprise the whole world would witness.

"Ethan, Lucas is going to be your groomsman tomorrow."

Sophia fiddled with the veil she'd wear the next day.

Lucas stood right beside her, wearing a perfectly tailored white suit.

That was the custom suit Sophia had spent twenty thousand dollars on for him yesterday. Meanwhile, the suit I'd wear tomorrow was a three-thousand-dollar rental.

Lucas raised his eyebrows at me, a blatant smirk of provocation on his face.

"Ethan, Sophia says I get car sick. If I sit in the back car, I might throw up and ruin tomorrow."

He took a step forward, reaching out to adjust Sophia's veil.

"If you have a problem with it, I just won't come tomorrow. No point in causing trouble between you two because of me."

Sophia grabbed his wrist, her brow furrowing instantly.

"What are you talking about? Without you, what's the point of this wedding?"

She turned to glare at me, her eyes full of warning.

"Ethan, Lucas is my best guy friend. If it weren't for him helping me these past three years, do you think I would've said yes to your proposal?"

"Tomorrow is my once-in-a-lifetime big day. What's wrong with letting him ride in the lead car?"

I looked at this pair standing before me like conjoined twins, nausea rising in my stomach.

If this were three months ago, I would've gotten into a huge fight with her over this.

I would've been like a jealous madman, demanding to know who the real groom was.

But now, my heart was utterly calm. I almost wanted to laugh.

My gaze fell on the diamond ring on Sophia's ring finger.

That ring cost me a hundred and twenty thousand dollars. She complained it wasn't big enough, then immediately whined on SnapChat to Lucas about how cheap I was.

Lucas's reply at the time was: "Baby, once we trick him into signing over that downtown apartment tomorrow, I'll buy you a huge diamond."

Those chat records were quietly stored in my backup phone right now.

I pulled over a chair and sat down, looking at her calmly.

"Fine. He can have the lead car tomorrow."

Sophia froze, clearly not expecting me to agree so readily.

She looked me up and down suspiciously. After confirming I showed no signs of anger, her expression softened.

"At least you're being sensible. Stop acting like a bitter housewife watching Lucas all the time. We're all adults. Have some perspective."

Lucas laughed too. He walked up to me and patted my shoulder.

"Ethan's being cool about it. You better prepare good gifts for tomorrow's wedding games."

"Don't worry, I've had the gifts ready for a while." I brushed his hand off and stood up, walking toward the closet.

Sophia suddenly called out to me again.

"Oh, one more thing."

She pulled out a red velvet box from her bag — the one storing my mother's belongings.

Inside was a pair of old-fashioned antique gold rings. My mother had given them to me on her deathbed, making me promise to put one on my future wife at the wedding.

Sophia opened the box and picked up one of the rings with two fingers, her face full of disgust.

"This ring is way too tacky to wear tomorrow. It doesn't match my custom wedding dress at all."

She turned to look at Lucas, her eyes lighting up instantly.

"Lucas, didn't you say you needed a ring to match your outfit? Why don't you wear this one for fun?"

My breathing caught. My fingers clenched tight.

Lucas made a show of declining.

"That's not appropriate. This is a family heirloom from Ethan's mother. What would it mean for me to wear it?"

"What's inappropriate about it? Ethan's stuff is my stuff. What's wrong with me giving it to my friend?"

Sophia forcefully pushed the antique gold rings into Lucas's hand, then turned to look at me.

"Ethan, surely you're not so petty you can't even part with a ring? I'm marrying you tomorrow. Can you not be so cheap?"

I stared at the ring in Lucas's hand. My mother had worn it her entire life.

Now these two were using it as a prop for their flirtation.

Rage churned in my chest, but I forced it down.

Tomorrow.

Just get through tonight. Tomorrow I'd make them pay back everything with interest.

I took a deep breath and forced out a smile devoid of warmth.

"I'm not being cheap. Since you think it doesn't match, let Lucas wear it."

I watched Lucas slip the ring onto his pinky finger, my gaze growing colder.

"Just don't regret it tomorrow."

Sophia rolled her eyes and pulled Lucas toward the door.

"What do I have to regret? We're going to try on his groomsman suit now. Get some sleep early and don't show up tomorrow with dark circles embarrassing me."

At the door, she stopped and looked back at me.

"Ethan, you're such a good-tempered husband. I'm definitely going to be the most beautiful bride tomorrow."

I watched their backs disappear through the door, then pulled out my phone and opened a chat group named "Special Guests."

"Of course. Tomorrow everyone will remember you."