chapter 1

Kathy Pov

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t even blink. I was frozen in place, glued to the spot as if my body had turned to stone. I couldn’t believe it—I had been stood up on my wedding day. The humiliation was unbearable, the kind of cruelty I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

I tilted my head back, fighting the tears that threatened to spill. Around me, whispers began to ripple through the crowd, sharp and merciless, buzzing in my ears like static.

A gentle hand landed on my shoulder, pulling me out of my daze. A shiver ran through me, and I turned sharply, only to meet the worried brown eyes of my best friend, Harry.

“Jay came?” I asked, my voice trembling even though I already knew the answer.

Harry’s silent shake of his head was enough. His sigh felt like a dagger, and in that instant, my heart shattered completely.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw the guests slowly begin to leave, their fake pity and whispers cutting deeper than knives. My relatives wore masks of sympathy, but I could see the judgment flickering behind their eyes. My parents’ faces were heavy with worry, and it only made the humiliation worse.

Harry rubbed my back gently. “Enough, Sweets. Let’s get out of here.”

His words pierced through me like a thousand tiny blades. He was right—I couldn’t stay here any longer, not when every second turned me into a public spectacle.

I stepped down from the podium where I was supposed to be marrying Jason Forbes—the man I had loved for five years. Together we had been the town’s golden couple. Girls envied me for having such a kind, attentive boyfriend, and boys envied Jason for having me.

Jason was six years older than me, but we had always fit together perfectly. I’d had a crush on him all through high school, though I never had the courage to confess. It wasn’t until after graduation, when a single drink loosened my tongue, that I blurted out my feelings.

To my relief, Jason felt the same. His eyes lit up with a spark that told me I was more than just a silly girl with a crush. From that night, we were inseparable.

We survived everything—long-distance days while I was in college, the constant whispers about our age gap, and the disapproving murmurs of neighbors. Through it all, Jason was my safe place, my anchor. But now? Now I couldn’t tell if everything we had built was real, or just a carefully constructed lie I was desperate to believe.

Six months ago, Jason’s life had changed with a single phone call—from his father. His parents had divorced when he was just a boy, and his mother raised him alone in our small seaside town. She never took a dime of alimony, never once leaned on his father for support.

Jason’s mother, Diana Forbes, had poured everything into raising him. She ran a small seafood export company, but when she died suddenly of a heart attack last year, Jason was left adrift. So when his father, Alexander, finally reached out, Jason couldn’t ignore him.

He went to New York to meet him, and that’s when the truth unraveled—his father was the head of the Hudson family, billionaires for generations. Jason wasn’t just a small-town boy anymore. He was heir to an empire.

I should have seen the shift right away. Even though he promised nothing would change, the distance between us grew. We Skyped every day, but he never came back. Not once.

Then, three months ago, he proposed. Out of the blue. I was on cloud nine, believing against all odds that love mattered more than money. He swore his family couldn’t sway him, that he wanted me, not their fortune. I clung to his words, foolishly ignoring the doubts in my chest.

And today… he wasn’t even here.

My thoughts snapped back when a sleek black car pulled up in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed Harry guiding me outside the venue. He tightened his hand on my forearm. “Be careful, Sweets,” he murmured.

I nodded absently, but my body froze as the car door opened.

Jason.

He sat in the backseat, relaxed, as if he hadn’t just abandoned me at the altar. His face was unreadable, cold, without the slightest trace of remorse.

Agony twisted inside me. How could he look so calm while my world was collapsing?

Before I could speak, Jason’s gaze locked on me. His voice was steady, commanding.

“Get in.”

I didn’t think. I didn’t argue. Needing answers, I stepped toward him before my parents or Harry could protest. The door shut behind me with a sharp click, and the car sped away from the venue—taking me with it.