Chapter 1

It was my wedding day, and the makeup artist kept opening and closing her makeup kit.

“Ms. Jagger, should we go ahead and start your makeup?”

I kept looking anxiously at the door. Cyrus Lloyd had rushed out after getting a phone call and had not come back.

“Let’s just start the makeup.”

There were only 30 minutes left until the ceremony. My phone on the table lit up.

[Your man is great. He’s mine now.]

[Oh, and your wedding too.]

There was a photo with the messages. A woman smiled and held her phone while a man hugged her tightly.

I could only see the back of the man’s head, but I knew it was Cyrus.

I also knew the woman. She was Cyrus’s crush, Yara Clarkson.

She was wearing the wedding dress I had designed myself. There was only one like it in the world.

I remember Cyrus taking away the wedding dress. He said he needed to make some changes.

I took a screenshot and sent it to Cyrus.

[Is this the change you were talking about? Cyrus, I need an explanation. Is the wedding still on?]

Cyrus replied quickly. [Wait for me. We’ll still have the wedding.]

We had been together for seven years. I did not want to give up so easily.

The wedding was going to start in ten minutes.

Cyrus rushed back in with sweat on his forehead.

Maybe because I was used to taking care of him, I kept all my questions to myself.

“Ruby, the wedding is still on.”

Cyrus looked at me with eyes full of guilt and affection.

I did not think much about it and continued to put on my makeup. “You’re back so late. I don’t even have time to change into my wedding dress now.”

“You don’t need to change.”

Cyrus put his hand on my shoulder. “You don’t need to be at the wedding. Ruby, I’ll make it up to you.”

I stopped what I was doing.

I was so angry that I could do nothing but smile bitterly.

“What do you mean?” I looked him up and down. He was not wearing the suit I had carefully picked out for him. It looked similar, but the cuffs and the tie were a little different.

Cyrus instinctively looked away from me. “The hospital issued a notice that Yara was in critical condition. Her last wish was to wear a wedding dress. I couldn’t let her die with regrets.”

Yara was Cyrus’s crush.

Back in school, everyone thought they would make a perfect couple. They looked great together.

But when Cyrus’s family lost everything and he was at his lowest, Yara left the country.

A month before our wedding, she came back.

After she returned, she did not reach out to Cyrus. The hospital called him when they could not reach her family.

At first, I respected her for keeping her distance. I felt sorry for her too. She was sick and alone in this country.

Cyrus told me repeatedly that he was only helping her out of sympathy.

But when Yara cried and begged Cyrus to be with her at her home, I realized she was not as naive as she looked.

Still, Cyrus did not act out of place.

He always talked to me about it first and stayed away from Yara when he could.

So, I kept quiet and endured it.

I wondered when they had decided to replace me at my own wedding.